Pencils in soft tones. Designations on pencils: decoding of hardness and softness

A pencil is a graphite rod in a wooden frame made of soft wood, such as cedar, approximately 18 cm long. Graphite pencils made from naturally occurring unprocessed graphite were first used in the early 17th century. Before this, lead or silver rods (known as a silver pencil) were used for drawing. Modern form lead or graphite pencil in a wooden frame came into use in early XIX V.

Typically, a pencil “works” if you guide it or press the lead onto the paper, the surface of which serves as a kind of grater, splitting the lead into tiny particles. By applying pressure to the pencil, the lead particles penetrate the fiber of the paper, leaving a line, or mark.

Graphite, one of the modifications of carbon, along with coal and diamond, is the main component of pencil lead. The hardness of the lead depends on the amount of clay added to the graphite. The softest brands of pencils contain little or no clay. Artists and draftsmen work with a whole range of pencils, choosing them depending on the task at hand.

Once the lead in a pencil wears off, you can continue to use it by sharpening it with a special sharpener or razor. Sharpening a pencil is an important process that determines the type of lines the pencil produces. There are many ways to sharpen pencils, and each of them gives its own result. An artist should try to sharpen pencils in different ways in order to know which lines can be drawn with a particular pencil. in different ways sharpening.

You need to know well the advantages and disadvantages of a pencil, like every material you work with. Different brands of pencils are used for specific purposes. The next section discusses some types of drawings, indicating what brand of pencil or graphite material they were made with.

The examples given give an idea of ​​the strokes and lines made different pencils. While looking at them, take your pencils one by one and see what strokes you can get with one pencil or another. Not only will you want to try each pencil and discover new drawing possibilities, but you will suddenly find that your “pencil sense” has increased. As artists, we feel the material we use, and this influences the work.

Materials and examples of strokes and lines.

HARD PENCIL

With a hard pencil you can apply strokes that are almost the same from each other, except perhaps in length. Tone is usually created by cross-hatching. Hard pencils are designated by the letter H. Like soft ones, they have a gradation of hardness: HB, N, 2H, ZN, 4H, 5H, 6H, 7H, 8H and 9H (the hardest).

Hard pencils are commonly used by designers, architects, and professionals who create precise drawings where fine, neat lines are important, such as when creating perspective or other projection systems. Although the strokes made with a hard pencil differ little from each other, they can be very expressive. The tone, like a soft one, can be created with a hard pencil by shading with cross lines, although the result will be a thinner and more formal drawing.

PROJECTION SYSTEMS FOR HARD PENCIL

Hard pencils are ideal for creating drawings. As we have already said, such drawings are usually carried out by engineers, designers and architects. Finished drawings must be accurate, dimensions should be indicated on them so that performers, for example craftsmen, following the instructions, can create an object according to the project. Drawings can be made using different systems projections, starting with a plan on a plane and ending with perspective images.

STROKES WITH HARD PENCIL
I do not give examples of strokes applied with 7H - 9H pencils.

SOFT PENCIL

A soft pencil has greater possibilities for tinting and conveying texture than a hard pencil. Soft pencils are designated by the letter B. A pencil marked HB is a cross between a hard and soft pencil and is the main medium between pencils with extreme properties. The range of soft pencils includes pencils НВ, В, 2В, ЗВ, 4В, 5В, bВ, 7В, 8В and 9В (the softest). Soft pencils allow the artist to express his ideas through shading, texture, shading, and even simple lines. The softest pencils can be used to tint a group of objects, although in general I find that in this case it is more convenient to use a graphite stick. It all depends on what surface you want to apply the tone to. If it is a small drawing, for example on AZ paper, then a soft pencil will probably be more suitable. But if you want to apply tone to a larger drawing, I would advise you to use a graphite stick.

The only soft pencil convenient for making drawings that require high precision - the palm, of course, behind a hard pencil - is a pencil with a clamped thin lead.

OTHER TYPES OF PENCIL

In addition to the pencils described above, there are other pencils that provide much more opportunities for experimentation and discovery in the field of drawing. You will find these pencils at any store that sells artist supplies.

What is graphite.

Graphite pencil can be used for quick, heavy, dramatic sketches that use energetic lines, large areas of dark tones, or interesting textured strokes. This method of drawing conveys the mood well, but is completely unsuitable for drawing. It's better to draw with graphite large drawings: The reasons for this are clear to everyone. Graphite is a universal medium, and before you start working with it, learn more about its properties and features. Since it does not have an outer frame, its sides can be fully used. We don't have this option when we draw with a pencil. You will be pleasantly surprised when you see what you can achieve when painting with graphite. Personally, if I draw in a free and dynamic manner, I always use graphite. If you also draw with graphite in this manner, you will undoubtedly achieve great success.

