Simple pencils, differences. What is a pencil? This is a kind of instrument that looks like a rod made of writing material (charcoal, graphite, dry paints, etc.). Such a tool is widely used in writing, drawing and drawing. As a rule, the writing rod is inserted into a convenient frame. pencils can be colored and "simple". That's just about such "simple" pencils today we'll talk, or rather about what types of graphite pencils exist. The very first object, vaguely resembling a pencil, was invented in the 13th century. It was a thin silver wire soldered to the handle. They kept such a "silver pencil" in a special case. To draw with such a pencil, remarkable skill and skill was required, because it was impossible to erase what was written. In addition to the "silver pencil" there was also a "lead" one - it was used for sketches. Around the 14th century, the "Italian pencil" appeared: a rod made of clay black slate. Later, the rod was made from burnt bone powder mixed with vegetable glue. Such a pencil gave a clear and color-saturated line. By the way, this kind of writing instruments are still used by some artists to achieve a certain effect. Graphite pencils have been known since the 16th century. Their appearance is very interesting: in the Cumberland area, English shepherds found a certain dark mass in the ground, with which they began to mark sheep. Since the color of the mass was similar to lead, it was mistaken for metal deposits, but later they began to make thin sharp sticks from it, which were used for drawing. The sticks were soft and often broke, and dirty hands, so it was necessary to put them in some kind of case. The rod began to be clamped between wooden sticks or pieces of wood, wrapped in thick paper, tied with twine. As for the graphite pencil that we are used to seeing today, Nicolas Jacques Conte is considered to be its inventor. Conte became the author of the recipe when graphite was mixed with clay and subjected to high temperature treatment - as a result, the rod was strong and, in addition, this technology made it possible to regulate the hardness of graphite.

Lead hardness Lead hardness is indicated on the pencil with letters and numbers. Manufacturers from different countries (Europe, USA and Russia) have different markings for the hardness of pencils. Rigidity designation In Russia, the hardness scale looks like this: M - soft; T - solid; TM - hard soft; The European scale is somewhat wider (marking F does not have a Russian equivalent): B - soft, from blackness (blackness); H - hard, from hardness (hardness); F is the middle tone between HB and H (from the English fine point - fineness) HB - hard-soft (Hardness Blackness - hardness-blackness); In the USA, a number scale is used to indicate the hardness of a pencil: - corresponds to B - soft; - corresponds to HB - hard-soft; ½ - corresponds to F - medium between hard-soft and hard; - corresponds to H - solid; - corresponds to 2H - very hard. Pencil pencil strife. Depending on the manufacturer, the tone of the line drawn with a pencil of the same marking may differ. In Russian and European marking of pencils, the number before the letter indicates the degree of softness or hardness. For example, 2B is twice as soft as B and 2H is twice as hard as H. Pencils are commercially available and are labeled 9H (hardest) to 9B (softest). Hard pencils Start from H to 9H. H is a hard pencil, hence the thin, light, "dry" lines. With a hard pencil, draw solid objects with a clear outline (stone, metal). With such a hard pencil, according to the finished drawing, over the shaded or shaded fragments, thin lines are drawn, for example, strands are drawn in the hair. The line drawn with a soft pencil has a slightly loose contour. A soft lead will allow you to reliably draw representatives of the fauna - birds, hares, cats, dogs. If it is necessary to choose between a hard or soft pencil, artists take a pencil with a soft lead. An image drawn with such a pencil is easy to shade with a piece of thin paper, a finger or an eraser. If necessary, you can finely sharpen the graphite core of a soft pencil and draw a thin line similar to the line from a hard pencil. Hatching and drawing Strokes on paper are drawn with a pencil inclined at an angle of about 45 ° to the plane of the sheet. To make the line bolder, you can rotate the pencil around the axis. Light areas are shaded with a hard pencil. Dark areas are correspondingly soft. It is inconvenient to hatch with a very soft pencil, as the stylus quickly becomes dull and the fineness of the line is lost. The way out is to either sharpen the point very often, or use a harder pencil. When drawing, they gradually move from light to dark areas, since it is much easier to darken a part of the drawing with a pencil than to make a dark place lighter. Please note that the pencil must be sharpened not with a simple sharpener, but with a knife. The lead should be 5-7mm long, which allows you to tilt the pencil and achieve the desired effect. Graphite pencil lead is a fragile material. Despite the protection of the wooden shell, the pencil requires careful handling. When dropped, the lead inside the pencil breaks into pieces and then crumbles during sharpening, making the pencil unusable. Nuances that you should know when working with pencils For hatching at the very beginning, you should use a hard pencil. Those. the driest lines are made with a hard pencil. The finished drawing is drawn with a soft pencil to give it richness and expressiveness. Soft pencil leaves dark lines. The more you tilt the pencil, the wider its mark will be. However, with the advent of pencils with a thick lead, this need is no longer necessary. If you do not know how the final drawing will look like, it is recommended to start with a hard pencil. With a hard pencil, you can gradually dial the desired tone. At the very beginning, I myself made the following mistake: I took too soft a pencil, which made the drawing dark and incomprehensible. Frames of pencils Of course, the classic version is a stylus in a wooden frame. But now there are also plastic, varnished and even paper frames. The lead on these pencils is thick. On the one hand, this is good, but on the other hand, such pencils are easy to break if put in a pocket or dropped unsuccessfully. Although there are special cases for carrying pencils (for example, I have a set of KOH-I-NOOR Progresso black lead pencils - good, solid packaging, like a pencil case).

