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Pencil art - created by artists since the 16th century

You might think of the pencil as mudane and inconspicious. But the fact is that it has been one of the artist's most useful tools ever since the 16th century. With it, you can sketch your foundation and draw linear works, as well as practically erasing mistakes in your pencil drawings. But it is also possible to create incomparable pencil paintings, with highlights and light days that create effective shadows in the painting. There are pencil artists so skilled that their paintings are actually mistaken for photographs.

 

Pencil art is created with pencil, which does not actually consist of even a speck of lead, as many people think. Instead, it is made of graphite, which is a form of crystallized carbon. It is when the graphite powder is mixed with powdered clay that you get pencil.

 

Pencils are available in several different degrees of hardness. These are marked with H (Hard) and B (Black), which indicates how hard the graphite itself is. The softest degree is called 9B and gives the sharpest black, and, vice versa. To get these different hardnesses in the pen, clay, and graphite powder, have been mixed in different amounts. The more clay in the mixture, the harder the pencil. It is thanks to these different hardnesses that the artist can create pencil drawings with such varying shadows and shades.