Indelible pencils are the pencils that produce a different colored mark when the original mark gets wet. Indelible pencils were first made with a silver nitrate base. The original patent for indelible pencils says that they are as useful as an ordinary pencil but more permanent, as the marks cannot be erased with rubber.

Copying pencils use a dye also called ink. Copying pencil marks do not change color when they get wet. These pencils are made from a wax and dye mixture.

Drafting pencils are the pencils with a lead degree of 3H or more.

Wood-less pencils are graphite rods that usually come in a plastic casing

Colored pencils are the pencils that are made using a mixture of graphite and different colored wax. These pencils mark in a wide range of colors.

China markers are the pencils that have a thick waxy core. These pencils will write on almost any surface and come in all colors. Pulling a string that is attached to the pencil commonly sharpens these pencils.

Carpenter Pencils are the pencils that are rectangular in shape. This shape keeps them from rolling away. These pencils also have a rectangular core, which allows for both thin and thick lines. These pencils are often stronger than other pencils and allowing them to be place into a bag with heavy tools and not to be broken. The builders use these pencils because they will make mark on rough wood and stone with ease.

Golf pencils are the short pencils, which are usually of 4 or 5 inches in length. They do not have an eraser.

Sketching pencils or drawing pencils are specially designed for drawing. These pencils come in many different grades of hardness. The more clay when mixed into the graphite makes the lead harder. Harder lead draws a softer line. Conversely, the more lead when mixed into the pencil makes the lead softer. Softer lead draws a thicker darker line.

Highlighter pencils are a form of makeup. These pencils come in a variety of textures and colors. Highlighter pencils reflect light. This makes them a good tool for makeup artists but difficult to get the hang of for others

There are currently 2 pencil rating systems. One is in Europe and one is in the US. The one in the US is a numerical system while the European system is based upon a lettering scheme. The European system is the one that most drawing pencils use. In this system, pencils are rated by hardness (H), blackness (B), and rather the point is fine (F). The softest pencil in this system is rated 9(B) while the hardest is rated 9(H). A pencil manufacturer, named Brookman, in the early 1900s, developed this system. In the US, the rating uses a numerical value. According to Mr Pencil, the ratings are as follows:

#1=B
#2=HB
#2 ½=F
#3=H
#4=2H

Mr Pencil think that the most common pencil in the US is the #2.

Grinding graphite and clay into a stiff doughy consistency makes up a pencil. This gooey stuff is then passed through a small hole in a tungsten carbide die. The finished product is then cut into seven-inch lengths. These leads are then dried and put in a kiln to be fired. Once they come out of the kiln they are infused with a lubricant to make them write smoother. The different gradients in pencils are dependent upon how much clay is added to the mixture initially. The wood used to encase the graphite core must be soft enough to sharpen easily, yet also be stable enough not to bend. The most popular wood for this purpose is the Red Cedar. When the wood is first milled it is seven inches long and around two inches in diameter. Then six half circle grooves are cut into one side to allow the graphite lead to be inserted. After that, two grooves are glued together with the graphite encased between them. Once the glue has cured a special machine cuts the pencil into the correct shape, it is then painted and the grade is printed on the side. In total, 125 steps have gone into the making of each pencil. It would cost someone around $50.00 in labor and materials to make one 10-cent pencil.

Today, most of the pencils have an eraser. However, 16 years ago they did not. The reason for this is believed to be because teachers thought that children would make more mistakes. After all, with an eraser you can easily rub out a mistake.

Did you know pencils couldn’t be used in space? In the 1970s, a story was circulated that NASA was spending vast amounts of money to develop an instrument that will write in space. This task is not as easy as you may think. The typical pen uses gravity in order to work. In space, there is no gravity. The end of the story is that someone should send NASA a pencil.

Although this may be funny but it is not true. Pencils cannot be used in space. When you write with pencil, fine particles of graphite dust comes free from the lead. Due to the lack of gravity in space, this dust would then float around the cabin and becoming a health risk when it is inhaled by the astronauts.

Stylus was the first ever item that is used as a pencil. Used in ancient Rome, a stylus was a thin metal stick that was used to scratch on papyrus. The stylus was often made of lead. That is why many people still believe that pencils are made of lead. Pencils are not made of lead they are made from graphite mixed with clay. Graphite is a form of carbon. It is a non-toxic substance found underground.

Some time before 1564, what is known as England today an enormous deposit of graphite was discovered. This deposit was extremely pure and solid allowing it to be sawed into sticks to be used. The locals found this graphite to be very useful to mark sheep with. This particular graphite deposit remains the only large-scale deposit ever found. Chemistry was brand new then and the substance was thought to be a form of lead. It was consequently called plumbago, which is Latin for acts like lead. The core of pencils is still called lead even though it does not contain any of the elements.

