Tips and Tricks

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I've written this list of recommended books, online tutorials, my own tips, and other stuff to help other artists and people interested in my techniques. I suppose it would be especially helpful to new artists.
Here they are...
~books and tutorials~
If you want to learn to draw and shade realistically, I highly recommend Lee Hammond's book, How to Draw Lifelike Portraits from Photographs. After just reading it and doing a few of the exercises, I found my drawing skills were so much better than before. You could also try these books by her: Draw Real People! and Draw Real Animals!.
Do you want to learn to make realistic images in colored pencil? Then you should take a look at the book How to Draw Portraits in Colored Pencil from Photographs by Lee Hammond. Even though it focuses on drawing portraits, after reading it and doing the exercises, you may find your skill level much improved. I sure did...
You can probably tell by now that Lee Hammond's art books are my favorites. I have a whole bunch of instructional art books, but hers have always been the most helpful. I never get frustrated doing the exercises in them. I would recommend any of her books to anyone who wants to improve their skills!
If you want to know how to color in pictures on the computer, here are a few fantastic online tutorials I've found quite helpful:
Coloring soft style in Photoshop: http://tyro.zerion.com/flurgy/tutorial/color1.html
Coloring cell style in Photoshop: http://www.jdillon.net/tutorial/cgmain.html
And here's the best Paint Shop Pro tutorial I've found to date: http://www.saunalahti.fi/~elffi/tut/1/main.html
But if you don't know anything about PSP, you may have difficulty following it.
Are you interested in the Japanese anime art style and want to learn the basics of drawing it? Then (if you haven’t been there already, it's pretty well known) go here: http://www.jdillon.net/tutorial/
~Supplies~
Artist pencils are labeled by how hard or soft the lead/graphite is. Generally, the higher the number, the softer the lead. For drawing, I use a typical HB2 pencil. But when I shade, I find it much easier to use harder leads (unless of course, I'm doing a dark picture, then I would use HB2 or softer lead). The harder the lead, the lighter it will be on paper, and vise versa for soft lead. HB2 is the easiest to erase, since hard lead often makes a groove in the paper, and soft is usually to dark. I've found that nowadays, most people use a mechanical pencil for drawing. I can't give you the advantages or disadvantages of that because I don't have one. I have a set of Faber Castell wood/lead pencils for shading and typical HB2 pencils for drawing. Faber Castell's come in a nice tin case and can be found at most art stores.
To make the nice smooth pencil shading found on most of my drawings, I use a combination of tools. First of all, I make sure to shade smoothly and carefully, never making big, careless zigzags. Then I use either a Kleenex or a paper stump to smooth it out. Kleenexes are best for big, broad areas. They’re also good because they don't darken the shading very much, like paper stumps do. However, paper stumps are great for blending small areas (like eyes), and they tend to blend more smoothly than Kleenexes. I never use my fingers (unless I'm in a hurry), because if I touch it again, I'll get a bad smudge.
If the tip of your paper stump has a lot of lead/graphite on it, you can rub it on a piece of sandpaper to clean it off.
Here's a picture of the erasers I use: The kneaded eraser is a must if you want to do any kind of drawing. I don't know how I ever did without it. You can shape it into a small point, which is great for getting into small areas and making highlights. You can clean up sketches with it, lighten small areas of shading, and so much more... I use it more often than any of my other erasers. As for the other two, I don't know what their called, I just found them lying around the house. They’re good for erasing larger or darker areas.
Never use the pink eraser at the end of a typical pencil on your nice drawings. You never know if it will smear pink on the paper, which you can't get rid of.
Buy a good electric sharpener for your pencils (unless of course, you use mechanical pencils). I can't recommend any particular brand, because mine isn't that great. -_- But you want one that sharpens the pencils to a very fine point, which would hurt if you jabbed yourself with it. Keep the sharpener within reach of your drawing area. I don't highly recommend using handheld or crank sharpeners, because handheld ones tend to break the lead, and I've heard you can get carpal tunnel syndrome from too many years of using crank sharpeners.
For drawing paper, you should get a 9 x 12 inch spiral bound sketchpad. This is great for practice drawings, quick and sketchy pictures, and doodling. You could also get a smaller size for traveling. If you set out to draw a nice, shaded, finished artwork however, I suggest you buy a pad of Strathmore Bristol board, which is sturdy and thick. It doesn't easily make creases, and the edges don't curl up.
The paper surface *does* affect the smoothness of your shading. I've found that when I shade on low quality, thin, cheap paper, it comes out blotchy looking no matter how much I try to smooth it.
I personally think you should not draw on printer paper. Some people do, and like it, but I've found that the lines are very hard to completely erase.
