How to Draw from Photographs

Tools and Materials

You can create almost any texture imaginable with a pencil and paper. You won’t need a lot of supplies to follow the exercises in this book, but it’s important to get acquainted with the basics. As you work, you can experiment with different tools to discover which ones suit you best.

Pencils

Pencils are labeled with numbers and letters. The letter indicates hard lead (H) or soft lead (B), and the number describes the grade—the higher the number, the more intense the hardness or softness of the lead. So a 9B is the softest of the B leads; a 2B is mildly soft. HB is in between hard and soft. Soft leads create thicker, darker lines; hard leads produce thinner, lighter lines.

There are several types of pencils: Woodless pencils ...