I’m sure this is one of the first thing that everyone asks when they buy their first set of graphite pencils. Everyone usually starts of with your standard HB pencil. This is right in the middle of the spectrum and you can actually do a whole lot with just this grade. But what you’ll quickly realize is that what really makes drawings pop (for various reasons) is the range in values. The difference between your darkest dark and your lightest light.

Okay, so knowing this we can justify three pencils: a soft/black (B-grade) pencil, the tried and true HB pencil, and a hard (H-grade) pencil. Three pencils are all that anyone really needs to make a great drawing. The next question is: which ones? This is where trial and error comes in. different ranges of pencils have different effects on different papers. Different techniques make a difference too. That being said, you don’t want to choose pencils too close or too far away on the scale. If the grades that you choose are to close on the scale, you won’t get the range of values that you need to make your drawings pop. If you choose grades that are too far away on the scale, you won’t be able blend them to make an even transition of values. For this reason I only choose pencils that are only separated by 3 or 4 grades. 2H, B, 4B or H, 2B, 5B (I honestly don’t know the role of the F pencil and don’t consider it when choosing my grades).

This is a great place for an aspiring graphite artist to start. Once you get the hang of working with just three pencils then the next one you should add is an extra soft pencil (6B, 7B, 8B). This will help you darken up the darkest parts of you drawing. Just be careful not to press too hard. These pencils are very soft and don’t require much pressure to do the job. You don’t have to worry much about the harder side of the scale. If fact, I would avoid using anything harder than 3H. These harder pencils will actually damage the paper and the lighter values that you’re trying to get can be achieved using graphite pushing techniques with a brush or cotton swab.

I’ll leave you with one last piece of advice (because, I’ll probably write another post on this topic). Use the same pressure for all of your pencils. Some artists like to get a range of values from their pencils by varying the pressure that they use. I find that this just adds a layer of difficulty for an aspiring artist and isn’t really necessary. You’ll quickly notice that you can get a wide range of values from one pencil even without changing the pressure very much. The three things that help you achieve this are: the sharpness of your pencil, how much time you spend drawing on the same spot, and how much graphite you can fit into the paper. The main reason that I don’t like using pressure to achieve my values is because too much pressure can and will damage the paper and too little pressure is very touchy when trying to nail a light tone.

Happy Drawing!

The post How to Properly Use the Many Grades of Graphite in your Drawings. appeared first on Jacob Petersen Art.