Soft graphite pencil. Why is a simple pencil called "simple"? How is the hardness of a pencil marked in different countries? So what kind of pencil is suitable for drawing - video

In creativity, it is impossible to do without an important tool - a pencil. It doesn't matter if you are an architect, a professional artist, or just learning how to draw; A good graphite pencil plays an important role in the work of any artist.

In fact, you probably, like most artists, use several different pencils depending on the effect you want to create.

Choosing the right pencils to bring your sketches and artwork to life can seem like a daunting task, but it all depends on your tastes. After you choose a brand that you like, you can use different pencils and combine them. You'll see, a lot of what we offer are pencil sets that allow you to experiment with a wide variety of lines and shading, but each brand also sells pencils separately as soon as you need to refill the set.

How to choose the best drawing pencil

When choosing the perfect graphite pencil, the first thing to consider is your drawing style. For technical drawings and similar work with thin lines, those pencils that are used for darkening will not work. Do you use dark, thick lines in your sketches, or do you prefer lighter, thinner strokes? Your personal art style and needs will guide you in choosing a good drawing pencil.

Keep in mind that most artists use more than one type of pencil. In fact, many manufacturers produce pencil sets different types. This will allow you to combine tools depending on the requirements of a particular drawing.

When you know what type of work you need a pencil for, you need to understand what kind of stiffness you need. Despite the fact that we often talk about the lead content in pencils, they actually do not have it. While colored pencils are made from wax and pigment, graphite pencils are made from clay and graphite. The combination of these two creates smooth strokes, but graphite pencils produce different lines depending on how much clay they contain. As a general rule, the more clay in a pencil, the harder the pencil will be and the lighter the shading will be.

The Russian scale for pencil hardness uses the TM scale, but the rest of the world uses a different scale. Most manufacturers use the HB scale, where "H" stands for hardness and "B" for softness and blackness.

The HB scale ranges from 9H, a hard pencil that creates thin, light lines, to 9B, a soft pencil that contains a lot of graphite and creates heavy, dark lines. While manufacturers give each pencil a scale designation, it's all relative within a given brand, so remember that one manufacturer's 6H pencil may differ slightly from another manufacturer's 6H pencil.

Once you understand what kind of lines your pencils create, you can easily combine them, thereby putting together a set of graphite pencils that will suit your needs as an artist.

The best graphite pencils for drawing

Available in different sets, Derwent pencils are suitable for both beginners and professionals. You can choose from soft, medium, and hard pencil sets that people say are easy to sharpen. This allows for detailed work as well as shading. The hexagonal shape makes the pencil easy to grip.

The Prismacolor set is a good starter kit. It includes seven graphite pencils of different types, as well as four woodless pencils. They create beautiful, wide strokes and allow you to experiment. As an added bonus, the pencil set includes water-soluble graphite pencils that soften on contact with water. Thus, this set is a great option for sketching.

Many artists draw with Staedtler pencils. The Mars Lumograph set is known for its strength and durability, making it a great kit for detailed work. Pencils also cleanly erase, so paper won't smudge. Staedtler's standard set includes 6B, 5B, 4B, 3B, 2B, B, HB, F, H, 2H, 3H, 4H pencils, making it extremely versatile. “I have been using the Staedtler Lumograph set professionally for over 30 years, and in that time I have not found a better set,” says Mike Sibley, artist and art educator. “I even give them to my workshops.”

Excellent quality Lyra Art Design pencils. The graphite is hard enough that this set is suitable for technical drawing, and also does not create problems with hatching thanks to 17 types of hardness pencils. One critic writes: “The best pencils for drawing. High quality smooth graphite that is easy to blend. A large variety of stiffness for all your artwork needs."

Faber-Castell is a German brand known for their high quality art supplies and this pencil set is no exception. The brand produces sets of pencils with many types of hardness, which you can purchase separately. Strong and durable pencils are easy to sharpen. In addition, the handy packaging of Faber-Castell allows you to carry pencils with you. No wonder these are the favorite pencils of artists, regardless of style or skill level.

The Japanese manufacturer Tombow is known for their high strength pencils, which means they sharpen easily. The Mono pencil is known to be very dark and virtually indelible. The dark lines of Tombow Mono almost mimic ink, making it an artist's favorite pencil for shading and tracing.

