P E N C I L
P E N C I L
A pencil (also called: graphite pencil) is a writing utensil with a graphite lead embedded in a wooden shaft. It is mainly used for artistic sketching and drawing, for stenography or notes. Its benefits are the simple usage as well as being able to remove what you’ve drawn with an eraser.
5000 years ago, ancient Egyptians used reed, bamboo or papyrus cane which was filled out with liquid lead as writing utensils.
Starting from the 12th century, people wrote with lead alloy pens with a silver soldered tip. Those pencils were used, centuries later, by many artists as silver-pencils for sketching.
It is said that lead sticks were used occasionally for writing in the 16th century.
Even in the 17th century wood embedded lead stick made from Borrowdale-graphite were used in many countries.
The technical pens available today fall into three main categories - the classic steel-nibbed pens, disposable pens, and refillable pens.
Graphite pencils are a gradated mix of graphite and clay that allows artists to draw realistic images, render expressive lines, make light guidelines, and more with tremendous versatility. Those pencils may wear down slightly faster than some other pencils due to their softness.
Solid graphite pencils ( also called woodless pencils), are mostly used for art and drawing. While a standard pencil is a thin core of graphite (well, graphite mixed with clay, generally) inside a wooden body, a solid graphite pencil does away with the wood.
Liquid Graphite Pencil is a product that allows you to create authentic graphite pencil effects and pencil sketches using a liquid. One of most popular are Derivan liquid pencils. They can be easily thinned with water. The Liquid pencil can be applied with a brush, nib, or other art tools
Charcoal produces rich tones and high contrast. This particular pencil is more brittle than other pencils, it smears easily. It’s easy to fade charcoal or wipe it off the paper entirely if you make mistakes. A rough texture may allow more charcoal to adhere to the paper.
Carbon pencil has a combination of charcoal and graphite. Natural carbon is divided into hard (from charred wood chips) and soft. The soft one is created by burning thin twigs (willows, vines, linden, boxwood etc.) with limited air access. Carbon pencils have a consistent softness, for superior blending and texture – they leave a thick, hard line to erase.
A writing and drawing instrument made of colored pastels, charcoal, chalk or other material. They are simple to use, non-toxic and available in a wide range of colors. Unlike graphite and charcoal pencils, colored pencils’ cores are wax- or oil-based and contain varying proportions of pigments, additives, and binding agents.
The grease pencil is a wax writing tool also known as a wax pencil, china marker or chinagraph pencil (especially in the United Kingdom). It is a writing implement made of hardened colored wax and is useful for marking on hard, glossy non-porous surfaces.
Watercolor pencils, otherwise known as water-soluble pencils, are a versatile art medium. The pencils can be used dry - like normal colored pencils—or they can be applied “wet” to get the desired watercolor effect.
Mechanical pencils are produced with a plastic or metal frame similar to a ballpoint pen. These pencils use replaceable graphite cartridges, which, as they wear, are extended further. Automatic pencils allow you to use thinner graphite bars, and as a consequence, obtaining much thinner lines.
You can use any pencils to draw, but below is a quick guide on how you might use different pencil grades. We also recommend experimenting and playing around with the different grades in your set to see what works for you!
9H-5H: Great for making sketches for watercolour paintings because they’re light and don’t show through the paint as obviously. Watersoluble graphites also work well for this purpose because they dissolve in water.
4H-2H: These create a very light mark and are ideal for technical drawing, outlines, light sketches and guide lines.
H, F, HB and B: A popular go-to for simple sketches and writing. HB is often used as a multi-purpose pencil because it’s clear enough to write and draw but has minimal smudging.
B grades: The softer texture and darker marks make these pencils ideal for shading and tonal modelling. The higher B pencils are also great for blending and smudging.
EE: As we mentioned earlier, EE pencils create a very dark mark with a more matte finish than graphite pencils because they’re a mix of graphite and charcoal. This makes them ideal for very dark shading and tonal modelling.
We’ve talked about a wide range of pencil grades, but you don’t need to go out and buy every single one. A lot of graphite pencil sets come with a nice selection of essential grades that will allow you to sketch, create technical drawings, shade and achieve tonal modelling. It’s also great to have a selection of pencils at your fingertips because it allows you to experiment and find out what you like. Everyone’s drawing style is different, so what works for someone else might not work for you.