Which kind of pencils should be used by a beginner for drawing?

Question

I am curious what people would consider a basic / standard pencil type to have in their toolbox for pencil sketching.

There are a ton of variants I see with different hardness/softness etc and I don't plan to do anything advanced just want to sketch things out but I feel like while a regular pencil is just fine maybe there is a common type that may be more appropriate to learn with.

If your answer is 'use a regular pencil until you feel it's holding you back' that's fine too, just looking for a little guidance.

Trying to understand how to see things differently (mainly perspective) as coming from a technical and CAD background everything I try to sketch comes out reflecting that.

Edit: If it makes a difference I am used to drawing lines firmly on paper. So based on my understanding a harder pencil may be more appropriate? Or maybe a softer one to teach myself to not try and stab the paper?

Answer 1

I am not an expert but here is what I gathered from my experience.

Pencil have different hardness rated as follow:

Harder (very light strokes) 7H -> ... -> 2H -> HB -> 2B -> ... -> 7B Softer (dark strokes)

• Start with a 2B or HB to "draw" (contour, shape, ...)
• Then add a 4B or 6B for your first shadings (I would go with 6B to widen the range of shade you can achieve). Do the lighter tones with your "first" pencil and the darker with this new one.
• If you want "real black" instead of the grey provided by graphite pencil you can add a charcoal pencil.
• completed with 3B, 4B, 5B etc. depending where you think there is a value (grey level) you can't achieve with what you have.

Answer 2

A must have in my toolbox is 2B, as you may tend for more "tech" way of drawing i would add an HB to that. In addition to that i'm carrying a one softer pencil 4B-5B. To summerize - my toolbox = HB, 2B, 4B/5B. To feel shadows i usually use 8B allthough i never carry them with me because the graphite inside easly "break" and they are very annoying to use afterwards ;-)

Answer 3

I recommend getting a small range of hardnesses, specifically:

• 4B
• 2B
• HB/#2
• 2H
• 4H

Make sure they're all the same brand, so that you have consistency of scale.

I recommend a range, but this small one, because it's important to introduce yourself to the effect of hardness on the mark a pencil makes. Harder graphite (higher H) makes lighter marks, and the lead doesn't smudge as easily. Softer graphite (higher B for black) makes darker marks that can smudge more easily.

If you're used to drawing firmly, like I am, you might be inclined to use the 4H pencils, because it will help keep your marks lighter despite your heavy hand. However, the harder lead also means that if you press harder you're going to leave impressions in the paper that can't erase. Essentially lines of compression, almost like scratches.

The B range are harder to erase completely, but they don't usually gouge your paper, even if you draw more firmly.

The HB/#2 pencil is probably what you, or most beginners, are familiar with using, as it's the standard technical/academic/office pencil. Padding it out with a couple pencil on either side of the scale gives you a taste of what the hardness levels can do, and lets you experiment without investing money in the entire range.

Answer 4

For a beginner, I would recommend a generic, cheap mechanical pencil, like a Bic brand mechanical pencil. They produce a reliable and mostly consistent line without need of sharpening. Because the line is usually the same, it is easier for the beginner to practice replicating a mark they like over and over again. The stability of the tool makes it easier to practice your mark, focusing on the skill, rather than the medium. Mechanical pencil leads are often quite soft, making it much easier to make and remove fine marks without careful and frequent sharpening. Mechanical pencils do not require sharpening, and so do not regularly interrupt the drawing process. Mechanical pencil leads are fragile, and helps to teach gentleness of hand, encouraging the beginner to learn how to position the pencil such to put force into a line without damaging the tool. With practice in a mechanical pencil, it is easy to adapt one's hand to all other varieties of more variable dry drawing media, such as standard pencils, wax pencils, watercolor pencils, bricks, sticks, lead holders, charcoal, chalk, and many others. Skill with a mechanical pencil remains useful long into experienced work, both as a tool for finished work, and more importantly as a tool for impromptu sketching and planning. Finally, mechanical pencils are cheap, widely available, easily maintained, portable, and a single one could last you a lifetime if you never lose it.

Answer 5

I'll share my experience and opinions. When I was a beginner, I didn't know much about paper types and pencil grades. I would use a normal pencil that I would use in school. It was probably or HB. And I used a thin paper. I didn't know about paper weight (GSM) thing.

But when I made a few drawings, I did better than I had imagined, but in a few days I started noticing problems.

First, the paper was getting distorted (you could notice by checking the back side of paper), because I used too much pressure to create darker shades. And then I had experience of getting irritated because drawing hairs in portraits seemed boring. It would look more time consuming to me, then it actually should take, because with a hard and lighter pencil, it's not easily possible to create the look and feel you want, especially the darker areas. You have to do some hard work. At that moment, I would often ask myself it it's really boring?

Further, I faced the problem of blending/blur. I couldn't easily do it because the pencil was hard and there wasn't enough graphite to smudge or get blur effect. Again, this would sometimes overwhelm me.

And if by mistake I would apply too much pressure to create darker lines, and later I would realize I need to erase it as it's gone wrong, I wasn't so easy to erase it with my non expensive eraser.

So if I have to give an advice to beginners now, I'd tell you following things:

1. Go for a softer (darker) pencil. Anything between B and 5B should be fine. You can easily create lighter and darker shades. Further you won't need that much pressure. When you're beginner, you don't want to apply too much pressure. If you feel you also need a separate pencil for outlines or rough lines, you can buy maybe H or HB.
2. A softer (dark) pencil is a bit easy to blend (especially when you apply the graphite gently and then smudge it)
3. Not always, but sometimes, when you start working with a less than suitable tool for something for which you have a little more expectations and capabilities, you might feel you're doing bad work. But that's not always true. It's a really good thing to see and experience basic things on your own, but sometimes, a little guidance can help you stay positive.

Note that HB isn't a bad pencil or less than any other pencil. Like every other, it has its own value. Once you're experienced, you can even create good sketches with HB too.

Answer 6

There are numerous type of pencils , for the lighter shadingn 2B, for little darker, 4B, at last 6B when you want put black effect.

Answer 7

I use a flat carpenters pencil. They are HB and are thin one way and thick the other way. They are cheap, won't break in your pocket, and can be easily sharpened with a reasonably sharp pen knife.