Choosing Your First Pencil Set for Sketching

Start simple, not shiny

Walk into any art shop and you'll find a wall of pencil tins, each one promising to turn you into an artist by teatime. It's tempting to buy the biggest set on the shelf — forty-eight pencils in a satisfying metal case — but most beginners end up using three or four of them and feeling vaguely guilty about the rest.

Here's the reassuring truth: graphite is one of the cheapest and most forgiving ways to draw, and a good starter set needn't cost more than a decent lunch. A small, well-chosen handful of pencils that you actually get to know will teach you far more than a huge tin you're slightly afraid to open. So let's look at what those pencils are, what the mysterious letters on them mean, and how to pick a set that suits the way you like to draw.

Reading the graphite grades

Every pencil is stamped with a number and a letter, and the pair tells you how hard or soft the graphite inside is. H stands for hard, B stands for black (meaning soft and dark), and F sits in the middle, roughly between HB and H. The scale runs from around 9H at one end — very hard, very pale — through HB in the centre, to 9B at the other, which is soft, smudgy and rich.

• H grades (2H, 4H, 6H): hard, pale and capable of holding a very sharp point. Excellent for faint construction lines, fine detail and light outlines. Press too hard and they can score the paper.
• HB and F: the everyday middle ground. HB is the classic writing pencil and a sensible starting point for light outlines and gentle shading.
• B grades (2B, 4B, 6B, 8B): soft and dark. They lay down tone quickly, blend beautifully with a fingertip and wear down fast, so you'll sharpen them constantly.

Most sketches are built in layers: a light HB or 2H drawing to get the proportions right, then progressively softer pencils for shadow, texture and depth.

The starter set worth buying

If you're buying loose pencils rather than a tin, start with five: 2H, HB, 2B, 4B and 6B. That gives you a faint line for planning, a mid-tone for general work, and enough darkness for convincing shadows. Add an 8B later if you like your darks really dark.

If you'd rather buy a set, look for something in the six to twelve pencil range covering roughly 2H to 6B or 8B. Anything beyond that is lovely to own but rarely essential.

One thing worth knowing early on: grades vary between manufacturers. A 4B from one brand can feel noticeably softer than a 4B from another. This isn't a problem — it's just something your hand learns to adjust for.

Useful extras that earn their keep

• A decent sharpener: a metal one with a sharp blade. Blunt blades chew up soft graphite and snap the points you've just carefully made.
• A kneaded putty eraser: lifts graphite gently without scuffing the paper, can be moulded to a point for detail, and doubles as a tool for lightening over-dark shading.
• A plastic or vinyl eraser: for when you want a line completely gone rather than merely faded.
• A sandpaper block: for sharpening pencils to a long, fine point or for creating graphite dust to smudge into tone.
• A blending stump: handy for smoothing shading, though a cotton bud does a reasonable impression of one.
• A sketchbook with the right paper: around 120–160gsm with a slight tooth. Very smooth paper makes graphite look shiny, while very rough paper eats fine points.

Matching your pencils to your style

Different kinds of drawing ask for different tools, and it's worth noticing what you enjoy before you spend much.

• Fine detail and line work: H and HB grades. Architectural studies, botanical drawing, anything with crisp edges.
• Loose, expressive sketching: 2B to 4B. Faster, more forgiving, and it encourages you to commit to a mark rather than fiddle.
• Portraits and tonal shading: a range. A 2H to map the features, HB for mid-tones, and 4B or 6B for the darkest accents and hair.
• Quick thumbnails and life drawing: one soft pencil, maybe a 4B or 6B. Learning to draw with a single tool is one of the best exercises there is.

Keep an eye on which pencil you reach for without thinking. That quiet habit is your style telling you something useful.

Looking after them, and knowing when to upgrade

Keep your pencils in a roll or tin so the points don't snap against each other, and sharpen over a bin — graphite dust gets everywhere. Soft pencils wear down quickly, so don't be precious about sharpening them; a dull point makes muddy marks and tempts you to press too hard.

Don't rush to upgrade. Once you've worn your first set down to stubs, you'll know exactly what you want next: perhaps an 8B for richer darks, a couple of harder leads for precise work, or a graphite stick for broad washes of tone. By that point you'll be buying for a reason rather than a hope.

Above all, use them. A pencil set that stays in its tin teaches you nothing at all.