Pencil Drawing Techniques work as heavy lines adding more lead or graphite into the paper makes

total erasing near impossible.

Heavy outlines are usually drawn by

free hand, and can be created holding the pencil closer to the nib to have
better control and increasing the pressure to the desired shade instead as
seen in the diagram on the right. You may also find it easier to add heavy
outlines in small pencil strokes to avoid mistakes.

The first step in this free drawing
tutorial is to master basic pencil drawing techniques and pencil
strokes that every pencil artist needs in their pencil drawing tool box.
This tutorial should take less than half hour, but take as much time as you
need to get to grips with the different pencil strokes. Do it until you can do
every stroke without too much premeditation, and you can understand
where each stroke can be useful throughout the pencil portrait process.
Tip; Holding your pencil closer to the nib gives you more control over the
accuracy of your lines. Holding your pencil too close to the nib however,
can obstruct your view.
Practice drawing straight light and heavy lines freehand, and work out how
you are most comfortable holding your pencil. The best position will be
the one which creates the straightest line.
2.) Hatching

It might be useful further down the line if you can decide on a technique
you prefer now, also. This means you can master that one stroke and
execute it in more instances.

For example, I hardly ever use cross-hatching in pencil drawing. I

personally just prefer using the hatching or a back and forth technique,
and feel I get better results from this with a pencil. I am more comfortable
with this technique, which in turn gives me the confidence to execute it in
instances whereby maybe another artist will frown upon it, and insist on
using cross-hatching.
The Hatching pencil
There is no right or wrong. Just your own preference. technique is simply marking out small lines bunched together to create fill
color from further away.
The Different Pencil Art Techniques This technique is a shading technique, and like outlines can be light or
heavy by reducing or adding pressure.
For this you will need;

A Pencil

A Sheet of paper 3.) Cross-Hatching

1.) The Outline

This pencil technique is the most basic of all, and can be referred to as a
light outline or a heavy outline.

You would use a light

outline to create your guidelines and subject guide outlines, and can be
drawn both with a ruler and free-hand.

To create a light outline, simply reduce any pressure

The same method of
hatching above, except the process is repeated in the opposite direction in
a second layer on top of the first layer.

This technique is a shading technique, and is a good way of adding darker

downwards onto the paper and move in shades to your pencil portrait, as multiple layers can be added. I dont
a slow, flowing motion. I find holding the pencil at an acute angle with the recommend this method if you wish to blend the graphite.
top of the pencil facing the direction you are moving and using a pulling
technique helps to flow easier, as seen in the diagram on the right.

4.) Stipping

A heavy outline would be

used in the final instances of each element, once you are happy with your
 The Stipping pencil Shading Techniques with Pencil
drawing technique uses
the same principle as
hatching, but the lines are
very small, similar to tiny
dashes.

This technique is a
shading technique, but for
smaller areas such as iris
of the eyes, or even
designer stubble facial
hair.

This technique is great for blending if light pressure is Once you have mastered
used. the basic pencil drawing techniques from the last tutorial, these can then
be used to create different shading techniques within pencil drawings.

This tutorial will guide you through the process of creating different
5.) Back and Forth Stroke shades and a shading guide in which you will be able to refer to
throughout this tutorial.

A shading guide when learning to draw is a useful tool to have, as you will
be able to assess which shade is appropriate for different parts of the
pencil portrait before executing it.

In time, as you become more familiar with the different shades you can
create, you will be able to ditch the shading guide and execute shading as
though it is completely natural to you.

Pencil Sets vs A Single Pencil?

The Back and Forth pencil
drawing technique is probably the first shading technique all of us learned
when we youngsters.
It is simply moving the pencil in a back and forth motion at a more rapid
speed all towards the same direction.
Again, you can alternate the pressure to create lighter and heavier pencil
shades. This technique is useful near the outline of the subject, to ensure
the fill shade stays within the correct area. Exactly the same as when we
were kids!
When you were back at the process of choosing your art supplies, you
would have made a decision on whether to purchase a set of drawing
pencils in different grades, or just one single pencil in a versatile grade.
Again, this is a personal preference, and different people prefer different
things.
The process of learning shading techniques with pencil is very similar in
both situations, so dont fret. You will just have a little more work to do
here if you opted for the set, as you will have more gradients to
experiment with.

6.) Scumbling What Are The Different Grades In Pencil

Drawing?

