Level: Beginner

Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level: 8

Flesch-Kincaid Reading Ease: 58.7
Drawspace Curriculum 1.1.A2 - 4 Pages and 12 Illustrations

Play with Five

Grades of Graphite
Use the base values of five different grades of
pencils to shade eight simple line drawings

Resources:
• 1.1.R3 Examining Graphite and ArtSpeak
Grades
Grade: The softness or hardness of the mixture used in
• 1.1.R4 Seeing Grades in Drawings the manufacture of drawing mediums.
Line drawing: An artwork created with only lines that
Supplies: paper, 2H, HB, 2B, 4B, and
aims to accurately outline the contours of the various
6B pencils, pencil sharpener, printer to
shapes and/or forms of a drawing subject.
print the exercises
Shape: A two-dimensional geometric object that serves as
Figure 1 the outline of a three-dimensional object. For example, a
circle is the shape of a sphere.
Shading: The process of adding values to a drawing so
as to create the illusion of texture, form, and/or three-
dimensional space.

Your goal as a pencil artist is to choose grades of

pencils that work well to accurately shade the values
you see in your reference images.
The eight exercises in this activity are designed to
help you associate a value you see with a grade of
pencil that can render that value.
Check out an example of an exercise in Figure 1.
Each exercise in this activity also has a reference
image in the upper section and a line drawing in the
lower section.

ISBN: 978-1-927365-08-3
Copyright © 2018 Drawspace Publishing and Brenda Hoddinott. All rights reserved. Individual use: no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored, transferred, or transmitted in any format or by any means without the prior
written consent of Brenda Hoddinott and Drawspace Publishing. Educator use: Permission to copy or distribute in any format or by any means is limited to classroom use only.
2 1.1.A2: Play with Five Grades of Graphite

1. Shade the base value of each Figure 2

of your 2H, HB, 2B, 4B, and 6B
pencils (Figure 2).
Use the same pencil pressure for
each grade. If you want, you can
2H HB 2B 4B 6B
mark each swatch with its grade.

2. Print pages 3 and 4.

3. Examine and compare the values of the shapes Tip!

in the upper section of each reference image. If you purchase pencils from
a different manufacturer,
In addition to comparing the values to one another,
create a new swatch of their
also compare them to your value scale (Figure 2). values (Figure 2). The value
of a specific grade can vary
4. Decide which pencil would best duplicate the depending on its manufacturer.
value of each shape in the upper image.

Figure 3 Check out an example of an upper

reference image (Figure 3). The
grade of pencil used to shade each
shape is marked. For example, the
long, thin rectangle on the far left is
shaded with a 4B.

Figure 4

Refer to Figure 4 to see a completed exercise.

5. Shade each outlined shape in the lower

box to match its value in the upper box.
Use only one grade of pencil for each shape
and whatever shading techniques you
currently have in your repertoire.
Don’t expect to duplicate each value
perfectly. This is an art ‒ not a science. Just
come as close as you can to each value.

ISBN: 978-1-927365-08-3
Copyright © 2018 Drawspace Publishing and Brenda Hoddinott. All rights reserved. Individual use: no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored, transferred, or transmitted in any format or by any means without the prior
written consent of Brenda Hoddinott and Drawspace Publishing. Educator use: Permission to copy or distribute in any format or by any means is limited to classroom use only.
 1.1.A2: Play with Five Grades of Graphite 3
Exercise 1 Exercise 2

Exercise 3 Exercise 4

ISBN: 978-1-927365-08-3
Copyright © 2018 Drawspace Publishing and Brenda Hoddinott. All rights reserved. Individual use: no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored, transferred, or transmitted in any format or by any means without the prior
written consent of Brenda Hoddinott and Drawspace Publishing. Educator use: Permission to copy or distribute in any format or by any means is limited to classroom use only.
4 1.1.A2: Play with Five Grades of Graphite

Exercise 5 Exercise 6

Exercise 7 Exercise 8

ISBN: 978-1-927365-08-3
Copyright © 2018 Drawspace Publishing and Brenda Hoddinott. All rights reserved. Individual use: no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored, transferred, or transmitted in any format or by any means without the prior
written consent of Brenda Hoddinott and Drawspace Publishing. Educator use: Permission to copy or distribute in any format or by any means is limited to classroom use only.