What is so hard about pencils?
What is so hard about graphite pencils… well, graphite. Drawing pencils are made with graphite of varying degrees of hardness and blackness. A better question would be, ” What do the labels on the pencils indicate?” The letters and numbers range in order from 9H, 8H, 7H, 6H, 5H, 4H, 3H, 2H, H, F, HB, B, 2B, 3B, 4B, 5B, 6B, 7B, 8B, 9B, and 9xxB.
The “H” on the left side of the range, indicates the hardness of the pencil. The harder the pencil, the higher the number before the H and the finer and lighter the lines are going to be. Harder pencils leave lighter marks because less of the graphite material is left on the paper. These are good for light lines. If used lightly, these marks can be completely lifted off later with a kneadable eraser.
The “B pencils” on the right side of the range indicate the blackness of the marks made with that pencil. These pencils are softer because more of the graphite material is left on the paper leaving a darker mark. They are good for shading in a large or very dark area and a kneadable eraser will lift off most of the graphite but not all leaving a shadow behind.
“HB” is right in the middle. Most sets you find from arts and craft stores give you a range from 2H to 6B, but you can also buy pencils individually. Some sets do include an 8B and oh, how I love the dreamy rich black color from an 8B pencil. A range of several different pencils is best so you have the best tool for the job at hand.
In the sketch above, I used HB to draw my image, 2B for light lines and light shading and 8B for the darkest part of the pencil lead, and the 8B. You can see that the 8B pencil leaves a mark almost as dark as the black ink on my shopping list.
It takes a lot of time to do a sketch like this and learning can feel frustrating. My encouragement is to not give up. Your kneaded eraser is your friend.
“With every mistake, we must surely be learning.”
George Harrison
Making mistakes does not make you a bad artist, but making them and letting that stop you from continuing does. It is the same in life really. We will all face trials and hard circumstances. If a beginning artist knows there is a reward to pushing through the struggle of learning to draw well, should not we also accept that we will struggle in life? We need to be willing to continue through the growing pains of learning and struggling in life and we have encouragement to do so in James 1:2-4, friends. So my hope and prayers are with you. If you ever read one of my posts and have questions about my faith or would like to be prayed for about something, please reply.