Finally, the Scumbling pencil

drawing technique. This technique is moving the pencil in small, circular
motions keeping them all very compact.

This technique is brilliant for keeping the shading tight, and blends very
well. This is a favourite of mine as I like to keep the graphite soft on the
canvas, and blend the tones tightly to create a smoother texture.

Exercise; Spend half hour practising each of the pencil drawing techniques
above.

Alternate between light and heavy shades, and make notes of which
techniques you find the most comfortable for you.

Let me know how you got on, or if you need some help in the comments
below and I will get back to you as soon as

Enjoy!
 For this you will need;

A Sheet of Paper

Your 2B Pencil

A Ruler

1.) In a light outline using

your pencil and ruler, draw a 20cm x 2cm rectangle.

The twenty most

used and common grades of pencil are illustrated in the diagram on the
right. 2.) Mark off every 2cm
along the 202 rectangle.
The ten on the left of the diagram are the most common for pencil portrait
drawing.

The numbers and letters are part of the grading system to signal the type
of lead that is inside.

The letter H means hard. This kind of lead is hard, which doesnt add a
lot of lead to the paper, keeping the shading very light. The number next
to the letter tells you how hard the lead is with 9 being the hardest and
lightest.

Pencils with an H gradient are generally unused in pencil portraiture,

simply because the lead is too hard to manipulate on the paper.

The letter B means bold or black, and signals a soft lead in the pencil, 3.) Draw a line from each
which adds a lot of lead to the paper, creating darker shades. Similar to H 2cm mark to create 10 seperate blocks.
grades, the number next to the letter signals how soft the lead is, with 9B
being the softest, and therefore darkest.

These are the most common in pencil portraiture.

The F grade means Fine point. These pencils are still relatively hard, but
have a very fine, sharpened point. Again, these are uncommon in pencil
portraiture.

And finally, the good ol HB we all doodled over our text books with in
nipper school. This is half-way between hard and soft, and is neither here
nor there. Some pencil artists may use this pencil for crating lighter
shades, though I personally find it still a little too hard.
4.) Number each block 1-10
If you did choose a set, then odds are you will have a good portion of the starting from the left.
grades set out above in the diagram.

If, like me, you have opted to use the one versatile grade, this usually
being 2B, you will still be able to create the softer graded shades using
drawing techniques set out in the previous tutorial, Basic Pencil Drawing
Techniques.

To create the shading guide and for the duration of the tutorial, and so not
to confuse you all, we will use a 2B pencil. Those of you who own a set of
different gradients can also repeat the same process for all the gradients
you wish to use for your shading guide, and then refer to this throughout
the tutorial.

Creating A Shading Guide

 Blending Pencil Techniques

5.) Block One will be left

untouched, as this is the lightest part. So, using your preferred technique
from the previous tutorial, fill in the Block Two a shade darker than the
first. This will be the lightest shade you can do with a pencil.

In the last part of our step by step

drawing guide, we created a Shading Guide, and familiarised ourselves
with the different shades we can create using different gradients. We are
now going to use one of our shading guides to learn blending pencil
techniques.

Blending is basically merging different shades together, so that each shade

6.) Then move onto Block
flows smoothly into the next creating a very soft and realistic tone. It is
Three. Remember to use techniques such as cross-hatching or
especially useful for fill colour and creating depth and texture which we
scumbling to get the shade a little darker than Block Two. You can also
will cover in the next and final part of Step 1.
increase the pressure put onto the canvas slightly.
Blending pencil is another controversial subject amongst pencil artists.
There are many who believe the medium simply isnt suited to blending,
and such techniques should be left to pastel and charcoal artists. However,
I am not one of them.

Blending the pencil is by far my favourite aspect of drawing. Get the

technique right, and you can create some awesome pieces of pencil art.

Pencil Blending Tools

7.) Repeat the process for
the remaining blocks, making each block a shade darker than the previous To blend pencil, you will need either a Blending Stump or a Tortillon. If you
block by using pencil techniques and increasing the pressure slightly. are not sure what these tools are, then you can read about them
in Choosing Art Supplies.

Again, another debate within pencil drawing is whether or not to use your
finger to blend. I say NEVER!

Your finger is rich in natural skin oils, and every time you touch the paper
with your bare skin you are transmitting these oils to the surface of the
paper and these oils will not let go of the lead, almost acting like a glue.
Thats not a good idea, because adding or taking away lead to these areas
then becomes a little tricky, and can compromise the whole piece!

