Sketching is a vital step in design processes. While analog sketching on pen and paper is the defacto standard, Virtual Reality (VR) seems promising for improving the sketching experience. It provides myriads of new opportunities to express creative ideas. In contrast to reality, possible drawbacks of pen and paper drawing can be tackled by altering the virtual environment. In this work, we investigate how hand and pen transparency impacts users’ 2D sketching abilities. We conducted a lab study ($$N=20$$N=20) investigating different combinations of hand and pen transparency. Our results show that a more transparent pen helps one sketch more quickly, while a transparent hand slows down. Further, we found that transparency improves sketching accuracy while drawing in the direction that is occupied by the user’s hand.