Pencil Art Workshop

TOOLS AND MATERIALS

The list of materials required for the exercises in this book is a short one: a pencil, paper, and an eraser are all you really need. But having a few other items on hand, including chamois cloth or paper towel and a utility knife, will allow you to fine tune and add subtleties to your work.

PENCIL GRADATION

In France, around 1795, the painter and inventor Nicolas-Jacques Conté began experimenting with mixing graphite with clay to create a less fragile drawing material. By adding different amounts of clay to achieve a harder or softer consistency, Conté discovered that the ratio also affected graphite’s drawing quality. The ...