PENCIL DRAWING ARTISTS DRAWING PENCILS GRAPHITE GRADES EXPLAINED

PENCIL DRAWING

ARTISTS DRAWING PENCILS - GRAPHITE GRADES EXPLAINED • GRAPHITE IS THE DARK GRAY MATERIAL USUALLY FOUND ENCASED WITHIN A WOODEN PENCIL. IT COMES IN MANY DIFFERENT FORMS, BUT MOST COMMONLY WE FIND IT WITHIN A PENCIL. WE'VE ALL USED THEM TO WRITE AND DRAW AND MOST OF US FEEL VERY COMFORTABLE WITH A GRAPHITE PENCIL IN HAND. • ALTHOUGH MOST OF US HAVE HEARD SOMEONE REFER TO THE MATERIAL WITHIN A GRAPHITE PENCIL AS "LEAD", YOU MAY BE SURPRISED TO LEARN THAT THERE ISN'T ANY LEAD THERE AT ALL. INSTEAD, GRAPHITE IS A FORM OF CARBON AND IS COMPLETELY SAFE FOR DRAWING.

GRAPHITE GRADES • GRAPHITE IS PRODUCED IN VARIOUS GRADES OR DEGREES ACCORDING TO THE SOFTNESS OR HARDNESS OF THE MATERIAL. DIFFERENT GRADES PRODUCE DIFFERENT TYPES OF MARKS. THE GRADE OF THE PENCIL IS USUALLY DESIGNATED ON THE SIDE OR THE END OF THE PENCIL. FOR DRAWING PENCILS, THIS DESIGNATION IS AN ALPHANUMERIC VALUE.

• WRITING PENCILS DIFFER IN HOW THEY ARE CATEGORIZED AND USUALLY ONLY FEATURE A NUMBER. FOR EXAMPLE, A #2 PENCIL IS A STANDARD WRITING PENCIL - WHICH HAPPENS TO BE OF THE SAME SOFTNESS AS AN "HB" DRAWING PENCIL. • GRADES OF DRAWING PENCILS ARE ORGANIZED IN A SCALE BASED ON SOFTNESS OR HARDNESS. AN "HB" PENCIL IS FOUND DIRECTLY IN THE CENTER OF THE SCALE.

• "H" PENCILS FEATURE HARDER GRAPHITE. (THE "H" STANDS FOR "HARD". ) "B" PENCILS FEATURE SOFTER GRAPHITE. (THE "B" STANDS FOR "BLACK". ) • THE NUMBER FOUND IN FRONT OF THE LETTER REVEALS JUST HOW SOFT OR HARD THE PENCIL IS. IN OTHER WORDS, A "4 H" PENCIL IS HARDER THAN A "2 H" PENCIL WHILE A "4 B" PENCIL IS SOFTER THAN A "2 B" PENCIL. • HARDER PENCILS PRODUCE LIGHTER MARKS SINCE LESS OF THE MATERIAL IS RELEASED AS PRESSURE IS APPLIED. SOFTER PENCILS MAKE DARKER MARKS SINCE MORE OF THE MATERIAL IS RELEASED. THEREFORE, A "4 H" PENCIL WILL PRODUCE LIGHTER MARKS THAN AN "2 H" PENCIL WHILE A "4 B" PENCIL WILL MAKE DARKER MARKS THAN A "2 B" PENCIL.

• A CLEAR ADVANTAGE OF THE "H" PENCILS IS THAT THEY CAN STAY SHARP FOR A LONGER PERIOD OF USE. IN CONTRAST, "B" PENCILS TEND TO DULL QUICKLY DUE TO THEIR SOFTNESS. • "H" PENCILS ARE BETTER SUITED FOR FILLING THE TOOTH OR TEXTURE OF THE PAPER, RESULTING IN SMOOTHER TRANSITIONS OF TONE AND VALUE. "B" PENCILS FILL THE TOOTH TO A LESSER DEGREE, MAKING THE TEXTURE OF THE PAPER MORE NOTICEABLE. BY COMBINING "H" AND "B" PENCILS IN A DRAWING, SMOOTH TRANSITIONS OF TONE CAN BE DEVELOPED WITHOUT

• "H" PENCILS ARE CLEARLY CAPABLE OF PRODUCING LIGHT MARKS, BUT ARE LIMITED IN THE RANGE OF TONE. PUTTING MORE PRESSURE ON A "4 H" PENCIL WILL NOT RESULT IN A VERY DARK MARK. "B" PENCILS, HOWEVER ALLOW FOR A MUCH BROADER RANGE OF POSSIBILITIES. A "4 B" PENCIL FOR EXAMPLE CAN PRODUCE LIGHTER MARKS BY REDUCING PRESSURE, BUT IS ALSO CAPABLE OF PRODUCING DARKER MARKS WITH ADDITIONAL PRESSURE.