DRAWING WITH SOFT PENCILS AND GRAPHITE

Unlike a hard pencil, a soft pencil and graphite can make thicker strokes and create a wide range of tones - from deep black to white. A soft pencil and graphite allow you to do this quickly and efficiently. With a soft, sharp enough pencil you can convey the outline of an object, as well as its volume.

Drawings made with these means are more expressive. They are associated with our feelings, ideas, impressions and thoughts, for example, these can be sketches in a notebook, as a result of our first impressions of an object. They can be part of our visual observations and recordings. The drawings convey a change in tone during the process of observation, or due to creative imagination, or express the surface texture. These drawings can also arbitrarily explain or express expression - that is, they themselves can be works visual arts, and not preparations for future work.

The eraser enhances the effect of a soft pencil. A soft pencil and eraser allow you to achieve greater expressiveness in your drawing. The eraser, used in conjunction with a hard pencil, is most often used to correct mistakes, and as an addition to a soft pencil and charcoal, it is a means of creating an image.

What are erasers?

As a rule, we first get acquainted with the eraser when we need to correct a mistake. We want to erase the place where the mistake was made and continue drawing. Since the eraser is associated with correcting mistakes, we have a rather negative view of it and its functions. An eraser seems to be a necessary evil, and the more it wears down from constant use, the more we feel it doesn't meet our needs. It's time to reconsider the role of the eraser in our work. If you use an eraser skillfully, it can be the most useful tool when drawing. But first you need to give up the idea that mistakes are always bad, because you learn from mistakes.

While sketching, many artists think about the drawing process or decide what the drawing will look like. Sketches may be incorrect and need to be corrected as work progresses. This happened to every artist - even to such great masters as Leonardo da Vinci and Rembrandt. Revision of ideas is almost always part of creative process, it is noticeable in many works, especially in sketches, where artists develop their ideas and plans.

The desire to completely erase the errors in the work and start drawing again is one of the common mistakes of beginning artists. As a result, they do more more errors or repeat previous ones, which causes a feeling of dissatisfaction, leading to a feeling of failure. When you make corrections, do not erase the original lines until you are happy with the new drawing and feel that the lines are unnecessary. My advice: keep traces of the correction, do not destroy them completely, as they reflect the process of your thinking and refinement of the idea.

Another positive function of the eraser is to reproduce areas of light in a tonal drawing done in graphite, charcoal or ink. The eraser can be used to add expressiveness to strokes that highlight texture - a shining example Frank Auerbach's drawings serve this approach. In these, the "tonking" technique is an example of the use of an eraser to create a sense of atmosphere.

There are many types of erasers on the market that can be used to remove traces of all the substances an artist uses. Listed below are the types of erasers and their functions.

Soft eraser (“klyagka”). Typically used for charcoal and pastel drawings, it can also be used in pencil drawings. This eraser can be given any shape - this is its main advantage. It helps develop a positive approach to drawing because it is designed to bring new things into the drawing, and not destroy what has been done.

Artist's safety measures.

When working with materials, do not forget about safety measures. Handle scalpels and razor blades with care. Do not leave them open when not in use. Find out if the fluids you use are toxic or flammable. Thus, applying whitewash is a very convenient and cheap way to remove water-based ink, but whitewash is poisonous and must be used with caution.

Pumice is used to remove marks that are difficult to erase. However, pumice should be used carefully as it can damage the paper. A razor blade (or scalpel) can scrape off marks that cannot be removed by other means. They can be used in case of emergency, because by removing unnecessary strokes, you can

In the section on the question Who understands the markings of pencils - 2B, B, HB asked by the author Alexander Chumakov the best answer is
Pencils differ in the hardness of the lead, which is usually indicated on the pencil and indicated by the corresponding letters. Pencil hardness markings differ depending on various countries. On the pencil you can see the letters T, MT and M. If the pencil was made abroad, then the letters, respectively, will be H, HB, B. Before the letters there is a number, which is an indicator of the degree of hardness of the pencil.
Pencil hardness marking:
USA: #1, #2, #2½, #3, #4.
Europe: B, HB, F, H, 2H.
Russia: M, TM, T, 2T.
The hardest: 7H,8H,9H.
Solid: 2H,3H,4H,5H,6H.
Medium: H,F,HB,B.
Soft: 2B,3B,4B,5B,6B.
The softest: 7B,8B,9B.

Answer from Alexander Kobzev[guru]
artists))) and draftsmen))

Answer from Sedoy[guru]
H - hard, M or B - soft and softness levels

Answer from Tiger[guru]
Pencils differ in the hardness of the lead, which is usually indicated on the pencil and is designated by the letters M (or B) - soft and T (or H) - hard. In addition to the combinations of TM and HB, a standard (hard-soft) pencil is designated by the letter F.

