The first step in creating these little collages is the pencil drawing. I use a 5mm mechanical pencil, beginning with HB lead and working on Strathmore Mixed Media paper. I do most of the work with the HB lead, but then emphasize the darks with 3B then 4B leads.
I really prefer the mechanical pencils because I never have to sharpen them. I buy my leads from jetpens.com which has the bet selection I've found.
For the first 7 collages I didn't fix the drawings, but after that I started to. I use a thin coat of spray Workable Fixatif. I originally didn't fix them because they didn't smear in the collage process. But I found that they did smear when I tore them out (next step).