Fuller - Start sketching and drawing now : simple techniques for drawing landscapes, people and objects

Graphite
Graphite is measured in degrees of hardness. The highest degree on the soft half of the scale is a 6B pencilvery soft; 5B is slightly harder, then 4B, 3B, 2B, B, all getting progressively harder until you reach the midpoint which is HB. On the hard side, the numbers progress from H up to 6H, which is the hardest in that series. Commonly called lead, graphite comes in various formswooden pencils, mechanical pencils and plain sticks.

Graphite sticks are useful for applying tone to large areas or making wide lines. They come in several degrees of softness but not the full range. Mechanical pencils are available in different diameter leadssizes .05, .07, .09and can be found in office supply stores. They are good for finer work as well as everyday sketching. Larger gauge holders and leads can be found at art supply stores. Wooden 2B pencils can be found everywhere, but the full range from 6B to 6H is available through art suppliers.

Keep It Simple
There are specialty leads which exceed the range discussed here, but this will be more than enough for our purpose. I rarely use any pencil harder than 2H or softer than 2B.

Stay Sharp!
Dont try to draw with something you find in the bottom of a golf bag.

Start with a brand new, properly sharpened pencil. When it wears down about half way, then use it to keep golf scores!

Wooden Carpenters Pencil
Carpenters pencils are useful for broad strokes. They can be cut to a chisel point or shaped with sandpaper for special jobs. Both art supply and hardware stores carry them.

Pocket Sharpener
Theres no excuse for using blunt pencils with the number of tools available for sharpening. Some are ancient collectibles like the pocket sharpener from elementary school days. They still work, though they can be a bit messy if you dont have a convenient place to dispose of the shavings and graphite powder.

Manual Sharpener
Who can forget the old manual school model? (It was usually wall-mounted and overflowing with shavings that never seemed to make it to the waste-paper basket without leaving a trail.) Use a paintbrush to clean the blades on a manual sharpener periodically. They also always seem to work better after a blast of spray oil (sold in hardware stores).

Electric Sharpener
The most popular sharpener in the studio is the electric sharpener. It also benefits from having the blades dusted out with a paintbrush and sprayed with a bit of oil every once in a while.

Utility Knife
There will be times when you want to draw with a tool that just wont fit in the hole provided by the sharpener. Whittling the wood away from the graphite without breaking the lead is a valuable skill to develop.The retractable snap-off blade is cheap and handy for this job and many others.