Answer from Galchenok......[active]
2B - hard lead. B - medium hardness. HB - soft

Answer from Sergej[newbie]
B means soft lead, 2B is a very soft pencil, for example, it is good for shading, B is a pencil with a soft lead, H is a pencil with a hard lead, and HB is a hard-soft pencil. Depending on the softness or hardness, lines of different thicknesses are drawn. Well, in my opinion, NV is suitable for all cases. Well, in sketching they use pencils of different softness.

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Check out the Wikipedia article about Koh-i-Noor Hardtmuth

Simple pencils are always marked by hardness, this is necessary so that you can choose the right ones for different purposes. Which simple pencils It is better to take for drawing, and which ones are better for drawing, which ones are more suitable for school lessons. Pencils are called simple pencils because they all have a graphite lead. And only the softness of the lead determines the purpose of a simple pencil. Simple pencils are very practical and convenient. Many people often keep simple pencils in their bedside table (http://mebeline.com.ua/catalog/prikrovatnye-tumbochki) for solving crossword puzzles before bed. Which simple pencils are best to buy for what purposes - this is what we will talk about.

Which simple pencils are better in terms of hardness?

The hardness of a simple pencil is always indicated on it in letters and numbers. In the CIS countries, simple labeling has been adopted:

• M – soft;
• T – hard;
• TM – hard-soft.

It is usually better to choose simple pencils different types, if you draw with them, and TM is perfect for school.

In Europe, a different marking for simple pencils has been adopted:

• B – soft;
• H – hard;
• F – average hardness;
• HB – hard-soft pencil.

If you don’t know which simple pencil is better from the last two categories, then take HB for drawing, and F for drawing.

The American system for indicating the hardness and softness of pencil leads is more extensive. But in our market, most often they sell either domestic ones or pencils with the European designation system, so we will not cite the American one as an example.

Which simple pencils are best for drawing?

A famous professor at the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts at the beginning of the 20th century advised everyone who wants to learn how to draw to start with simple pencils. And only after a year, having mastered this artist’s tool, begin to paint.

The human eye can distinguish more than 150(!) shades gray, so real artists have at least half a palette of colored pencils.

For shading and drawing, choose pencils of different hardness. This is necessary so that when drawing you do not constantly sharpen soft pencils to obtain thin lines, but use only hard ones for drawing individual details.

Soft pencils are better at drawing a finished drawing, giving it volume. It’s better to draw the base more hard pencils, which can provide the basis for the drawing. If you do this, you will definitely need good simple pencils for drawing a sketch.

IN Everyday life and work, each of us, to one degree or another, needs pencils. For people of such professions as artist, designer and draftsman, the hardness of a pencil is important.

The history of pencils

In the 13th century, the first prototypes of pencils appeared, made of silver or lead. It was impossible to erase what they had written or drawn. In the 14th century, they began to use a rod made of black shale, which was called the “Italian pencil”.

In the 16th century, in the English town of Cumberland, shepherds accidentally stumbled upon a deposit of a material that looked very similar to lead. They couldn’t get bullets or shells out of it, but they were great at drawing and marking sheep. They began to make thin rods from graphite, sharpened at the end, which were not suitable for writing and became very dirty.

Somewhat later, one of the artists noticed that drawing with graphite sticks fixed in wood is much more convenient. This is how the body of simple slate pencils appeared. Of course, at that time no one had thought about the hardness of a pencil.

Modern pencils

The form in which pencils are known to us today was invented at the end of the 18th century by the French scientist Nicolas Jacques Conte. IN late XIX and the beginning of the 20th century. Several important changes were made to the design of pencils.

Thus, Count Lothar von Fabercastle changed the shape of the pencil body from round to hexagonal. This made it possible to reduce the rolling of pencils from various inclined surfaces used for writing.

And the American inventor Alonso Townsend Cross, thinking about reducing the amount of material consumed, made a pencil with a metal body and a graphite rod that could be extended to the required length.

Why is hardness so important?

Any person who has drawn or sketched something at least a couple of times will say that pencils can leave strokes and lines that differ in color saturation and thickness. Such characteristics are important for engineering specialties, because first any drawing is made with hard pencils, for example T2, and at the final stage with softer ones, marked M-2M, in order to increase the clarity of the lines.

Pencil hardness is no less important for both professional and amateur artists. Pencils with soft leads are used to create sketches and sketches, and harder ones are used to finalize the work.

What types of pencils are there?

All pencils can be divided into two large groups: simple and colorful.

A simple pencil has this name because it is structurally very simple, and it writes with the most ordinary graphite lead, without any additives. All other types of pencils have a more complex structure and the mandatory introduction of various dyes into the composition.

