Different Types of Pencils for Sketching and Drawing

Probably, there’s no artist that can imagine a life without a pencil. Even though pencil drawing may seem simple, there are many factors to consider when choosing the materials that you will work with. You need to know the characteristics of each type of pencil in order to determine the effective use of them and get the desired results. For this reason, we're going to check in detail the characteristics and purposes of the different types of pencils used for drawing and sketching.

Graphite pencils are the most common and the most ordinary pencils used in art, as well as in writing. They are made of a mixture of dark grey material - graphite with clay, and a wooden coating to keep your fingers clean. For artists and people who are frequently using pencils in their homes, offices, or for school use, many retailers offer superior quality pencil sets which can be found in different sizes, i.e. a different number of pencils (70, 72, 100, etc.)

“How many grades of pencils are there?” - you may wonder. These pencils come in a variety of hardnesses. They are usually labelled from 2H to 6B, where HB means “hard and black”. The pencils that are marked with the symbol B are pencils with a larger amount of graphite, while the ones marked with H are pencils with more kaolin. The higher the number beside B, the larger amount of graphite the pencil has, i.e. the more graphite, the softer and the darker the tones will be. And vice versa, the more kaolin, the harder and lighter lines the pencil will create on the paper.

Hard pencils are usually used in technical drawing, doodling and sketching, as they’re easily erasable without any effort being put in. The soft ones are used in the artistic drawing as they make light lines, and are also easily erasable. If you are an artist, it would be more practical for you to buy pencil sets, instead of constantly buying one by one.

Solid graphite pencils, also known as woodless pencils, are thin sticks of graphite covered by slim paper or plastic, instead of wood. These pencils are mostly used for art and drawing. Artist may take advantage of solid graphite pencils because they allow to a smooth and velvety application while shading large areas of the drawing at once to easily get the desired results. They don’t require frequent sharpening for a longer period of time. The only disadvantage with these pencils is that it’s hard to protect your fingers from getting dirty, as they don’t have a wood casing.

Charcoal pencils are shaped like sticks and, as the name suggests, they are made of compressed charcoal. Usually, they’re encased within a wooden or paper-wrapped pencil. They create dark and rough lines, but you can always brush the coal off with a dry, clean cloth or wipe with a soft eraser. However, a rough texture may allow the charcoal to adhere to the paper. These pencils have a variety of colour shadows - from the lightest grey to the darkest black.

Charcoal pencils are adequate for quick sketches and impressionist drawings. A great technique that you can use with these pencils is scumbling - moving the pencil in small, circular motions, and by varying the pressure as you draw, you can create depth and texture. As they’re easy to modify and adjust, charcoal pencils are one of the favourites of the artists. It's worth mentioning that charcoal was used by many famous artists, like Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Ernst Barlach, and many others.

Carbon pencils are pencils made of a mixture of charcoal and graphite and are encased with a wood barrel. The graphite contributes to smoothness and sharpness of the drawing, and the charcoal enables you to achieve significantly darker values. These pencils have a consistent softness, for superior blending and texture, as they leave a thick and hard line. Such lines are perfect for sketching, drawing and layout, and often they are perceived by artists to be the perfect pencil to create dramatic and expressive drawings.

Coloured pencils, or also known as pencil crayons, are similar to normal graphite pencils, only in colour. Their colours are made up of wax or oil and are combined with a variety of pigments and additives. They’re characterized by being light, clean, durable and water-resistant.
 

There is a great variation in the quality of coloured pencils, so if you are an artist and you need coloured pencils, you should experiment with a few different options. Aside from being used in fine art by artists, coloured pencils are also used by children as they’re easy to use, versatile and don’t leave any mess. However, professional-grade coloured pencils differ from student-grade colour pencils due to high-quality pigmentation. Among the available colours, you will also find a white pencil. This white pencil is used to lighten darker colours or to give a shadow to the created drawing.