• YOU MAY BE TEMPTED TO USE A HARD PENCIL SUCH AS A "4 H" FOR A PRELIMINARY SKETCH SINCE THE MARK IS LIGHT. IF YOUR PRESSURE IS LIGHT, THEN THIS IS AN ACCEPTABLE PRACTICE. BUT IF TOO MUCH PRESSURE IS APPLIED TO THE PENCIL, THEN GROOVES CAN BE CREATED IN THE SURFACE OF THE PAPER. THESE GROOVES BECOME DIFFICULT TO FILL IN OR COVER WITH SOFTER GRAPHITE APPLICATIONS. THIS CAN LEAD TO NOTICEABLE INCONSISTENCIES IN THE DRAWING.

WHICH DRAWING PENCILS SHOULD YOU USE? THE PENCILS THAT ARE BEST FOR YOU TO USE WILL VARY DEPENDING ON SEVERAL FACTORS. THESE FACTORS INCLUDE: • THE AMOUNT OF PRESSURE THAT YOU NATURALLY PLACE ON THE PENCIL. • THE TEXTURE OF THE PAPER. • THE APPROACH THAT YOU TAKE FOR DEVELOPING THE DRAWING.

• NO MATTER WHAT THE CIRCUMSTANCE, EVERY SINGLE GRAPHITE GRADE IS NOT REQUIRED. MOST ARTISTS WILL ONLY NEED A FEW PENCILS TO BE SUCCESSFUL. BECAUSE SOFTER PENCILS HAVE A BIT MORE RANGE, MOST OF THE PENCILS THAT AN ARTIST WILL USE FALL ON THE "B" SIDE OF THE SCALE. I SUGGEST THE FOLLOWING GRADES - "2 H, H, HB, 2 B, 4 B, AND 6 B".

WHAT IS VALUE • WHEN ARTISTS DESCRIBE THE VALUE OF A COLOR THEY ARE DESCRIBING HOW LIGHT OR DARK THAT COLOR IS. EVERY COLOR HAS A VALUE. SOME COLORS ARE NATURALLY LIGHTER THAN OTHERS BUT EVERY COLOR CAN BE ADJUSTED TO BE LIGHTER OR DARKER. • VALUE DESCRIBES HOW CLOSE A COLOR IS TO PURE WHITE OR PURE BLACK. THE VALUE OF AN OBJECT CAN CHANGE DRASTICALLY DEPENDING ON THE LIGHTING CONDITIONS THAT AFFECT THE OBJECT.

WHAT IS A VALUE SCALE? • A VALUE SCALE CAN BE CONSIDERED NOT ONLY A DRAWING EXERCISE BUT ALSO AN IMPORTANT TOOL WHEN TRYING TO LEARN HOW TO DRAW. • IN ITS SIMPLEST FORM A VALUE SCALE IS A RECTANGULAR SHAPE THAT ENCOMPASSES DIFFERENT VALUES RANGING FROM LIGHT TO DARK.

HOW DO I DRAW A VALUE SCALE? • WHEN STARTING OUT I RECOMMEND YOU CREATE A VALUE SCALE CONSISTING OF 5 VALUES. • THIS IS MUCH EASIER TO DO AND WILL GIVE YOU THE CONFIDENCE NEEDED BEFORE MOVING ON TO MORE DIFFICULT DRAWINGS. HERE’S A STEP BY STEP PLAN FOR DRAWING YOUR FIRST VALUE SCALE!

TO CREATE A VALUE SCALE, BEGIN BY DRAWING OUT A RECTANGLE WITH A RULER AND SUBDIVIDING IT INTO 5 EVEN BOXES.