Pencils are an amazing tool that is used for drawing and drawing work. In order for the work to be successful, it is important to know everything about the characteristics of this tool. It is necessary to figure out what they are, what is the decoding of the hardness of a pencil lead and what effects can be obtained when using tools with different characteristics.

Varieties of pencils

Pencils are divided into two large groups: colored and graphite (simple). They, in turn, are divided into varieties. Let's consider each of them in more detail.

Classification of colored instruments:

• Colored. These are the most common tools that everyone used to draw at school. There are hard, soft, soft-hard.
• Watercolor. After painting, they are blurred with water to obtain a watercolor effect.
• Pastel. These are pastel crayons in a wooden frame. They are very soft. They are convenient because they do not get your hands dirty, they are protected from frequent breaking of crayons, and they also have a standard size.

Classification of tools with graphite rod:

• Simple. Just they are most often used in graphics (drawing with pencils). They have many different markings, we'll talk more about them later.
• Coal. They are pressed charcoal for drawing in a wooden frame. The benefits are the same as for pastels.
• Conte. They are almost the same as pastel, but have a different color palette: they come in black, gray, brown and other shades. There is also white in the range of colors.

How to determine the hardness of pencils

Now let's take a closer look at the graphite type. They can depict anything, and very realistically. The works are “alive” thanks to shading, the correct overlay of tone, the right pressure on the tool. Therefore, the whole drawing or drawing as a whole depends on its quality and number.

The scheme is great for determining the hardness of pencils. A table would also work. To visualize and determine the density, you can use the pencil softness table, as well as determine the hardness on a special scale. By the way, you can draw such a scale yourself. To do this, you need to take all the tools that you have and alternately shade small sections of paper with them: from the darkest to the lightest, or vice versa, there will be an H. B marking in the middle. Thanks to this scheme, it will be easy to navigate and remember the type of instrument.

Markings and their meaning

First of all, you can see both English and Russian designations for the hardness of pencils. Let's take a look at both types:

Often, in addition to letters, markings contain numbers that show the strength of hardness or softness and tone. For example, there are 2B, 3B, 4B, 5B, 6B, 8B pencils. 2B is the lightest, 8B is the darkest and softest. The digital marking of hard pencils looks similar.

Applying tone to a drawing

Tone mapping rules are very important when drawing. This is especially true for graphics, because in it the work is created exclusively in one scale: black or gray in combination with white additions.

A pencil is a graphite rod in a wooden frame made of soft wood, such as cedar, about 18 cm long. Graphite pencils from raw graphite existing in nature were first used at the beginning of the 17th century. Prior to this, lead or silver rods (known as a silver pencil) were used for drawing. The modern form of a lead or graphite pencil in a wooden frame came into use at the beginning of the 19th century.

Usually a pencil "works" if you lead it or press it with a stylus on paper, the surface of which serves as a kind of grater that splits the stylus into tiny particles. Due to the pressure on the pencil, the lead particles penetrate the paper fiber, leaving a line, or trace.

Graphite, one of the modifications of carbon, along with coal and diamond, is the main component of the pencil lead. The hardness of the lead depends on the amount of clay added to the graphite. The softest grades of pencils contain little or no clay. Artists and draftsmen work with a whole set of pencils, choosing them depending on the task at hand.