There are quite a few types, the most common are:

• ordinary colored ones, which can be either single-sided or double-sided;
• wax;
• coal;
• watercolor;
• pastel.

Classification of simple graphite pencils

As already mentioned, simple pencils have a graphite lead. An indicator such as the hardness of a pencil lead is the basis for their classification.

IN different countries Various markings have been adopted to indicate the hardness of pencils, of which the most widely used are European, Russian and American.

Russian and European markings of black lead pencils, as simple pencils are also called, differ from American ones in the presence of both letter and digital designations.

To indicate the hardness of a pencil in Russian system markings it is accepted that: T - hard, M - soft, TM - medium. To clarify the degree of softness or hardness, numerical values ​​are introduced next to the letter ones.

IN European countries The hardness of simple pencils is also indicated by letters taken from words characterizing hardness. So, for soft pencils the letter “B” is used from the word blackness (blackness), and for hard pencils the letter “H” is used from the English word hardness (hardness). In addition, there is also a marking F, coming from the English fine point (subtlety) and indicating the average type of pencil. It is the European system of marking hardness with letters that is considered the world standard and is the most widespread.

And in the American system, which determines the hardness of pencils, the designation is carried out only in numbers. Where 1 is soft, 2 is medium, and 3 is hard.
If there is no marking on the pencil, then by default it is of the hard-soft (TM, HB) type.

What does hardness depend on?

Today, graphite is also used to make the lead of a graphite pencil. From the proportions of these substances mixed at initial stages production, the hardness of the pencil depends. The more white kaolin clay is added, the harder the pencil turns out. If the amount of graphite is increased, the lead will be softer.
After mixing all the necessary components, the resulting mixture is fed into the extruder. It is in it that rods of a given size are formed. Then the graphite rods are fired in a special furnace, the temperature in which reaches 10,000 0 C. After firing, the rods are immersed in a special oil solution, which creates a surface protective film.

Simple pencils for the artist

Any person who has ever written, drawn or drawn with a simple pencil is familiar with graphite.We are accustomed to thinking of simple pencils as being made from graphite, and we don’t think about what they actually are.The lead of a graphite pencil is made from a mixture of graphite and clay, and is packaged in a body, most often wooden. Exactly toThe amount of clay determines the degree of hardness or softness of the pencil.

Graphite is a mineral that is a form of carbon. It is mined from various rocks, and its artificial analogues are also produced. The raw materials for this, for example, can be carbides, which are exposed to high temperatures, or cast iron, which, on the contrary, is gradually cooled to obtain artificial graphite.

The main line of dividing pencils by hardness is as follows: “H” pencils and “B” pencils.“H” pencils are hard, and the higher the number (it is placed next to letter designation, for example: 1H or 2H), the lighter the lines. TOA 6H pencil, for example, will be much easier to draw than a 2H pencil."B" pencils are soft and the higher the number, the darker the lines or strokes it will make. Which corresponds to the Russian markings “T” (hard) and “M” (soft).For drawing, pencils of softness “B” or “M” are usually used - if in our opinion.

Below diagramshows the full range of hardness of graphite pencils, accepted in the West, which we also have to deal with all the time.“NV” means in Russian and corresponds in properties to the marking “TM” - hard-soft - and is the middle of the scale. The “F” marking corresponds to “TM”, it is just less common.

Hardness scale for imported pencils

The blackest (and most expensive) graphite still lacks the intensity of blackness; in addition, it, like graphite in general, is characterized by shine. A drawing made with graphite (especially hard) shines. Therefore, in some artistic works it is replaced by drawing, which gives an intense thick blackness and has no shine. That is why graphite is suitable exclusively for small, mainly landscape drawings, which are well preserved without (unless the graphite used for the drawing is too soft).

Other forms of artistic graphite

Two other forms of graphite that are commonly used in drawing are: woodless pencil And graphite bar(or sticks).

Woodless graphite pencil. It is also known as “graphite in varnish”.

Bwood pencil(as you can guess) it is graphite without a wooden body. It is often sold under the name “graphite in varnish” or “graphite rods” (then they will not be varnished). Basically, the lead has a round shape. Woodless pencils need to be sharpened with a regular sharpener.They are made for drawing and painting and are usually on the soft side of the hardness scale, often in HB, 2B, 4B, 6B and 8B. Again, different manufacturers offer different degrees of hardness. With a wood-free pencil you can make both very thin and wide strokes, which are made with the beveled side of the writing tip.

Graphite bars (sticks)

Graphite drawing stones

Convenient for large images and for quickly covering large areas.They are also available in different degrees of hardness, and some manufacturers, such asCaran d'Ache(pictured above) make them in different sizes.