Lyra Graphite Stick 9b

Product Information

If you’re working with charcoal you may come across tinted ‘White Charcoal’ pencils. Technically these aren’t ‘true’ charcoal as they are made up of white pigment and binder, but they can be used alongside charcoal in your artwork.

You can find out more about Graphite Pencils in our Choosing the Right Graphite Sketching & Drawing Pencil article. Tinted Graphite Caran d’Ache Technalo RGB Water-Soluble Tinted Graphite Pencils (left) and Derwent Graphitint Tinted Graphite Pencils (right)Robert Dutton is a UK ambassador for Canson papers and Nitram Charcoal and an associate artist for Unison Colour pastels and Derwent. He has won awards for his work and is a popular tutor, leading a number of creative painting and drawing holidays and short breaks in the UK and Europe. For more information, visit www.rdcreative.co.uk Derwent Graphitone is a very stylish and pure graphite water-soluble pencil available in 2B, 4B, 6B and 8B. I find they dissolve better than other brands to create sumptuous passages of tone. Layering one tint over another is pure joy.

By combining different drawing media you can both draw and paint, keeping your options open and your work progressing in exciting directions. These ruins are in an area of the Pennines I know well and I never tire of them. Returning to the same motif is never boring – connections become deeper, drawings become stronger and emotional responses to the subject are all the better for it. When working from photographs make A4 print-outs so that you see all the detail – but don’t copy it all! Add to and subtract from the scene to make more drama. Remember why you took it in the first place. Evoke those feelings in your drawing.

Graphite Blocks and Sticks

Limit your drawing periods to just one hour (or less). This will force you to focus on the essence of the composition and create freer, looser drawings filled with excitement. Graphite isn’t as messy as charcoal, so it is less likely to smudge and much easier to protect (requiring very little, if any, fixative). This makes it more simple to work with for new artists. Graphite pencils are made in different degrees of hardness by regulating the amount of clay added. The greater the quantity of clay, the harder the lead and the lighter the overall drawn line will appear. The grades available range from H (hard) to 9H (very hard). And B (soft) to 9B (extremely soft). HB and F are intermediate grades.