Woodless pencils are a little more expensive, but they usually last longer than regular wooden pencils. The Cretacolor set is ideal for shading, and the graphite in the pencils is water-soluble, so you can create soft shading. The Creatacolor kit also comes with an eraser and a sharpener, giving you all the tools you need in one package.

The 2H Prismacolor Ebony Pencil is the perfect choice for rich, velvety lines. Soft pencil, easy to blend, does not create greasy black lines. It often needs to be sharpened due to its softness, but many people use this pencil to darken.

Don't be afraid of the price. Caran D "ache is a kit for serious sketches. Being the only pencil manufacturer in Switzerland, the brand has conducted thorough research, creating pencils that many artists admire. The set contains 15 graphic and 3 water-soluble graphite pencils, as well as accessories. Some say that this the best drawing pencils and once you try them you will never go back to other pencils.

The best mechanical pencils for drawing

Rotring is the dominant brand in the mechanical pencil industry. A professional drawing pencil is durable, which means you'll spend less money buying new tools. With a retractable lead and non-slip metal body, this pencil is great for sketching.

This pencil won design awards for a reason. Rubber dots along the entire body make the tool extremely comfortable and easy to grip. This pencil also has an eraser.

So what kind of pencil is suitable for drawing - video

New disposable pencil with a wooden frame, the stylus must be sharpened (refined) before the first use. In addition to disposable pencils there are reusable mechanical the pencils with interchangeable leads in a permanent setting.

The pencilsdiffer in the hardness of the stylus, which is usually indicated onpenciland is marked with lettersM(or B- from English. blackness) - soft andT(or H- from English. hardness) - solid. Standard (hard-soft) pencil in addition to combinationsTM And HBdenoted by the letterF(from English fine point). Degree of softnesspencilsdenoted by the letterM(soft) or 2M, ZMetc. Capital letter beforeMindicates greater softnesspencil. Solid the pencilsdenoted by the letterT(solid). 2 T harder than T, ST harder than 2 T, etc.

Unlike Europe and Russia, in the USA a numerical scale is used to indicate hardness.

Table of correspondence of hardness scales

The hardest Middle The softest

Usually start pencilmedium soft -TM or M- and then move on to softer numbers "-2 M And ZM.

Choice pencilsdepends on quality and from the creative task that the artist sets himself. For example, fast easier to make softpencils, while working on long time for semi-whatman type, you can start light pencils T or TM. On a smooth lays down better soft pencil, on the more rough is comfortablepencilmedium soft -2 M.

History of pencils

Since the 13th century, artists have used thinsilver wire that was soldered to the handle or stored in a case. This type pencil called « silver pencil » . This tool required a high level , since it is impossible to erase what he has drawn. Another his characteristic feature was that over time gray, inflicted silver pencilturned brown.

There was and "lead pencil" , which left a discreet but clear mark and was often used for preparatory. For completed silver and lead pencil, characterized by thin . For example, likepencilsused by Dürer.

Also known as the so-called"Italian pencil" which appeared in the 14th century. It was a rod of clay black slate . Then they began to make it from burnt bone powder, bonded with vegetable . This tool allowed you to create an intense and rich It is interesting that even now artists sometimes use silver, lead anditalian pencilswhen they need to achieve a certain effect.

In the XV-XVI centuries. on parchment or painted with a silver or lead pin ( German Stiff - "base, tool"). A silver lead is especially good for this purpose. It gives thin and clear and similar to a chisel. Such dense almost never fade. silver pin, or stylus , drew many Italian artists as well Northern Renaissance- R. van der Weiden, A. Dürer, H. Holbein (Holbein) Jr., J. fan Eyck.

In the era and XVI-XVII centuries artists preferred soft or liquid materials - , , , , . Since the end of the XIV century. began to use slightly burnt clay grayish slate ( "black chalk") or red-brown ("red chalk").

In the 17th century spread"Italian pencil" (French Crayon d'Italie). It was made from burnt bones , crushed into powder, with the addition of vegetable . " Italian pencil" (later -retouch) is able to create juicy black matte , and when rubbing - a wide scale transitions. This material was a favorite in creativity Venetian artists, such as Titian, it is convenient for them to make preparatory to . And " Italian pencil"artists painted and romance of the late XVIII-XIX centuries.