When the lead in a pencil wears off, it can be reused by sharpening it with a special sharpener or razor. Sharpening a pencil is an important process that determines the type of lines drawn with a pencil. There are many ways to sharpen pencils, and each of them gives a different result. The artist should try to sharpen pencils in different ways in order to know exactly which lines can be drawn with one pencil or another with different sharpening methods.

You need to know well the advantages and disadvantages of a pencil, like each material with which you work. Different brands of pencils are used for certain occasions. The following section discusses some types of drawings, indicating what brand of pencil or graphite material they were made.

The examples given give an idea of ​​the strokes and lines made by different pencils. As you look at them, take your pencils in turn and see what strokes you can get with each pencil. Surely you will not only want to try each pencil and discover new possibilities for drawing, you will suddenly find that your “pencil sense” has increased. We, as artists, feel the material we use, and this affects the work.

Materials and examples of strokes and lines.

HARD PENCIL

With a hard pencil, you can apply strokes that almost do not differ from each other, except perhaps in length. Tone is usually created by cross hatching. Hard pencils are designated by the letter H. Like soft ones, they have a hardness gradation: HB, H, 2H, 3H, 4H, 5H, 6H, 7H, 8H and 9H (the hardest).

Hard pencils are commonly used by planners, architects, and professionals who create precise drawings for which thin, neat lines are important, as when creating perspective or other projection systems. Although the strokes made with a hard pencil differ little from each other, they can be very expressive. Tone, as well as soft, can be created with a hard pencil, shading with cross lines, although the result will be a thinner and more formal drawing.

PROJECTION SYSTEMS FOR HARD PENCILS

Hard pencils are ideal for creating blueprints. As we have already said, such drawings are usually carried out by engineers, designers and architects. The finished drawings must be accurate, they should indicate the dimensions so that the performers, such as craftsmen, following the instructions, can create an object according to the project. Drawings can be made using different projection systems, from a plan on a plane to images in perspective.

STROKES WITH A HARD PENCIL
I do not give examples of strokes applied with pencils 7H - 9H.

SOFT PENCIL

A soft pencil has more possibilities for toning and transferring texture than a hard pencil. Soft pencils are designated with the letter B. A pencil marked HB is a cross between a hard and soft pencil and is the main tool between pencils with extreme properties. The range of soft pencils includes HB, B, 2V, 3V, 4V, 5V, bV, 7V, 8V and 9V pencils (the softest). Soft pencils allow the artist to express their ideas through toning, texture reproduction, shading, and even simple lines. The softest pencils can be used to tint a group of objects, although in general I find it more convenient to use a graphite stick in this case. It all depends on which surface you want to apply the tone. If it is a small drawing, such as on AZ paper, then a soft pencil is probably more suitable. But if you want to set the tone for a larger drawing, I would advise you to use a graphite stick.

The only soft pencil that is convenient for making drawings that require high precision - the palm, of course, for a hard pencil - is a pencil with a thin lead that is clamped.

OTHER TYPES OF PENCILS

In addition to the pencils described above, there are other pencils that provide much more room for experimentation and discovery in the field of drawing. You will find these pencils in any store that sells art supplies.

- A pencil placed in a frame of twisted paper - graphite in a frame of twisted paper, which is turned away to release the stylus.
- Rotary pencil - available in many types, with a variety of mechanisms that open the tip of the graphite.
- Pencil with clamping lead - a pencil for sketching with a very soft fuzzy or thick lead.
- A standard thick black pencil, known for many years as "Black Beauty".
- Carpenter's pencil - used by carpenters and builders to measure, write down and sketch new ideas.
- Graphite pencil or stick. This pencil is hard graphite about the same thickness as a regular pencil. A thin film that covers the tip from the outside turns away, revealing graphite. A graphite stick is a thicker piece of graphite, like a pastel, wrapped in paper, which is removed as needed. This is a versatile pencil.
- The watercolor sketch pencil is a normal pencil, but when immersed in water, it can be used as a watercolor brush.

What is graphite.

Graphite is the substance used to make pencil leads, but naturally occurring graphite is not placed in a wooden frame. Graphite mined in different deposits varies in thickness and varying degrees of hardness/softness. As can be seen from the drawings, graphite is not intended for creating detailed drawings. It is more suitable for sketches of an expressive nature; it is convenient to work with graphite together with a vinyl eraser.

