Lots of people get confused about the way pencils are graded. Don’t worry if you are one of them. At Zieler we have put together an easy guide and explained the differences for you.
Sketching pencils are marked on a scale using numbers and letters. E.g 3B. The numbers and letters on the scale show the hardness or softness of the lead/core.
If a pencil is marked with a letter H it has a hard lead. The higher the number on a H pencil the harder the lead. A Hard lead pencil will draw alight mark. H pencils are ideal for precision drawing and architectural style design.
Here we are building up tones in drawing the image of a cat. The cat drawing uses the H grade pencils as a base tone or to add fine details in the fur.
If a pencil is marked with a b this shows a softer lead.
The higher the number with the b mark the softer and darker the pencil.
The softer pencils are easy to smudge and blend and are ideal for a wide range of shading techniques.
In the cat drawing a 6b is used in the eye area and to build up darker layers of tone on the fur.
H is in the middle of the scale and is generally used in most schools and offices. It’s also an ideal grade for writing.
Top tip
Remember the scale this way. H=. Hardness B = blackness (softness)
Most of all if you are new to drawing just experiment and have fun with it. Don’t worry to much you can alway rub out your mistakes.
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