It first sounds to anyone that choosing a sketch pencil would be a job that’s simple even for a five year old kid. Just go to a pencil jar get the one you like. But the hard part is when it comes to choose the best and when there are a lot to choose from. It sure isn’t as simple as choosing a Number 2 pencil though they are math since they aren’t that great for drawing purposes. For drawing however, there are a varying variety of sketch pencils from hard pencils for thin sketching, to soft pencils that come in varying degrees. Mr Pencil provides all sorts of sketch pencils as per your requirement.

Hard sketch pencils
Hard pencils do not actually mean that the pencils are hard. Rather it is the graphite that is referred to as hard. And because of its hardness, there is a gradual decrease in breaking of lead graphite from the sketch pencil and a fine lighter line is drawn as a result of it. I personally am into sketching and Mr Pencil also suggested that hard pencils are the best for outlining as one starts a drawing. It works great for some very light shading in the sketches too. Hard pencils can be easily distinguished by the designated letter H on its stem in the middle of the sketch pencils. The number will be in a format like 0H, 1H and 2H so on where the number signifies the hardness of the pencil. The bigger the number is the harder the pencil will be. A typical regular number is a number 2 pencil and is designated as HB sometimes. It is quite in-between a hard a soft.

Soft sketch pencils
On the other hand, soft sketch pencils are designated the character capital B. These sketch pencils also vary their degree of softness. The degree of softness varies like 0B, 1B, 2B and so on. As the number goes higher, the pencil goes softer. Let’s say like a 10B pencil has very soft graphite compared to a 5B sketch pencil. Such sketch pencils are best used for shading since the shades produced are of great quality as required in sketches usually. One can take up a soft pencil from Mr Pencil and work their way up the list since the softer the pencil you choose, the darker the line you get. The reason for this is quite simple if you think a bit. Mr Pencil suggested that when you press on a softer graphite pencil, it breaks away more easily than does in a harder sketch pencil getting you a thicker sketch.

So how would you sketch a figure with these varying types of sketch pencils? As per Mr Pencil, here is a way that best suits all. You can first start the outlining of your sketch using an H pencil since the basics are important and if you get something wrong, the markings are light since you used a hard sketch pencil and it’s easy to undo it. Just try to get a picture of your sketch in this stage, do not hard on the pencil since it only wastes your energy. You use a hard pencil to get a light sketch so that you get the right frame and then proceed with darkening with the image dimensions. After this, you have a sketch outline. You can start with your darkening of the sketch. Use soft pencils of higher number when you need dark shadings or sketch patterns. You can optionally blend the pencil markings too by nudging the graphite on the paper sketch using a finger to get a smooth uniform shade.

Mr Pencil also suggested to experiment with the variants of pencils so that you will figure out which ones to use and in which situation or for which pattern of the sketch. Trying this will finally leave you with one final pencil that you may feel is best for all purposes or maybe you will have a set of 2-3 sketch pencils just for your sketches every time. Depends on your style, but the final choice will be yours on which sketch pencils suit you and your sketching style.