Drawing Materials Basics: The Pencil

Pencils have cores made from powdered graphite (not lead) fired with clay. The type of graphite used in pencils is relatively soft and malleable and was mistakenly thought to be a form of lead when first discovered.

Graphite deposits a small, smooth particle on the paper ranging from hardest to softest of coloring. H series are hard, B series pencils are softer. Start somewhere in the middle ranges with 2H, HB, B, 2B, and add more pencils later. For beginners especially, this selection is more than adequate. Buying a boxed set allows you to dabble in all.

Pencils vary widely in quality but being relatively inexpensive, feel free to experiment with brands and manufacturers. Cheap "yellow pencils" are bad news and should be avoided for serious work. Irregularities in the substandard graphite used, can often lead to unpredictable tonal range. Low grade graphite is gritty and can sound like fingernails on a chalkboard when you are deeply engaged in a drawing. A cheap product can ‘spit’ graphite particles onto your drawing and can scratch the paper surface. A pencil, poorly manufactured with an uncentered core, will sharpen crooked. Whereas high quality, professional grade, artists pencils deliver reliable, even tones at carefully graded hardnesses, and are less prone to breakage.

Store your fine pencils, all points up, in the same direction and avoid dropping a pencil. A dropped pencils lead can break up inside the barrel. Every time you sharpen it, the lead will fall out... broken.

Mechanical Pencils have a constant weight and size. Wood-cased pencils do not. They change in size, weight and balance as they are sharpened, which can be a problem for artists who draw a great deal.

Technical Pencil / Lead Holder Same benefits as above but with the added benefit that the leads are affiliateable /interchangeable. Clutch (technical) pencils have a constant weight and size and though initially expensive, you will own a fine drawing tool for life. Close the lead into the four prong all metal, perfectly balanced barrel to eliminate the danger of a sharp pencil point poking through pocket or purse.

Woodless Pencils are thick solid sticks of graphite with no wood casing surrounding it. A smooth lacquer coating facilitates clean handling. This pencil is useful for broad, expressive work, shading across incised detail or where a visible paper tooth is desired.

-Cynthia Padilla