Known since the 16th century. First Description pencilwas found in the 1564 works on minerals by the Swiss naturalist Konrad Geisler. At the same time, the discovery of the deposit in England, in Cumberland where sawn into pencil rods. English shepherds from the Cumberland area found a dark mass in the ground, which they used to mark their sheep. Because of, similar to lead, the deposit was taken for deposits of this metal. But, having determined the unsuitability of the new material for making bullets, they began to produce thin sticks pointed at the end from it and used them for drawing. These sticks were soft, dirty hands, and only good for drawing, not writing.

In the 17th century usually sold on the streets. Artists, to make it more convenient and the stick was not so soft, clamped these « the pencils » between pieces of wood or twigs, wrapped them inpaper or tied them with twine.

The first document that mentions a woodenpencil, dated 1683. Production in Germany pencilsstarted in Nuremberg. Germans, mixing with sulfur and , received a rod of not such high quality, but at a lower price. To hide it, the producerspencilsresorted to various tricks. In wooden casepencilat the beginning and at the end they inserted pieces of clean , while in the middle there was a low-quality artificial rod. Sometimes the insidepenciland was completely empty. So-called "Nuremberg Goodsdid not have a good reputation.

It wasn't until 1761 that Caspar Faber developed a way to strengthen by mixing powdered with resin and antimony, resulting in a thick mass suitable for casting stronger and more uniform rods.

At the end of XVIII century Czech I. Hartmut began to make rods for pencils from a mixture and clay followed by firing. Appeared rods reminiscent of modern ones. By changing the amount of added clay, it was possible to obtain rods of various hardness.

Modern pencil invented in 1794 by the talented French scientist and inventor Nicolas Jacques Conte.

IN late XVIII century, the English Parliament imposed a strict ban on the export of precious from Cumberland. For violation of this prohibition, the punishment was very severe, up to the death penalty. But despite this continued to get smuggled into continental Europe, which led to a sharp increase in its price.

On the instructions of the French convention, Conte developed a recipe for mixing with clay and the production of high-quality rods from these materials. With the help of high temperature treatment, high strength was achieved, but even more important was the fact that changing the proportion of the mixture made it possible to make rods of different hardness, which served as the basis for modern classification.pencils by hardness.

It is estimated that pencilwith a rod length of 18 cm can be carried out 55 km or write 45,000 words!

Modern leads use polymers that allow you to achieve the desired combination of strength and elasticity, make it possible to produce very thin leads for mechanical pencils(up to 0.3 mm).

Hexagonal body shape pencil proposed at the end of the 19th century by Count Lothar von Fabercastle, noting that the pencils round sections often roll off sloping writing surfaces.

Almost ²/ 3 material constituting a simplepencil, goes to waste when sharpening it. This prompted the American Alonso Townsend Cross to create in 1869metal pencil. the rod was placed in a metal tube and could, if necessary, be extended to the appropriate length.

This invention influenced the development of a whole group of products that are used everywhere today. The simplest construction is mechanical pencil with a 2 mm lead, where the rod is held by metal clamps ( collets) - collet pencil. Collets open by pushing a button at the end pencil, resulting in extension to a user-adjustable length pencil.

Modern mechanical the pencilsmore perfect. Each time the button is pressed, a small section of the lead is automatically fed. Suchthe pencilsdo not need to be sharpened, they are equipped with a built-in (usually under the lead feed button) with an eraser and have different fixed thicknesses (0.3mm, 0.5mm, 0.7mm, 0.9mm, 1mm).

pencil have grayish with a slight sheen, they do not have intense blackness.

famous french Emmanuel Poiret (1858-1909 ), born in Russia, came up with an aristocratic French-sounding pseudonymCaran d'Ache , with whom he began to sign his works. Later, this version of the French transcription of the Russian word"pencil" was chosen as the name and trademark of the Swiss brandCARAN d'ACHE based in Geneva pencilssharpened on fine-grained emery cloth), reminiscent of italian pencil . Pencil « Retouch"There are four numbers: No. 1 - very soft, No. 2 - soft, No. 3 - medium-hard, No. 4-hard. rodspencil « Retouch» are made from finely ground birch charcoal, clay and a small amount of carbon black.The pencils « Retouch» give an intense, bold streak of black which blends well. made in pencilRetouch", may not be fixed with a fixative. In addition to the black pencil "Retouch”, another pencil is produced“Painting» marked 2 M- 4 M.

