Understand Pencil Grades
To achieve a realistic drawing that communicates depth and form, your drawing needs to have a wide range of values. Invest in a set of high quality pencils with a range of grades that fit your specific drawing needs.
A typical full set of pencils will range from 9H (hardest) to 9B (softest). Having a full set is not necessary for portrait drawing. The range you need depends on the type of drawings you do.
What are the best pencils for sketching and shading?
Hard pencils produce clean, sharp and light lines which are great for sketching, architectural drawings, product sketches, etc. The harder the pencil, the more difficult it is to blend or smudge.
careful when shading or outlining with sharp, hard pencils because they can leave deep indents in your paper which are very difficult to cover up.
Soft pencils produce dull and dark lines which are easy to blend. Soft pencils deposit more graphite with less effort, making it easy to fill in space, blend, shade and add texture to your drawing. They are the best pencils for shading and drawing portraits!
The pencil grades I use the most for portrait drawing are: HB, 4B, 6B and 8B.
The best shading pencils should be free of impurities.
You can tell how hard or soft a pencil is by looking at the combination of letters and numbers printed on the end of each pencil.
H: Hard
F: Fine Point
HB: Hard Black
B: Black
To achieve a realistic drawing that communicates depth and form, your drawing needs to have a wide range of values. Invest in a set of high quality pencils with a range of grades that fit your specific drawing needs.
A typical full set of pencils will range from 9H (hardest) to 9B (softest). Having a full set is not necessary for portrait drawing. The range you need depends on the type of drawings you do.
What are the best pencils for sketching and shading?
Hard pencils produce clean, sharp and light lines which are great for sketching, architectural drawings, product sketches, etc. The harder the pencil, the more difficult it is to blend or smudge.
careful when shading or outlining with sharp, hard pencils because they can leave deep indents in your paper which are very difficult to cover up.
Soft pencils produce dull and dark lines which are easy to blend. Soft pencils deposit more graphite with less effort, making it easy to fill in space, blend, shade and add texture to your drawing. They are the best pencils for shading and drawing portraits!
The pencil grades I use the most for portrait drawing are: HB, 4B, 6B and 8B.
The best shading pencils should be free of impurities.
You can tell how hard or soft a pencil is by looking at the combination of letters and numbers printed on the end of each pencil.
H: Hard
F: Fine Point
HB: Hard Black
B: Black
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