Last, you should never draw on lined paper (unless your very bored and it's all you've got with you). If your drawing comes out good, you'll forever be disappointed that it's on lined paper. Once, at a local art competition, I saw an extremely nice, beautiful, professional looking drawing that was done on lined paper. Of course, all it got was Honorable Mention. It probably would have gotten a blue ribbon had it been on normal paper.
Buy a horsehair drafting brush to sweep eraser dust and dirt off your drawings. Even on highly shaded drawings, the brush will never smear it. Don't use your hand or blow on it to remove dust - your fingers will almost always smear it, and you might spit on it if you blow.
If you want to color pictures with colored pencils, I recommend buying a large set of Prismacolors. They are the only brand I own, but I find I'm still able to do most effects with them. They’re also nice because you can buy the pencils individually if you run out of a color. They do take some getting used to though, you might find them hard to use until you get some practice.
The best paper to use with colored pencils is colored paper. If you use white paper, you'll see a lot of white paper flecks. The nicest colored paper is usually sold in big sheets (you have to cut it yourself if you want it smaller), but I forgot what the brand names are... There are several. Don't use construction paper though, it usually just crumbles under the pressure. (note: I got this tip out of Lee Hammond's book on colored pencils, for more information about it, look in her book)
If your interested in drawing with pens or inking the lines in your drawing (I often do that with my anime style drawings, before I color it), I would suggest you use Sakura Micron pens, which are available in different sizes and colors. However, I'm not an expert at pen and ink, so you'll have to experiment on your own if you really want to go into it.
I've found acrylic paint to be great for cell style coloring anime drawings. Acrylics dry fast, but that doesn't matter with cell style since your not blending the paint. I use Liquitex.
If you want to color your pictures on the computer, there are two programs I recommend: Jasc's Paint Shop Pro (PSP) and Adobe Photoshop. I've never used any other programs though. Personally I think PSP is easier to figure out on your own, while with Photoshop you will probably have to read some tutorials to learn how to use it. PSP also seems more suitable to making web graphics, while Photoshop is better for real art. Photoshop's airbrushes are a hundred times better than PSP's, they brush on nice and smooth, while with PSP you can see a lot of choppy pixels. Photoshop seems to take up a lot more memory than PSP (I can leave PSP on for days without a problem, but if I leave Photoshop on that long, sooner or later the computer will crash).
Of course there's a pretty big price difference, Paint Shop Pro is about $100, and Photoshop ranges from 5 to $600. But if you have, or know someone with a student ID, you can get Photoshop for a couple hundred less.
You can download a 30 day trial version of PSP at www.jasc.com. You can also download a trial version of Photoshop somewhere... But I don't remember where.
If you plan to or are seriously coloring in pictures with the computer, you should defiantly get a tablet. These are pads that you use with a stylus, it lets you write or draw into your computer as if you were using a pencil. The mouse simply does not give you the amount of control a tablet does. Tablets can be used with any graphics program.
I can't really recommend a brand. The tablet I use is a Paint Pal, I don't know what company makes it since we threw out the box. All I know is that the pressure sensitivity doesn't seem to good, and the pad has scratch marks in it from being used so much. Apparently Wacom makes good (and expensive) tablets.
Of course if your going to be coloring your pictures in the computer, or if you just want to share your art with the world on the internet, you'll need a scanner. I own a scanner by Acer with a 12 x 9 inch bed, I've had it since May of 2000 without any problems.
~misc tips~
Don't be afraid to use reference photos. Those nice big pictures in magazines are great to draw from. Drawing from pictures helps you to understand what is really there in your subject, rather than what you think is there.
When your drawing from pictures, try to think of ways you can alter the picture to make an original artwork. Maybe you could change the hair style or expression. Or you could add a different background or different clothes. Try combining several pictures into one drawing.
Whenever you’re working on a drawing that has lots of shading (or with a wet painting), watch out where your palm is! It could smudge your drawing.
Always be sure to have good lighting, especially if you are working with colors. You may think you have a good picture in bad lighting, then take it into good light and realize that it's not so great... Also, if you’re right handed, it's a good idea to have your light source on the left, vice versa if you’re left handed. This will make it so the shadow of your hand falls opposite to where you’re drawing.
Keep open glasses of liquid far away from your drawings. They could spill and ruin the artwork.
I often find that I work best when listening to music that has no lyrics. The lyrics may distract you. However, if you’re distracted by any music, then work in silence.
Last, and probably most important of everything I've written, be sure to practice often! If you hardly ever sit down to draw, you'll probably take a very long time to get good. You don't have to draw a masterpiece every day, but it's good to at least sketch a little every day or every other day.
Don't be discouraged if you draw a lot but never seem draw anything that you’re pleased with. Art takes a long time to get really good at (as in, years, not weeks), and even professionals strive for improvement.
And of course, have fun!