Pencil "Blueprint"

Except , as . Gives a blacker and more contrasting streak that is better perceived by various photocopy settings. produced for wood marking, as well as"Carpentry". For this work" carpentry» pencil convenient because of its length and thick stylus.

Italian pencil

Italian pencilis one of the types of freestyle pencils. Its distinctive feature is a deep matte velvety black , easily blendable .

Italian pencilused when performing, as well as naked human body.
Italian pencilsknown since the 15th century. They are hard, medium and soft.

WHAT CAN A PENCIL

graphic artist Stanislav Mikhailovich NIKIREEV

If we turn to painters, graphic artists, muralists and even sculptors with this question, then everyone would find in an ordinary simple pencil, in its artistic and technical capabilities, something of their own, beloved, and we would not hear a definite answer. But everything is probablycothey say that the pencil was not invented in vain, and drawing begins with its help - in the form of sketches and sketches. A great many works of art created pencil.

Pencildraw. But what ispicture ? This question is not so easy to answer briefly. Every significant artist contributes to the art of drawing, although there is a general opinion about the drawing as the basis, the backbone of fine art. I recall the words of the remarkable Soviet artist and teacher, academician E. A. Kibrik, from whom I was lucky to learn. He said:

“It took more than a decade before I understood what drawing is.”

He had in mind the drawing of high, realistic art, the most difficult in its artistic manner, where line and stroke build objects, figures, landscapes in volume, weight, characteristic.

Quite often I had to make friends and work with pencils, simple and colored, for a long time, and now I need to remember ( because my creative way for three decades now), what did I draw for them and how.

Drawing with a pencil with all seriousness, devoting most of your creative time to this activity, is not easy. It is necessary to overcome the temptation of paints, colors and feel confident that you can express in a silver or black image, along with a clear constructiveness, a tonal-painterly mood. To decide on this means to win, the first, significant one. The second victory of extreme importance is when you will be able to understand that an artist can create masterpieces not only with paints, but also with a pencil. With the brightest clarity, magnificent drawings will help in this.

In the artist's work, the pencil performs a great ancillary work, allowing you to make sketches, sketches, sketches, which serve as a preparatory stage for works of easel and monumental painting, prints. The work is responsible and essential. The maximum value of the qualities of a pencil is manifested in independent drawings, when the artist needs to express his ideas more fully and completely. And the pencil will not let you down with its endless scale of elusive shades, delicate shadings and juicy velvet spots, from the thinnest cobwebs to resolutely intense, elastic lines. If you add to this the varying softness and degree of gray-black gradations, then the ability of a pencil is superior to any other.art material .

Working with pencils, I never feel annoyed that at some point they may be powerless to express my desires and ideas. With a simple pencil, I studied plasters, still lifes, portraits and figures of sitters during long sessions, diligently shading and carefully working out the details. But with a special desire I draw landscapes - grass, flowers, trees, land, buildings. At the same time, I study not only their design, materiality,invoice , but I strive to convey various “moods” on paperlandscape .

The pencil is light and easy to correct, which is especially important when working in wildlife, and almost indispensable on trips, where you meet many interesting moments that you would like to capture, while it is impossible to use other art materials due to time constraints.Line Andstain , which the pencil gives, help to easily and quickly enter exciting moments, the necessary details into the artist's travel album.

It is difficult to imagine the surrounding life, so to speak, in black and white, without color. It turned out that I parted with watercolors and oils a long time ago, devoting all my time and energy to graphics, but I got a reliable assistant -color pencil, which fully satisfies my needs to work in color. The opinion was strengthened that the colored pencil is poor and limited in the color range. Is it worth it, however, to demand from uncomplexity and wealthoil painting ? But we must strive to use to the end of its capabilities.

Sometimes drawing comes down either to imitation of children's drawings, or to admiring mannerisms: the sweeping stroke, line, spot, pure
formal compositional solutions. Many professional artists sometimes draw, as it were, during a break, during a break from painting or other activities. Hence the frivolous approach to the pencil, lightweight drawings, which are often seen at exhibitions.

When I first tried to seriously work with a colored pencil, as a student, I admired the unusual elasticity, texture of lines and strokes.

