By the way: Lead has never been contained in graphite pencils. They consist of a mixture of clay and graphite. The hardness grades B, HB and F are the most relaxed.
The soft B pencils are ideal for children who are just learning to write. With soft and especially thick graphite pencils beginners can write very easily.
Anyone with more experience in writing and drawing will usually choose a pencil with the medium degree of hardness HB; some feel most comfortable with the degree of hardness F.
People who want to express themselves artistically use soft pencils of hardness grades 2B to 8B. You can make expressive drawings with them, which are very rich in contrast.
Hard pencils are good for technical drawing. In the diagram above, you can see that the HB pencil can create a certain segment of values. This means that you can extend its value range by using a kneaded eraser to lighten values, or layering your pencil marks to darken values, but it will take more effort to do that than to simply use a pencil that comfortably creates the value that you need.
The harder the pencil, the lighter the range of values that it creates. The softer the pencil, the darker the range of values that it creates. This is the case for charcoal as well as graphite. As you can see in the image below, the darkness of graphite pencils varies from very light grey 9H to almost pitch black 9B.
In the image below, the top gradation was drawn with a 2H graphite pencil. It ranges from the darkest possible value the 2H can create to the lightest possible value that it can create.
The bottom gradation was drawn with a 4B graphite pencil, and ranges from the darkest possible value the 4B can create to the lightest value it can create. I used Staedtler Mars Lumograph graphite pencils for both gradations. First, notice the vast difference in the range of values created by the 2H and 4B. The 2H can comfortably create from a value 2 to a value 3 or 4 on the value scale , while the 4B can create from a value 6 through 8.
I had to use my kneaded eraser to create the lighter values of the 4B gradation, while it was almost effortless to use the 2H to gradate into the white of the paper. Notice how much smoother the 2H gradation appears as well, while you can see more of the paper texture in the 4B gradation. Find out in this free downloadable guide! How does the grade of a drawing pencil affect line quality? The hardest pencils create sharper, lighter, thinner lines, while the softest pencils create softer, darker, thicker lines.
Of course, this depends on the sharpness of your pencil as well, but generally speaking - it is much easier to create a sharper line with a hard pencil, and a softer line with a soft pencil. Do you need the whole range of graphite pencils, from 9H to 9B? No, it's not a necessity, but a matter of personal preference and skill level. On the occasion that my drawing requires a very dark value, I may also use a 6B though I try to avoid them, as the darker the graphite pencil, the more it will reflect light and produce glare - but I'll discuss that in a later section of the article.
If you are new to drawing and are developing the sensitivity of your hand, you may want to add a few harder pencils, such as a 2H, to make it easier to draw the lightest values in your drawing.
Brands of graphite: I tend to use Staedtler Mars Lumograph pencils, but other brands such as Derwent and Faber-Castell work just fine as well. The application of graphite on paper is smoother than charcoal, and easier to gain control of. It can be very comfortable and enjoyable to work with, especially when paired with a smooth drawing paper.
Because of this, I often recommend that beginners draw with graphite to build confidence and experience before moving on to charcoal pencils. Keep in mind that graphite has a metallic sheen. The shine, or glare, can be very apparent when you stand at an angle to a picture drawn in graphite, such as the one below:.
As you can see, the sheen becomes more apparent where there are darker values. So, the darker the tones in your drawing, the more they will reflect light and produce glare. This can be particularly irksome when trying to photograph graphite drawings. While there are ways to minimize graphite glare, it is ultimately an inescapable quality of the medium. If you experiment with graphite and find that the glare is too much for you, don't fight it.
You will lose. I actually abandoned the above drawing because I was frustrated with the glare. Although they sometimes vary by brand, the abbreviations usually follow a basic formula. Pencils are marked with H's and B's: the H means hard and the B means black.
These letters can be used alone or in combination with one another, such as the HB pencil. The HB is equivalent to the American Number 2 pencil you've used for years. A Number 1 pencil is the same as a B pencil. Many pencils also have a number associated with them.
This indicates the degree of hardness or blackness the graphite produces. Not all pencil makers produce every grade. It's good to know about the materials you're using, but how do you apply this knowledge to your drawings? Each artist and pencil is going to be a little different, but there are some general rules that you can use as guidelines:. The best way to understand exactly what a pencil has to offer is to do a swatch.
This allows you to see how light, dark, soft, and hard each pencil is in your set. If you keep your swatch with you while drawing, you can use it as a reference or cheat sheet when deciding which pencil to pick up. Making a pencil swatch sheet could not be easier.
Simply grab a spare piece of your favorite drawing paper. Next time you need to do some deep shading , you'll know exactly which pencil is your darkest.
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