8 .) By the time you reach It is for the same reason I suggest you use a piece of tissue to rest your
Block Ten, the shading should be very dark. Almost black. wrist on whilst drawing in pencil. This will also minimise smudging.

I use a home-made tortillon. I have included a How To Make Your Own

Tortillon tutorial, to show you how to make yours in the Free Resources
section in the side-bar.

How To Blend Pencil

And there you have it, all the different shades laid out in front of you for
For this you will need
you to refer to.
A completed Shading Guide from the previous drawing tutorial

A Blending Tool such as a Blending Stump or Tortillon

You can practice this as much as you like to get the shades as you like, and
I suggest you do as it will help during your pencil portrait drawing.

In the next tutorial, we will use another one of these shading guides to
learn how to blend pencil, so make sure you dont throw any of your
practice ones in the bin.
 patience with it and dont put so much pressure on that you wear away
the paper!

In the final parts of Step 1 of this Step by Step Drawing Tutorial, we will be
using all the techniques we have learned up to now to look at how to
create depth using 3D drawing.

Learn How To Do 3D Drawings

Tip; Using a small circular

motion like scumbling with your blending tool helps to keep the blending
nice and tight.

Holding your blending tool lower down and minimising pressure exerted
on the tool can help gain a good control of this technique.
The diagram on the right demonstrates the motion you should make whilst
blending.
Notice how the shading has now become very smooth.
One of the most aspired to
techniques of pencil drawing is learning how to create shapes and texture
using 3D drawing.
3D means Three- Dimensional. Three-dimensional refers to the number
of axis running from an origin point. Like 2D has two axis, X and Y are
running from one origin point, 3D has three axis, X, Y and Z run from one
origin point.

1.) Using the small circular

motion mentioned above, use your blending tool to blend the second
block on your Shading Guide.

Dont fret about going over the lines, and attempt to softly merge with
block one.

Tip; It is important to note when shading, that you should always go from
light to dark, as a lot of lead can stick to your blending tool, and will carry
to the next shade or gradient.

The most visible difference between 2D and 3D is a 2D drawing is flat,

whereas a 3D drawing stands out from the page. This is because the added
Z axis has added a perspective angle to the drawing.

2.) Now gently merge block

two into block three, using the same circular motion, and ensuring the
blending is kept very tight. You can increase the pressure slightly for each
block.

3.) Repeat the above process for the remainder blocks, moving in the same
circular motion and keeping the blend tight between blocks. You should
now be left with something like this

Create 3D Shapes
And thats it! Easy, hey!
This will show you how to draw a 3D square; called a cube, and is very
If your blending doesnt look like it has merged nicely, and you can see a simple.
clear distinction between two blocks, then continue blending using the
small circular motion. It will merge smoothly eventually, just have some For it, you will need;
Your 2B Pencil

A Sheet of Paper

A Ruler

Your Shading Guide that you created in the Shading Techniques with
Penciltutorial

4.) Using a ruler, draw lines

to connect each corner of square A to the corresponding corner of square
B. For example, top-left corner of square A should connect to the top-left
corner of square B, and so on. Refer to the diagram on the left to avoid
confusion.

What you now have is a transparent cube. However, to add the illusion the
cube is standing out, we will need to do a bit more work and add some
shading.

1. ) Draw a 5cmx5cm square. This is square A.

6.) First, erase the three

lines which emerge from the one point we have in square A.

We dont need these, as the cube will no longer be transparent once we

have shaded it in.

Tip; A square has four 90 angles where each two sides meet. You should now have something like this, with 3 sides; or, 3-Dimensional.
Or, 3D.
Use the corner of your ruler to ensure you create these 90 angles, and
create a proper square.

Now, remember that Shading Guide we created a few tutorials

back?Grab it, because we are going to use it to add three shades to our
cube, each to every side.
2.) Now draw another
5cmx5cm square slightly higher and to the left of the first square, making A Bit More About Shading Elements That Create
sure the two squares overlap. This is square B. 3D Shapes
You should now have three points on square B outside of square A, and
Before we do though, I would just like to introduce you to Highlights,
one ( bottom right) inside square A.
Shadows and Mid-tones.

These are essentially your building blocks for creating depth and texture
within a pencil drawing.
Highlight; This part of the subject will be the part which is directly For this we will use shade 5 on our Shading Guide.
facing the light source.

