Pencils

Pencils

First of all lets talk about pencils. Pencils are woodcased writing utensils containing pigment. The pigment could be colored, pastel, charcoal, or graphite. I will be talking about graphite in this case. Graphite pencils are available in many different grades ranging from 9B (softest) to 9H (hardest). Soft graphites have less clay in them and they are darker than H graphites. Hard graphites have more clay and are lighter than B graphites. Below is a chart illustrating the different grades of graphite.

There are lots of different pencil brands. I use Derwent Graphic Pencils . Most grades are unnecessary in my opinion. For most of my drawings I only use the following 5 grades, 7B, 3B, B, HB, 2H. Anything harder than a 2H graphite will most likely dent your paper, ruining the fibres.