• NEXT BEGIN SHADING THE LAST BOX (IT WILL EVENTUALLY BE BLACK), BUT DON’T SHADE IT IN COMPLETELY DARK RIGHT AWAY. YOU’LL GET BETTER RESULTS IF YOU ADD MANY LAYERS OF PENCIL AND ARRIVE AT THE DESIRED VALUE OVER TIME RATHER THAN RIGHT AWAY.

• AFTER YOU’VE SHADED THE LAST BOX MOVE TO THE SECOND TO LAST BOX AND SHADE IT IN SLIGHTLY LIGHTER. KEEP REPEATING THIS PROCESS FOR EACH BOX, ONLY MAKING EACH ONE LIGHTER IN VALUE THAN THE PREVIOUS BOX.

• AT THIS POINT YOU SHOULD HAVE A VALUE SCALE THAT LOOKS VERY LIGHT SIMILAR TO THE LAST EXAMPLE ABOVE. CONTINUE THIS PROCESS SEVERAL MORE TIMES WORKING FROM THE DARK END OF THE VALUE SCALE TOWARDS THE LIGHT END OF THE SCALE.

• IT’S OKAY TO PRESS HARDER TO ACHIEVE YOUR DARKEST VALUES BUT REMEMBER TO LAYER YOUR PENCIL AS WELL. A LAYERED APPROACH TO SHADING WILL ALWAYS LOOK THE BEST! IN THE CREATION OF THIS DRAWING EXERCISE EACH TIME I ADDED A NEW LAYER OF PENCIL I CHOOSE TO USE A DARKER PENCIL.

PRO-TIP! • USE A RANDOM CIRCULAR MOTION WHEN SHADING AND YOU’LL GET THE MOST PROFESSIONAL, SMOOTHEST LOOKING RESULTS FROM YOUR PENCILS

• CREATING VALUE SCALES IS A GREAT EXERCISE FOR LEARNING HOW TO DRAW. • THE 5 STEP VALUE SCALE WE WORKED ON ABOVE IS A GREAT STARTING POINT BUT IF YOU REALLY WANT TO TEST YOUR DRAWING SKILLS IT WOULD BE A GOOD IDEA TO GO THROUGH THE SAME EXERCISE, BUT WITH MORE BOXES. IN OTHER WORDS, CAN YOU DRAW A VALUE SCALE CONSISTING OF 9 DISTINCT VALUES THAT PROGRESS FROM WHITE TO BLACK?

TIME TO PRACTICE • IN YOUR ART JOURNAL, YOU WILL CREATE A 5 BOX VALUE SCALE FOR YOUR DIFFERENT GRADES OF PENCIL • CREATE FOR: • HB • 2 – 3 OF THE HARD GRADES (LABEL EACH BOX) • 2 -3 OF THE SOFT GRADES (LABEL EACH BOX)

VALUE DESIGN • IF YOU ARE ABLE TO PRINT OFF THE “VALUE DESIGN” WORKSHEET FROM MY WEBSITE YOU CAN USE THAT AND THEN GLUE IT INTO YOUR ART JOURNAL. • IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A PRINTER, YOU WILL MAKE YOUR OWN BY FOLLOWING THE INSTRUCTIONS BELOW:

• WITH AN HB PENCIL AND A RULER, MAKE A 4 SQUARE BY 4 SQUARE BOX: • IN THE FIRST BOX, COPY THE FOLLOWING DESIGN: • EXTEND THE LINES OF THE FIRST DESIGN • ADD MORE LINES (STRAIGHT OR CURVED) TO DIVIDE EACH SECTION INTO AT LEAST 4 SHAPES • SHADE EACH SHAPE FROM BLACK TO WHITE – START SHADING EACH SHAPE WITH THE DARKEST VALUE. CHANGE THE DIRECTION OF THE SHADING OF EACH SHAPE. • SHADE WITH TINY PENCIL STROKES, DON’T PRESS HARD ON THE PENCIL • USE A PAPER STUMP (BLENDING STUMP/TORTILLON) FOR SMOOTH BLENDING • WHEN DONE, TAKE A PHOTO OF THIS AND SEND IT TO ME VIA EMAIL AGRIFFIN@CISND. CA