Chapter 1 | PENCIL AND PAPER
If there is a B on a pencil, it’s a soft pencil. With softer pencils you can draw both very light and very dark. The more B (2B, 3B, 4B etc.) the softer. If there is an H on a pencil, it is a hard pencil. With hard pencils you can draw very precisely, but it always remains light gray. The more H (2H, 3H, 4H etc.) the harder. An HB pencil is right in between.
A 2B pencil is an ideal basic pencil for drawing both light and dark, while erasing and sharpening pencils is still very easy. For precise drawings where you use a ruler, an HB or H pencil is nice. You will then be less likely to get stains.
THE BASIC GRIP:
Exercise 1: Hold your pencil loosely, don’t squeeze it. Let the pencil roll loosely between your fingers (image). Don’t hold your pencil too close to the tip. This way you will see better what you are drawing.
You can also hold the pencil more at the end (photo). Handy if you want to draw with the side of your pencil point or if you want to draw loosely larger shapes, especially if the paper is tilted or vertical (easel, folded table etc.).
SHADES OF GRAY; TRAINING YOUR DRAWING HAND
Exercise 2: Draw an ‘endless’ line on your paper with a 2B pencil. Start as light as you can and change the pressure as you draw so that the line becomes darker. Make nice curves if you get too close to the edge of your paper. Alternate very light and dark a few times.
Exercise 3: Again with a relaxed grip, draw some wavy or straight lines with a 2B pencil, first as light as you can. The lines become just as fine as the threads of a spider web. By pressing a little harder lines will become gradually darker. The point is that your drawing hand will start to feel the subtle differences between light and dark.
Exercise 4: draw with a 2B pencil small areas in as many different shades of gray as possible, next to, above and below each other, without outlines/sharp edges (image). You get deeper black on somewhat coarser drawing paper. Make sure it doesn’t get scratched anywhere. If necessary, draw with the side of your pencil tip (image).
TO SHARPEN OR NOT TO SHARPEN
A sharp point on your pencil is nice and sometimes necessary, but for drawing soft gray tones/shadows, a sharp point may be inconvenient. You can always make a sharp point a bit rounder with sandpaper. With the same sandpaper you can also clean a stained eraser.
CHOOSING PAPER
Maybe you have already found a nice type of paper to draw on, in loose sheets or a dummy/sketchbook. Smooth white A4 or A3 paper is fine for drawing, but it is also nice to use thicker, coarser paper. Pay attention to this if you buy paper, for example a sketchbook. You can feel paper very well with your fingers. Also try lightly tinted paper (beige/yellow-brown/greyish).
Tip: On tinted paper you can accentuate light parts with a white pencil.
Of course, Basispotlood.nl won’t stop you if you feel like drawing with other materials that happen to be nearby (in this drawing blue and red ballpoint pen and a black marker).
