Pencils come in many shapes and sizes. You can start drawing with any old No. 2 pencil. However, if you’d like to pursue a more realistic style with shading, these are a few pencils you should start out with.

Sketching Pencils

Softer pencils are better for sketching- typically, artists use HB/No. 2 or 2B pencils. If you have a smaller budget, I’d recommend getting a pack of HB Ticonderoga Pencils- I’ve been using them for many years and they work just fine.

If you are willing to spend more money, I’d recommend the brand Derwent. They are a little more expensive, but a good product.

Shading Pencils

To start out, I would recommend buying a 2H, 2B, and 4B pencil- it makes shading easier and you can get a larger range of tone than if you were to use just an HB pencil. You can still shade with a No. 2 pencil, but you won’t have to press as hard to get dark lines and thus leave no dents in the paper.

Three good brands of shading pencils are Artist’s Loft, Lyra Rembrandt, and Derwent– I use Artist’s Loft, which for those with lower budgets is the cheapest of these three.

When it comes to pencils, I don’t think the brands matter as much. If you are beginning, just try to find what suits you best and keep practicing!

Share this post if you found it helpful, and please leave a comment to tell me what you’ve found. Keep creating!

-Amelia