I wanted to see the motive in sweeping and sometimes random lines and in no case allow shading. The paper breathed and the lines were really beautiful. But if the goals of art were reduced to solving such problems, then artists would be, as they say, a dime a dozen. Thinking about what I draw and why, made me look at pencil work in a different way. Gradually, other charms began to open up, other virtues, less flashy, but noble and necessary for expressing ideas. The amazing ability of a pencil to convey the smallest objects and details with extraordinary clarity of form was discovered, enveloping these forms at the same time with the finest fluffiness of a stroke or coloring with a juicy sonorous spot. This technique corresponded to my understanding of the world, and I could not achieve this in other artistic materials. It turned out that the color possibilities of the pencil are much wider and deeper when you try to convey the mood and state of the landscape. At the same time, a purely pictorial technique is also used - scraping, when it is not possible to immediately guess the color, texture, and tone of objects. It would seem that the drawing is drying up, in some places it is careless from scraping, but the completeness of the sheet, dictated by the content, and not by formal moments, acquires a true meaning and beauty.

In such work, many times he went so far from drawing with a stroke and a line into purely shading spots that the sheet took on the form casually called by the artists "oilcloth". But if this technique is warmed by great, genuine love and passion for what I shaded so imperceptibly under the "oilcloth", then, I assure you, the success of this discreet sheet is guaranteed with a greater guarantee than the "tasty" one decided. Thus, the ability of a colored pencil to work in multiple sessions was discovered, starting a drawing easily, leading it to a weighty conclusion.

With each drawing, I learn about all the new possibilities of the pencil. You just need to carefully, sensitively look at a small lead in a wooden frame, and it will give great joy and success.

I love the pencil because you can draw with it. I love jealously, because he is still capable of much more - to draw, write. I love it for its amazing accessibility and simplicity, for the fact that I drew my first work from life with a simple pencil, and then I had a dream of becoming an artist.

Pencils are an amazing tool that is used for drawing and drawing work. In order for the work to be successful, it is important to know everything about the characteristics of this tool. It is necessary to figure out what they are, what is the decoding of the hardness of a pencil lead and what effects can be obtained when using tools with different characteristics.

Varieties of pencils

Pencils are divided into two large groups: colored and graphite (simple). They, in turn, are divided into varieties. Let's consider each of them in more detail.

Classification of colored instruments:

• Colored. These are the most common tools that everyone used to draw at school. There are hard, soft, soft-hard.
• Watercolor. After painting, they are blurred with water to obtain a watercolor effect.
• Pastel. These are pastel crayons in a wooden frame. They are very soft. They are convenient because they do not get your hands dirty, they are protected from frequent breaking of crayons, and they also have a standard size.

Classification of tools with graphite rod:

• Simple. Just they are most often used in graphics (drawing with pencils). They have many different markings, we'll talk more about them later.
• Coal. They are pressed charcoal for drawing in a wooden frame. The benefits are the same as for pastels.
• Conte. They are almost the same as pastel, but have a different color palette: they come in black, gray, brown and other shades. There is also white in the range of colors.

How to determine the hardness of pencils

Now let's take a closer look at the graphite type. They can depict anything, and very realistically. The works are “alive” thanks to shading, the correct overlay of tone, the right pressure on the tool. Therefore, the whole drawing or drawing as a whole depends on its quality and number.

The scheme is great for determining the hardness of pencils. A table would also work. To visualize and determine the density, you can use the pencil softness table, as well as determine the hardness on a special scale. By the way, you can draw such a scale yourself. To do this, you need to take all the tools that you have and alternately shade small sections of paper with them: from the darkest to the lightest, or vice versa, there will be an H. B marking in the middle. Thanks to this scheme, it will be easy to navigate and remember the type of instrument.

Markings and their meaning

First of all, you can see both English and Russian designations for the hardness of pencils. Let's take a look at both types:

Often, in addition to letters, markings contain numbers that show the strength of hardness or softness and tone. For example, there are 2B, 3B, 4B, 5B, 6B, 8B pencils. 2B is the lightest, 8B is the darkest and softest. The digital marking of hard pencils looks similar.

Applying tone to a drawing

Tone mapping rules are very important when drawing. This is especially true for graphics, because in it the work is created exclusively in one gamut: black or gray colors combined with white additions.

