The most popular pencil drawing techniques involve either a classic tripod or overhand grip. While there are many variations based on these two, they represent the foundation of pencil sketch. Mastering not one but both is essential if you want your sketchup make to show depth and realism. Also known as the portrait drawing, the tripod grip is almost instinctive from an early age. Using three fingers to guide the pencil on the canvas is a habit that most beginner artists have. It feels natural and offers a high degree of accuracy when abstract pencil art.

For non-artists, I think that the culture of beautiful pencil drawings is not extended or continued with or for them beyond early childhood. Grade schools and high schools, for the most part, value math and science over the arts, which gets cut out when budgetary pressures arise. What is then neglected is the haptic qualities of “making,” which can contribute to retention of learning as well as foster communication. If a non-artist is only shown an example of classical or academic pencil design drawing, they will be thwarted by not having those skills. If encouraged to make native marks artistic drawings and be respected for that, most people would grow up with less doubt on their ability to drawing videos and would enjoy the process, which is a very important part of pencil art love!

graphite drawing pencil was one of the first mediums I really extensively developed for my art. When I was starting out, I was paint-shy. black and white drawings was just so intimidating and hard to control! So I stuck with trusty graphite (“lead”) pencils, and discovered just how much this simple tool can achieve. Some of my all time favourite works, and most popular artworks, are my graphite artworks from this time. Below you’ll find some tips for getting great results with graphite.

The simplest, most natural type of shading is to just alter pressure on your best drawing. Sharpen it to a fine point and make small overlapping circular marks with as light a pressure as you can. Try to cover the area smoothly at the light end of the section and then gradually increase pressure as you work toward the darker end where it’s filled in nearly solid.