Pencil Drawing

A pencil is one of the simplest art tools. But artists can make amazing pictures with just a pencil and paper. Pencil drawings can be quick sketches or very detailed works of art. All you need to get started is a pencil and something to draw on.

Kinds of Pencils

Drawing pencils come in different levels of hardness. Hard pencils make light, thin lines. Soft pencils make dark, thick lines. Artists often use several pencils in one drawing. The letters H and B on a pencil tell you how hard or soft it is.

Pencil Drawing Skills

Artists use many tricks with pencils. Hatching means drawing lots of tiny lines close together to make shadows. Cross-hatching means crossing lines over each other. Blending means rubbing the pencil marks to make them smooth. Practice helps you get better at all of these.

Fun Facts

• The graphite inside a pencil is not actually lead, even though people call it that.
• A single pencil can draw a line about 35 miles long.
• Some artists create pencil drawings that look as real as photographs.

Did You Know?

The pencil was invented over 500 years ago when a big chunk of graphite was found in England!