| Choosing a drawing pencil sounds like it should be | | | | than a 2B. |
| simple. You just go to your pencil jar and grab one, | | | | Soft pencils are best used for shading. Start with the |
| right? The hard part is that there are so many to | | | | least soft pencil and work your way up to the softer |
| choose from. Believe it or not, it is not as simple as | | | | pencil because the softer the pencil, the darker the |
| choosing to use a number 2 pencil. Number 2 pencils | | | | line. This is because as you press on a soft pencil, |
| are fine for math class, but not necessarily for | | | | more graphite breaks away than a hard pencil. |
| drawing. There are both hard and soft pencils in | | | | The best way to draw is by using different pencils. |
| varying degrees. | | | | You can start with an H pencil, outlining your sketch |
| Hard pencils are not harder to draw with. It is the | | | | and getting the basics down. Press lightly so that the |
| graphite that is described as hard. Because it is hard, | | | | lines don't show through. This is just to get down the |
| less graphite breaks away from the pencil and a | | | | correct dimensions. |
| lighter line is drawn. I like to use hard pencils when | | | | Then move on to the soft pencils to begin shading. |
| outlining as I start a drawing and when shading very | | | | Move up with the soft pencils if you need a darker |
| lightly. | | | | line or smoother shading. Use a blending stump or |
| Each Hard pencil is designated by the letter H. It is | | | | your finger to blend the shading together and make |
| preceded by a number from 0 and up such as 0H, | | | | it look smoother. |
| 1H, 2H, etc. The higher the number, the harder the | | | | Which pencil you use it your choice. Experiment with |
| pencil is. This is why a regular number 2 pencil is HB. It | | | | different types of pencils to figure out what works |
| is a mix between hard a soft. | | | | for you. You might find that you like one pencil for |
| Soft pencils are designated by the letter B. It also | | | | everything. That is fine. The idea is that you try out |
| has varying degrees of softness starting from 0B | | | | everything to make sure you are using exactly what |
| and up. The higher the number, the softer the pencil | | | | you like best. |
| is. For examples, a 7B pencil has much softer graphite | | | | |