WikiHow carefully monitors the work of editors to ensure that each article meets our high quality standards.

Whether you're creating a masterpiece or just taking a test, choosing a pencil is a very important step. And to do so, narrow your goal down to one of two categories: writing or drawing. If it is important for you to have lines of different quality, make your choice based on the hardness of the lead (from the softest 9M to the hardest 9T). It depends on the hardness of the stylus how dark or light the lines will be.

Steps

Choosing a Pencil for Writing

Choose a wooden pencil if you need something inexpensive and durable. Traditional wooden pencils with and without an eraser are among the cheapest writing utensils. If you have a limited budget, give preference to them. A wooden pencil is also preferable if you apply a lot of pressure to the pencil while writing, as the graphite in them is able to withstand that pressure.

Choose a mechanical pencil if you need something comfortable. This pencil does not need to be sharpened, and its lead is usually replaceable. Read on the packaging, what length and thickness of lead is suitable for this pencil. A mechanical pencil is also good choice for passing standard tests, since it is convenient to fill small cells for answers with its thin stylus.

Choose a medium hard (TM) lead pencil for general use. These are wooden or mechanical pencils with a regular medium hard lead. It can be used to write an essay or fill out the answers to a sample test.

Choose a mechanical pencil for drawing drawings. A mechanical pencil leaves thinner and more uniform lines. For a preparatory sketch, a pencil with a lead thickness of 0.5 mm is enough for you. If the drawing will be more detailed, choose a pencil with a thinner lead (about 0.3 mm).

Keep pencils of varying degrees of hardness handy. Drawing involves creating a variety of lines and shades. Use T-marked pencils to draw thin, solid lines that you don't want to smudge. Give preference to pencils marked M if you want to draw shadows or other parts of the drawing that need to be smeared. M-marked pencils also allow you to make lines and shades darker.

Use colored pencils to outline or draw shapes on paper. If you're drawing on lined or folded paper, go with the cheapest brands like Crayola. Sharpen them like a regular wooden pencil for finer lines, or blunt them for thicker lines.

Choose a charcoal pencil if you want rich black or gray lines. Like regular charcoal in the form of sticks, the stem of this pencil is made from wood that has been scorched to the point where only carbon remains. Unlike regular charcoal, these pencils provide smoother strokes. Press down on the pencil to draw thicker black lines. Reduce the amount of pressure to make the lines thinner. Charcoal pencils, like graphite pencils, have varying degrees hardness. You can buy them at any art supply store.

Buy a carbon pencil if you want to draw smooth black lines. Choose this pencil if you want to achieve a truly black color that graphite cannot achieve. These pencils are made from lamp black, a by-product of burning oil. Carbon pencils also come in varying degrees of hardness and are sometimes sold as sticks. You can buy them at an art supply store.

Use grease pencils for glossy surfaces. These pencils are also called wax pencils and are made from a waxy material similar to that of crayons. Use this pencil when you want to make temporary marks on smooth surfaces like ceramic, metal and plastic. To sharpen a pencil, pull the string and expose the wax part. You can buy these pencils at an art supply store.

Simple pencils, differences. What is a pencil? This is a kind of instrument that looks like a rod made of writing material (charcoal, graphite, dry paints, etc.). Such a tool is widely used in writing, drawing and drawing. As a rule, the writing rod is inserted into a convenient frame. pencils can be colored and "simple". That's just about such "simple" pencils today and we'll talk, or rather about what types of graphite pencils exist. The very first object, vaguely resembling a pencil, was invented in the 13th century. It was a thin silver wire soldered to the handle. They kept such a "silver pencil" in a special case. To draw with such a pencil, remarkable skill and skill was required, because it was impossible to erase what was written. In addition to the "silver pencil" there was also a "lead" one - it was used for sketches. Around the 14th century, the "Italian pencil" appeared: a rod made of clay black slate. Later, the rod was made from burnt bone powder mixed with vegetable glue. Such a pencil gave a clear and color-saturated line. By the way, this kind of writing instruments are still used by some artists to achieve a certain effect. Graphite pencils have been known since the 16th century. Their appearance is very interesting: in the Cumberland area, English shepherds found a certain dark mass in the ground, with which they began to mark sheep. Since the color of the mass was similar to lead, it was mistaken for deposits of metal, but later they began to make thin sharp sticks from it, which were used for drawing. The sticks were soft and often broke, and dirty hands, so it was necessary to put them in some kind of case. The rod began to be clamped between wooden sticks or pieces of wood, wrapped in thick paper, tied with twine. As for the graphite pencil that we are used to seeing today, Nicolas Jacques Conte is considered to be its inventor. Conte became the author of the recipe when graphite was mixed with clay and subjected to high temperature treatment - as a result, the rod was strong and, in addition, this technology made it possible to regulate the hardness of graphite.