Plumbago was soon considered valuable because it could be used to line the molds for cannon balls. The mines were then taken over by the Crown and guards were place around them. Graphite then had to be smuggled out to make pencils. Plumbago was wrapped in string or sheepskin at first because it is too soft to be easily held. These string and sheepskin wrapped graphite sticks were the first ever pencils. Soon the news of the usefulness of these sticks was known far and wide. This news attracted artists from all over the world.

The Italians were the first to use wooden holders for the graphite. They hollowed out a stick of Juniper wood and placed the graphite inside.

Although deposits of graphite were found in other parts of the world but they were not as pure in quality as the graphite found in England. The graphite from these other deposits had to be crushed to remove impurities. The first pencils made from graphite powder were in Nuremburg Germany in 1662. The mixture used graphite, sulfur and antimony. These pencils while usable were not as good as the ones made in England.

In 1795 a French chemist Nicolas Conte invented and patented the process that is used to make pencils today. A mixture of clay and graphite was placed in a kiln and fired before being put into a wooden case. The wooden case that he used was cylindrical with a slot. The graphite lead was glued into the slot and a small strip of wood was used to fill the rest of the slot. Contes way of kiln firing pencils allows them to be made in any hardness or softness needed. Adding more or less clay could vary the hardness of the graphite rod. The softer the graphite, the darker is the mark. This is very important to artists. These pencils got their name from an old English word meaning brush.

I hope you enjoy with me in this Mr. Pencil article. Please visit our website next week, we will publish new interesting  article from our Mr. Pencil.

Mr. Pencil provides all the necessary information to the viewers of the site. Right from the types of pencils to the different styles of pencil arts, along with the art of sharpening the pencils and much more. There are numerous types of pencils, from colored pencil to shading pencil, from graphite, to charcoal pencil. All of them have different uses and show different tones and shades as well as texture.
It is important for every artist to know which kind of pencil he/she needs for each stroke, sketch or each line. Mr. Pencil will certainly help you selecting the right pencil for your every texture.

For an artist the tools are everything, and a comprehensive understanding of them is requisite. Here are some of the most commonly used pencils, their descriptions and what are they used for.

Traditional Pencils

A high-quality pencil is an artist’s greatest friend. No topic is beyond an artist’s depiction if they have the exact pencils they need. An excellent rule of thumb to keep in mind what each pencil does is to know that the softer the lead of the pencil is, the darker your line would be. Pencils having ‘B’ in their name are soft. Pencils having ‘H’ in the name have the harder leads.

Following list will help you out determining what kind of pencils you require for special techniques:

2H- It is a pencil with a very hard lead that makes very light marks. It is excellent for drawing minutiae and preface drawings that you might not want to be permanent.

6B- This pencil creates dark but softer marks. The 6B is a wide woodless pencil that is best for significant sketching and drawing.

HB- It is the most commonly used pencil. All of us know this name from our school days. Most of us even started writing or drawing using this beauty to scribble on our notebooks. Its lead comes in a category between hard and soft and makes a great multifaceted pencil. Mr. Pencil suggests keeping this one with your sketchbook every time.
Jumbo- Mr. Pencil remembers these giant sized pencils from pre-school playgroup. They contain all of the benefits of a regular HB pencils, but they possess a very broad lead that is just right for animated drawings and broad lines.

2B- These pencils have softer lead than the HB but makes darker lines. 2B is best for outlining the drawings.

Colored Pencils

Colored pencils are pigment and wax in a wooden covering. Colored pencils are a first-rate choice for artists who wish their drawings to be multicolored and can be used in a combination with lead pencils.

Mr. Pencil now welcomes to the world of sharpening pencil – this may seems to be a dull topic but there is in fact there is a lot more in this topic than you think. There are many different sharpening methods and styles; all fine artists must know them. One must know using the right one at the right time.

Sharpening styles

There are four major points to choose from; the one you select will depend on the kind of pencil you use, and the chic of your drawing.

Standard style

Everybody knows about this style, the conical point is the most widespread and the most adaptable of pencil sharpening styles. If you are seeking for a good all purpose sharpened pencil then this is the best.

The chisel point

This is a hardly ever seen style of pencil sharpening where the end of the pencil is cut with a blade or a knife into the shape of a chisel. It is mainly used to draw two types of marks on the paper, wider lines from the flat faces and thin dark lines from the sharp edge.

The needlepoint

This is a professional design that is made with a knife into a sharp curved in point. This style is ideal for perfectionists who want defined control over their super fine details.