Shadow; This part of the subject will be the part which is facing away from
the light source.

Mid-tone; This part of the subject will be the part which is neither directly
facing the light source, or the part facing away from the light source. It is
the bit in the middle.

With our shading guide, this is how the highlight, shadow and mid-tone
would look.

And there you have it! a very basic, but effective 3D drawing.

In the next tutorial, we will use the above methods to create a 3D Sphere.
This is a little harder than drawing a cube, because a circle has no origin
points, or a million origin points depending which way you look at it.

Spheres are important in portraiture because a lot of the contours in a

human face resemble a sphere-like shape.
We are going to add these tones to our new 3D cube we have created.
I know this is probably confusing you a little now. Spheres? In faces? I
7.) First we will add the highlight. This is the side of the cube facing the
will explain all in the next tutorial.
light. In this case it is the front which I have labelled Side 1.

For this we will use shade 3 on our Shading Guide. Why 3D Spheres Are Important

In the last tutorial we learned about

drawing 3D shapes, and I hinted a little that 3D Spheres were particularly
important in pencil portrait drawing.

So, now I will tell you why.

8.) Next, we will add the shadow. This is the side of the cube facing away
from the light.
For this we will use shade 7 on our Shading Guide.
The human face is made up of many different elements; eyes, cheeks, lips,
a chin and so on. None of these elements are flat, they are all textured and
filled out.

By breaking the human face down into these separate elements, you will
notice that many of the elements have a spherical resemblance.

9.) And finally, we will add the mid-tone. This is the side of the cube which
is neither in the light or the shadow. It is in the middle.
 On this diagram you can see all the tones we have already learned about,
as well as the two new ones.

How To Draw A 3D Sphere

For this you will need;

Your 2B pencil

A sheet of paper

In the photograph to the right, I have circled at least 19 spherical A Ruler

resemblances which make up this little boys face.
Putty Rubber
Maybe you can see more than the nineteen I have circled; for example the
lips have hundreds all bunched very closely together to create almost Your Shading Guide
eclipse shapes.
Your Blending Tool Remember, I will show you how to make your own
There are also the two pupils in the eyes, and even the glint of light Tortillon when you sign up to my free newsletter!
reflecting off them is a spherical shape.
A piece of tissue to rest your wrist
Now you can see just how much of the human face is made up from 3D
And an egg cup- or something similar in shape.
Spheres, you should be getting a clearer understanding of why they are so
important in pencil portraiture.

Drawing A 3D Sphere
In the last drawing tutorial, Creating Depth With 3D Drawing, we created a
cubic shape using the origin point and the three axis.

A 3D Sphere is different because unlike a cube we have no origin point or

axis to work from, so we have to use a bit of our own common sense and
imagination for this one, so you will need to get your creative juices
flowing. 1.) Place your egg cup
upside down onto the sheet of paper, and in a light outline, draw around
We also learned about highlights, shadows and mid-tones. We will be
it.
using these again, but we will also be introducing two more tones; core
shadows and cast shadows.

These two tones are basically the building blocks you will use to create a
shadow effect of the subject.

When we finish this 3D Sphere tutorial- and I should warn you, it looks a
lengthy one but you should be able to complete it within thirty minutes-
you should end up with something like this.
 You will be left with a
perfect circle.

4.) In a very light outline

draw a small oval shape around the point we have marked as the center of
our highlight.

2.) Next, decide from which

direction you will place your light-source.

For the sake of following this tutorial, I suggest the upper-right hand side. 5.) Now grab your egg cup
again, and place it so the opposite side of the light-source can just be seen,
creating an eclipse effect. Mark this out in a light outline.

3.) Using your ruler, very

lightly mark out a guideline straight from the light-source to approximately
1cm inside the circle.

This is where our shadow will be.

This is where we are going to place the center of our highlight.

 6.) Repeat this process four
more times, moving towards the light-source, and making each eclipse
shape slightly wider than the last.

You should stop when you get about half way across the circle.

These will be the mid-tones. Remember, you can create a

Shading Guide for yourself in Shading Techniques With Pencil.

You should now have something like this.

7.) You will notice that the

ends of these eclipses dont follow the spherical shape once you get about
half way.

You can correct this yourself by simply bending the ends to follow the
shape of the circle.
10.) Sticking with your
shading guide, shade the next eclipse in a 9.

