Pencil Sketching - Equipment

How good you are at sketching comes down to how much you practice. Sketching is an art that requires patience and precision. However the kind of equipment chosen can make a big difference to the quality of the sketch. Here are some of the important components that are needed to create a great pencil sketch

Pencils

Pencils generally come in four grades: H, B, F, and, HB.

The chart below shows the tone produced by each grades of pencils.

H or Hard pencils produce a lighter tone, while the B or black pencils produce deeper and darker tones. The B pencils have a soft lead that tend to crumble easily while the H pencils are quite brittle.

I have always preferred to use Faber-Castell or Apsara pencils for sketching. Although it is commonly assumed that pricier pencils produce results, unless you notice a huge difference in the quality of your sketches, go for the cheaper brands. I have never seen a noticeable difference myself between the more expensive brands and the more reasonably priced ones. I would love to hear from you if you know of any brands that you feel are excellent for sketching. Please feel free to leave comments for this post.

Sharpening blades

For best results with your pencils, it is very important to sharpen them properly. Regardless of what brand of pencil you use, you can get beautiful textures from your pencils if you sharpen them well.

Here is a link I found that has some really good information on the different methods to sharpen pencils.

Make sure you have a sharp blade when you do sharpen your pencils. Blunt blades can cause you to cut yourself or break the pencil leads.

I have preferred using blades for sharpening pencils. The normal pencil sharpener is good for producing points that can be used to draw straight lines. However, the blades give you flexibility to create different types of points that are useful for shading, drawing lines etc. Do not despair or give up if you are unable to sharpen properly with a blade initially. It can take a while to master sharpening with a blade. I have broken many a pencil on the way to becoming adept with a blade.

Sandpaper is also an excellent way to sharpen just the lead of the pencil. Especially, the B grade pencils that are difficult to sharpen to a point.

Erasers

As they say failures are the stepping stones to success. The good thing about a pencil sketch is that you can make mistakes and edit them easily. However it is very important to use non-dust erasers to do so.


The reason I stress non-dust erasers is because, eraser dust from a normal eraser can make a big mess of your sketch. It can smudge your sketch and leave indelible black marks on the paper.

Paper

Choose the type and texture of paper for your sketch with care. The right choice of paper greatly enhances the outcome of the sketch.

There are many paper types. Some that I have found suitable for sketching are:

• Cartridge sheets
• Criss-cross sheets
• Hand made paper
• Butter Sheets (used for tracing)

The type of paper to be used depends on many factors such as:

• Scale of the drawing - Choose larger sheets for bigger or more elongated buildings. Make sure to use the landscape or portrait alignment carefully before starting the sketch.

• Level of detailing required -  Don't choose dull, textured paper if your sketches require straight, crisp lines or if you are showing intricate details as they will not stand out on these types of paper. Conversely, do not choose crisp paper for sketches that require a lot of shading.

• Subject of the drawing - Historical drawings tend to require more textured paper such as hand made sheets. Papers in shades of yellow or cream suit these sketches more. On the other hand, Contemporary drawings look better on clean, white paper such as criss-cross or cartridge papers. Choose thicker hand made paper if you want to incorporate smudge effects in your drawings. 

Preserving your drawings
Butter paper sheets or wax paper sheets are invaluable to preserve your drawings. Make sure that once you finalize your sketch, you roll them up with a butter sheet on top of the sketch. Otherwise your sketch will smudge or fade quickly.

I hope that you find the above post useful. I will be covering equipment for Rotor Ink sketches in my next post.