What to put in a pencil case?

If you are looking for the basics for an artist's pencil case...

Start with a good set of drawing pencils. One each of 6B, 4B, and 2B for shading, blending and "soft work". An HB for general drawing. One each 2H and 4H for fine, sharp lines.

Next you'll need a good sharper with either a reservoir or a separate tin to hold the shavings, and a couple of types of erasers. A good hard white eraser and a gum ( or kneaded) eraser will do.

Three to five blending stumps of various sizes are very helpful as is a piece of white felt (about 2 inches square) these save you from having to blend with your fingers - which gets messy and tends to "dirty up" the rest of your sketches.

There are other items that will help you as your abilities develop, such as an erasing shield, a set of basic coloured pencils, a very fine tipped felt drawing pen, a magnifying glass and a pair of polarized sunglasses, but these do not have to be in the "basic" set.

If you are looking for things to put into a basic school pencil case...

Then I suggest: 4 HB pencils, an eraser, a pencil sharpener, 2 black, 2 blue and 1 red pen. (other colours as you desire), a set of basic coloured pencils, a geometry set (with ruler, protector, compass etc.), a mini stapler and staple remover, a roll of transparent tape (with dispenser), grommets for repairing the holes in binder paper, and a hair comb & scrunchies (just in case).