The next in an 8, and so on until you have shaded the last eclipse in a 2,
and the highlight oval is left untouched (shade 1).

8.) For the last few mid-tone

guidelines you will need to do this freehand.

The easiest way is to use the oval we created for the highlight as a guide,
and work your way out to create three oval shapes.
11.) Next, use your blending
You can leave a wide gap in the middle. You should now have 10 separate
tool and the scumbling technique to blend the different tones together.
eclipses.
Remember to work from the lightest part to the darker parts to avoid
adding too much lead to parts we dont need it.

9.) In the eclipse shape we

decided to use as our shadow, using your Shading Guide and the Pencil
Techniques we have learned in previous tutorials, shade this in a 10.
I tell you how to make your own Tortillon when you sign up to my free
newsletter. Sign up at the bottom of the page!

12.) Now we are going to add the Cast Shadow. This is where the subject
(3D Sphere) is obstructing the light-source from getting to, so we will place
this directly opposite to our light-source.

15.) Using your blending tool and a scumbling technique, blend the
shadow tones together.

13.) Now we can add our core shadow. This is the part of the image where
absolutely no light can reach, such as the very base of the subject. Use the
diagram to add your core shadow in a shade of 10.

14.) Now we have the core shadow in place, and a rough guideline for our
cast shadow, we can shade this area in, gradually moving downwards from
a shade 10 (core shadow) to a shade 1, where the light-source can reach.
16.) We have now nearly finished our 3D Sphere.
All we have left is to add some more highlights, and the outline.
So using a piece of putty rubber formed into a point, dab away any lead
which may have been smudged or blended in our original ovals highlight,
and match the tones up smoothly around it if need be. You may also wish
to use your blending tool again here to smooth the lead out.
17.) Another place to add some highlights using your putty rubber is on
the left side of the 3D sphere near the shadow. This is because the light
bounces off the surface and reflects back on to the subject.
18.) The final part is to add our heavy outline. This is important to help the
image stand out from the page, so take your time.
And there you have your finished 3D Sphere. Well Done!
This tutorial was the hardest yet, so if you managed to stick it out and
create your first 3D sphere, then you are well on your way now.
Remember, spheres are everywhere. If you can nail a sphere down
perfectly, then that is half the battle done in pencil portraiture, so keep
practising them over and over until you can do one without an egg cup and
the guidelines.
You now know so much already about pencil drawing, including the
different tools, techniques and terms that pencil artists use; I am
impressed!
You are now ready to start drawing your first pencil portrait, so click on
the button at the bottom to get started with Step 2: Plan & Prepare.
How To Plan And Prepare Your Pencil Portrait
In this step of the drawing tutorial,
we will be going through the process of choosing a photo to convert to
pencil, and then using adopted pencil artist techniques to help us prepare
that photo and position it on your paper to create your first pencil
portrait.
As the saying goes;
Fail to plan, and you plan to fail
This is true for many aspects across life, and drawing a pencil portrait is no
exception.
Of course, there are many artists who can create wonderful and
awesome pieces of art completely freehand, and seemingly at the drop of
a hat. We have all seen such artists in popular tourist spots around the
world, creating unique characertures and sketches for the paying public,
with so little effort it is quite unbelievable.
What you dont see though, standing in the street surrounded by an
impressed and astounded crowd, is how the street artist got there. How
he manages his time effectively to draw as many pictures as he can in
order to capitalise as much as he can. After all, tourists havent got much
time, so theyre not going to wait long for their drawing.

So the artist prepares. He works out exactly how much time he has to
spend on each drawing to meet his own targets by the end of the day, and
then practices and practices until he can complete a drawing at that target
time.

If he didnt do this, and tried to wing it through the day, he would be

setting himself up for failure, be left frustrated and surely facing some
pretty embarrassing situations!

Give Pencil Portraits The Time They Deserve

Almost every time you come to start a pencil portrait, you will have to go
through the same old routine of planning and preparation. It isnt
exciting, and unless you like geometry, isnt much fun; but it has to be
done before the magic can begin.

Without planning and preparing your pencil portrait with care, there really
is no point in starting it at all. You will fail. Miserably.

There is some good news, though; it doesnt take too long to do, and like
everything, you will get faster at doing it with every pencil portrait you
draw.

So lets get a shake on and start. After all, the sooner we start