Drawing Tip #1 - Use a HB #2 pencil

In the beginning of your drawing career it is vital to learn to control your pencil so that you get the result that you are expecting. That means, you need to be able to vary how much pressure you apply in order to get the right tone that you are looking for. It is of course much easier to have a very hard pencil (H series) to get very light tone and a soft pencil (B series) for darker tones but using a HB #2 and learning how much pressure is needed for a certain tone is great practice. They are really easy to come by as well and you can probably get around 10 of them for less than $1.50.