Graphite pencil can be used to make quick, heavy, dramatic sketches using energetic lines, large areas of dark tones, or interesting textured strokes. This way of drawing will convey the mood well, but it is completely unsuitable for making drawings. It is better to draw large drawings with graphite: the reasons for this are clear to everyone. Graphite is a versatile tool, and before you start working with it, learn more about its properties and features. Since it does not have an outer frame, its side surfaces can be fully utilized. We don't have that opportunity when we draw with a pencil. You will be pleasantly surprised when you see what can be achieved by painting with graphite. Personally, if I draw in a free and dynamic manner, I always use graphite. If you also paint with graphite in this manner, then, no doubt, you will achieve great success.

DRAWING WITH SOFT PENCILS AND GRAPHITE

Unlike a hard pencil, a soft pencil and graphite can make thicker strokes and create a wide tonal spectrum - from deep black to white. Soft pencil and graphite allow you to do this quickly and efficiently. With a soft, sharp enough pencil, you can convey the contour of the object, as well as its volume.

Drawings made by these means are more expressive. They are associated with our feelings, ideas, impressions and thoughts, for example, they can be sketches in a notebook as a result of our first impressions of an object. They may be part of our visual observation and records. The drawings convey the change in tone in the process of observation, either due to creative imagination, or express the surface of the texture. These drawings can also arbitrarily explain or express expression - that is, they themselves can be works of fine art, and not blanks for future work.

The eraser enhances the effect of a soft pencil. A soft pencil and eraser allow you to achieve greater expressiveness of the drawing. The eraser, used with a hard pencil, is most often used to correct mistakes, and as an addition to a soft pencil and charcoal, it is a means of creating an image.

You can achieve different results if you press them differently when working with a soft pencil and graphite. Pressure allows you to transform an image, either by changing the tone or making strokes more weighty. Look at examples of tone gradations and try to experiment in this direction yourself. When changing the pressure on the pencil, try to change the maximum amount of the image using different movements.

What are erasers.

As a rule, we first get acquainted with the eraser when we need to correct a mistake. We want to erase the place where the mistake was made and continue drawing. Since the eraser is associated with correcting errors, we have a rather negative attitude towards it and its functions. The eraser seems to be a necessary evil, and the more it wears away from constant use, the more often we feel that the om does not meet our requirements. It's time to reconsider the role of the eraser in our work. If you use the eraser skillfully, it can be the most useful tool when drawing. But first you need to give up the idea that mistakes are always bad, because you learn from mistakes.

When sketching, many artists think about the process of drawing or decide how the drawing will look. Sketches can be erroneous, and they need to be corrected in the process. This has happened to every artist - even to such great masters as Leonardo da Vinci and Rembrandt. Rethinking ideas is almost always part of the creative process, and is visible in many works, especially in sketches where artists develop their ideas and designs.

The desire to completely erase the errors in the work and start drawing again is one of the common mistakes of novice artists. As a result, they make more mistakes or repeat old ones, which causes a feeling of dissatisfaction, leading to a sense of failure. When you make corrections, do not erase the original lines until you are satisfied with the new drawing and you feel that these lines are superfluous. My advice: keep the traces of correction, do not completely destroy them, as they reflect the process of your reflection and refinement of the idea.

Another positive function of the eraser is to reproduce areas of light in a tone pattern made with graphite, charcoal or ink. The eraser can be used to add expressiveness to strokes that emphasize texture - a striking example of this approach are the drawings of Frank Auerbach. In these, the "tonking" technique is an example of using an eraser to create a sense of atmosphere.

There are many types of erasers on the market, with the help of which traces of all substances with which the artist works are removed. Listed below are the types of erasers and their functions.

Soft eraser ("nag"). Usually used for charcoal and pastel drawings, but it can also be used in pencil drawing. This eraser can be given any shape - this is its main advantage. It helps to develop a positive approach to drawing, as it is intended to bring something new to the drawing, and not to destroy what has already been done.

- Vinyl eraser. Usually they erase strokes with charcoal, pastel and pencil. It can also be used to create some types of strokes.
- Indian eraser. Used to remove strokes made with a light pencil.
- Ink eraser. It is very difficult to completely remove strokes made with ink. Erasers for removing ink and typescript come in pencil or round shape. You can use a combination eraser, one end of which removes the pencil, the other - the ink.
- Surface cleaners, namely scalpels, razor blades, pumice stone, fine steel wire, and sandpaper, are used to remove stubborn ink marks from drawings. Obviously, before using these tools, you need to make sure that your paper is thick enough so that you can peel off its top layer and not rub it into holes.
- Media applied to paper, such as correction fluid, titanium white or Chinese white. Incorrect strokes are covered with an opaque layer of white. After they dry, you can work on the surface again.