Lead hardness Lead hardness is indicated on the pencil with letters and numbers. Manufacturers from different countries (Europe, USA and Russia) have different markings for the hardness of pencils. Rigidity designation In Russia, the hardness scale looks like this: M - soft; T - solid; TM - hard soft; The European scale is somewhat wider (marking F does not have a Russian equivalent): B - soft, from blackness (blackness); H - hard, from hardness (hardness); F is the middle tone between HB and H (from the English fine point - fineness) HB - hard-soft (Hardness Blackness - hardness-blackness); In the US, a scale of numbers is used to indicate the hardness of a pencil: - corresponds to B - soft; - corresponds to HB - hard-soft; ½ - corresponds to F - medium between hard-soft and hard; - corresponds to H - solid; - corresponds to 2H - very hard. Pencil pencil strife. Depending on the manufacturer, the tone of the line drawn with a pencil of the same marking may differ. In Russian and European marking of pencils, the number before the letter indicates the degree of softness or hardness. For example, 2B is twice as soft as B and 2H is twice as hard as H. Pencils are commercially available and are labeled 9H (hardest) to 9B (softest). Hard pencils Start from H to 9H. H is a hard pencil, hence the thin, light, "dry" lines. With a hard pencil, draw solid objects with a clear outline (stone, metal). With such a hard pencil, according to the finished drawing, over the shaded or shaded fragments, thin lines are drawn, for example, strands are drawn in the hair. The line drawn with a soft pencil has a slightly loose contour. A soft lead will allow you to reliably draw representatives of the fauna - birds, hares, cats, dogs. If it is necessary to choose between a hard or soft pencil, artists take a pencil with a soft lead. An image drawn with such a pencil is easy to shade with a piece of thin paper, a finger or an eraser. If necessary, you can finely sharpen the graphite lead of a soft pencil and draw a thin line similar to the line from a hard pencil. Hatching and drawing Strokes on paper are drawn with a pencil inclined at an angle of about 45 ° to the plane of the sheet. To make the line bolder, you can rotate the pencil around the axis. Light areas are shaded with a hard pencil. Dark areas are correspondingly soft. It is inconvenient to hatch with a very soft pencil, as the lead quickly becomes dull and the fineness of the line is lost. The way out is to either sharpen the point very often, or use a harder pencil. When drawing, they gradually move from light to dark areas, since it is much easier to darken a part of the drawing with a pencil than to make a dark place lighter. Please note that the pencil must be sharpened not with a simple sharpener, but with a knife. The lead should be 5-7mm long, which allows you to tilt the pencil and achieve the desired effect. Graphite pencil lead is a fragile material. Despite the protection of the wooden shell, the pencil requires careful handling. When dropped, the lead inside the pencil breaks into pieces and then crumbles during sharpening, making the pencil unusable. Nuances that you should know when working with pencils For hatching at the very beginning, you should use a hard pencil. Those. the driest lines are made with a hard pencil. The finished drawing is drawn with a soft pencil to give it richness and expressiveness. Soft pencil leaves dark lines. The more you tilt the pencil, the wider its mark will be. However, with the advent of pencils with a thick lead, this need is no longer necessary. If you do not know how the final drawing will look like, it is recommended to start with a hard pencil. With a hard pencil, you can gradually dial the desired tone. At the very beginning, I myself made the following mistake: I took too soft a pencil, which made the drawing dark and incomprehensible. Frames of pencils Of course, the classic version is a stylus in a wooden frame. But now there are also plastic, varnished and even paper frames. The lead on these pencils is thick. On the one hand, this is good, but on the other hand, such pencils are easy to break if put in a pocket or dropped unsuccessfully. Although there are special cases for carrying pencils (for example, I have a set of KOH-I-NOOR Progresso black lead pencils - good, solid packaging, like a pencil case).