Artist security measures.

When working with materials, do not forget about safety measures. Handle scalpels and razor blades with care. Don't leave them open when you're not using them. Find out if the fluids you use are non-toxic or flammable. So, applying white is a very convenient and cheap way to remove ink, which is based on water, but white is poisonous, and you need to use them with care.

Pumice stone is used to remove hard-to-erase strokes. However, pumice must be used with care, as it can damage the paper. A razor blade (or scalpel) allows you to scrape off strokes that cannot be removed by other means. They can be used in case of emergency, because by removing extra strokes, you can

Such soft material perfectly draws voluminous and large works. Charcoal adds tenderness and softness to the picture, so these pencils well display the translucency of shades and the brightness of tones. They are easy to use, but then need to be coated with a fixing aerosol.

Well, it is clear that these are the most popular pencils in the world, and they are incomparable. Only for such art you will need medium-structured paper, since the pencil will crumble on very soft paper, and it is difficult to draw on rough paper.

Pastels, both in crayon and pencil form, are very popular as they are an excellent medium for creating fine details and contours in a drawing. In addition, they make a great background (with crayons). Very easy to use.

These pencils still create incredible masterpieces. Many novice artists begin to draw with watercolor pencils (soluble), although there is also a dry type. It is with dry watercolor pencils that you can achieve expressive clarity and impressiveness of the drawing. To achieve maximum brightness, it is enough to draw with this pencil in thick layers.
Tip: A sharp pencil and wet paper are incompatible things. It is not recommended to do this - ruin everything!

This material is almost similar to coal. Its most basic difference is its stability on rough paper, cardboard and canvas. The color of sanguine has red-brown tones, due to which each drawing will be colorful and warm.

The most ordinary and at the same time one of the most popular pencils, with which great works are created, although this is not an easy task. They vary in hardness, soft ones perfectly depict dark and clear lines, and hard ones fine lines. But the master of his craft has long known that a soft pencil is the best pencil, because when it is well sharpened, it can easily perform the tasks of a hard pencil.
With such a pencil, you can depict small details as clearly as possible and betray the volume of the subject. And some born artists can even display the structure and material itself.

Graphite pencils, in turn, vary in degree of hardness.

Lead hardness

The hardness of the lead is indicated on the pencil with letters and numbers. Manufacturers from different countries (Europe, USA and Russia) have different markings for the hardness of pencils.

In Russia hardness scale looks like this:

• M - soft;
• T - solid;
• TM - hard-soft;

European the scale is somewhat wider (marking F has no Russian equivalent):

• B - soft, from blackness (blackness);
• H - hard, from hardness (hardness);
• F is the middle tone between HB and H (from the English fine point - subtlety)
• HB - hard-soft (Hardness Blackness - hardness-blackness);

IN THE USA a number scale is used to indicate the stiffness of a pencil:

• #1 - corresponds to B - soft;
• #2 - corresponds to HB - hard-soft;
• #2½ - corresponds to F - medium between hard-soft and hard;
• #3 - corresponds to H - hard;
• #4 - corresponds to 2H - very hard.

Pencil pencil strife. Depending on the manufacturer, the tone of the line drawn with a pencil of the same marking may differ.

In Russian and European marking of pencils, the number before the letter indicates the degree of softness or hardness. For example, 2B is twice as soft as B and 2H is twice as hard as H. Pencils are commercially available and are labeled 9H (hardest) to 9B (softest).

soft pencils

Start from B to 9B.

The most commonly used pencil when creating a drawing is HB. However, this is the most common pencil. With this pencil draw the basis, the shape of the picture. HB is good for painting, creating tonal spots, it is not too hard, not too soft. To draw dark places, highlight them and place accents, a soft 2B pencil will help to make a clear line in the picture.

Hard pencils

Start from H to 9H.
H is a hard pencil, hence the thin, light, “dry” lines. With a hard pencil, draw solid objects with a clear outline (stone, metal). With such a hard pencil, according to the finished drawing, over the shaded or shaded fragments, thin lines are drawn, for example, strands are drawn in the hair.
The line drawn with a soft pencil has a slightly loose contour. A soft lead will allow you to reliably draw representatives of the fauna - birds, hares, cats, dogs.
If it is necessary to choose between a hard or soft pencil, artists take a pencil with a soft lead. An image drawn with such a pencil is easy to shade with a piece of thin paper, a finger or an eraser. If necessary, you can finely sharpen the graphite core of a soft pencil and draw a thin line similar to the line from a hard pencil.

Pencils They differ mainly in the type and nature of the writing rod (which determine the writing properties of the pencil and its purpose), as well as in size, cross-sectional shape, color and type of wooden shell coating.

Since the 1950s, pencils have been produced in the USSR in accordance with GOST 6602-51. The quality was good. The current situation is rather sad. Let's talk about what happened before.

Pencils

Depending on the writing rod and its properties, the following main groups of pencils are distinguished: a) graphite - the writing rod is made of graphite and clay and impregnated with fats and waxes; when writing, they leave a line of gray-black color of varying intensity, depending mainly on the degree of hardness of the rod; b) colored - the writing rod is made of pigments and dyes, fillers, binders and sometimes fats; c) copiers - the writing rod is made from a mixture of water-soluble dyes and a binder with graphite or mineral fillers; when writing, they leave a gray or colored line, difficult to cut with an elastic band.

Stages of production of pencils from glued boards

Production of pencils consists of the following main processes: a) the manufacture of the writing core, b) the manufacture of the wood shell and c) the finishing of the finished pencil (coloring, marking, sorting and packaging). The composition of graphite rods includes: graphite, clay and adhesives. Graphite is very graded and leaves a gray or grey-black streak on paper. Clay is mixed into graphite to bond its particles, and adhesives are added to the graphite-clay mixture to impart plasticity. Screened graphite in vibratory mills is crushed to the smallest particles. Clay is soaked in water. Then these components are thoroughly mixed in special mixers, pressed and dried. The dried mass is mixed with adhesives, repeatedly pressed, turning into a homogeneous plastic mass suitable for molding writing rods. This mass is placed in a powerful press, which squeezes out thin elastic threads from the round holes of the matrix. Upon exiting the matrix, the threads are automatically cut into segments of the required length, which are the writing rods. The segments are then placed in rotating drums, where they are rolled out, straightened and dried. After drying, they are loaded into crucibles and fired in electric furnaces. As a result of drying and firing, the rods acquire hardness and strength. The cooled rods are sorted by straightness and sent for impregnation. This operation aims to give the rods, which after firing increased rigidity, softness and elasticity, i.e., the properties necessary for writing. For the impregnation of graphite rods, tallow, stearin, paraffin and various types of wax are used. For the manufacture of color and copy rods, other types of raw materials are used, the technological process is partially changed.

For colored rods, water-insoluble dyes and pigments are used as colorants, talc is used as fillers, and pectin glue and starch are used as binders. The mass, consisting of dyes, fillers and binders, is mixed in mixers, the firing operation falls out. The strength of the colored rod is given by the pressing mode and the regulation of the amount of binders introduced into the mass, and this, in turn, depends on the nature and amount of pigments and dyes. For copy rods, water-soluble aniline dyes are used as dyes, mainly methyl violet, which gives a violet color trait when moistened, methylene blue, which gives a greenish-blue color trait, brilliant green - a bright green color, etc.

The strength of the copy rods is regulated by the recipe, the amount of binder and the pressing mode. Finished rods are placed in a wood shell; wood should be soft, have low cutting resistance along and across the grain, have a smooth, shiny cut surface and even tone and color. The best material for the shell is the wood of the Siberian cedar and linden. Wooden boards are treated with ammonia vapor (to remove resinous substances), soaked in paraffin and stained. Then, on a special machine, “paths” are made on the boards, into which the rods are placed, the boards are glued and divided into individual pencils, while giving them a hexagonal or round shape. After that, the pencils are ground, primed and painted. Painting is done with fast-drying nitrocellulose paints and varnishes, which have a clean tone and bright color. After repeated coating of the shell with these varnishes, a strong varnish film is formed on it, giving the finished pencil a glossy, shiny surface and a beautiful appearance.

Classification of pencils

Depending on the source materials of the writing rod and the purpose, the following groups and types of pencils are distinguished.

1. Graphite: School, Stationery, Drawing, Drawing;

2. Color: School, Stationery, Drawing, Drawing;

3. Photocopiers: stationery

In addition, pencils differ in overall dimensions, in the hardness of the core, and in the finish of the shell. Dimensional indicators include: cross-sectional shape, length and thickness of the pencil. According to the shape of the cross section, pencils are round, faceted and oval. Some groups or types of pencils are assigned only one cross-sectional shape; for others, different ones are allowed. So, drawing pencils are produced only faceted - hexagonal, copying pencils - only round; stationery can have any of the indicated shapes, as well as a three-, four-, octahedral or oval cross-sectional shape. The pencils are 178, 160, 140 and 113 mm long (with a tolerance of ±2 mm for these dimensions). The main and most commonly used of these sizes is 178 mm, it is mandatory for graphite pencils - school, drawing and drawing; for color - drawing and drawing; for stationery colored pencils, a length of 220 mm is also allowed. The thickness of a pencil is determined by its diameter, and for faceted pencils, the diameter is measured along the inscribed circle; it ranges from 4.1 to 11 mm, the most common thickness is 7.9 and 7.1 mm.

According to the degree of hardness writing rod pencils are divided into 15 groups, designated by letters and numerical indices in sequential order: 6M, 5M, 4M, 3M, 2M, M, TM, ST, T, 2T, ZT, 4T, 5T, 6T, 7T. The letter "M" denotes the softness of the writing rod, the letter "T" - its hardness; the larger the digital index, the stronger this property is for a given writing rod. On school graphite pencils, the degree of hardness is indicated by the numbers No. 1 (soft), No. 2 (medium) and No. 3 (hard). On carbon pencils - in words: soft, medium hard, hard.

Abroad, the degree of hardness is indicated by the Latin letters "B" (soft) and "H" (hard).

Graphite school pencils were produced in medium hardness, drawing pencils - of all existing degrees of hardness, colored pencils of all types - usually soft.

Graphite drawing pencils "Designer"

The color of the wood shell coating is also different for different pencils; the shell of colored pencils, as a rule, was painted according to the color of the writing rod; for the shell of other pencils, each title was usually assigned one or more permanent colorings. The color of the shell was of several types: one-color or marbled, decorative, with ribs or edges painted in contrasting colors or covered with metal foil, etc. Some types of pencils were produced with a decorative head, which was painted in colors different from the color of the shell , with a plastic or metal head, etc. Pencils with plastic or metal tips, with an elastic band (only graphite), with a sharpening of the rod, etc. were also produced.

Depending on these indicators (properties of the writing rod, cross-sectional shape, overall dimensions, type of finish and design), different names were assigned to each type of pencils and sets.

Graphite drawing pencils "Polytechnic"

Assortment of pencils

Pencils are divided into three main groups: graphite, colored, copying; in addition, there is a special group of special pencils.

Graphite pencils by purpose are divided into school, stationery, drawing and drawing.

School pencils - for school writing and drawing classes; three degrees of hardness were produced - soft, medium and hard - designated respectively by numbers: No. 1, No. 2, No. 3.

Pencil No. 1 - soft - gave a line of thick black and was used for school drawing.

Pencil No. 2 - medium hardness - gave a clear black line; used for writing and drawing.

Pencil No. 3 - hard - gave a pale grayish-black streak: it was intended for drawing and initial drawing work at school.

School pencils included pencils that had a metal nipple in which a rubber band was fixed to erase notes made with a pencil.

Stationery pencils - for writing; produced mainly soft and medium hardness.

Drawing pencils - for graphic works; produced according to the degree of hardness of the writing rod from 6M to 7T. Hardness determined the purpose of the pencils. So, 6M, 5M and 4M are very soft; ZM and 2M - soft; M, TM, ST, T - medium hardness; ST and 4T - very hard; 5T, 6T and 7T - very hard, for special graphic works.

Drawing pencils - for drawing, shading sketches and other graphic works: available only soft, different degrees of hardness.

Assortment of graphite pencils

colored pencils according to purpose are divided into school, stationery, drawing, drawing.

School pencils - for primary children's drawing and drawing work of elementary school students; were produced in round shape, in sets of 6-12 colors.

Stationery pencils - for signature, proofreading, etc., 5 colors were produced, sometimes two-color - for example, red-blue, mainly hexagonal, except for Svetlana pencils, which had a round shape.

Drawing pencils - for drawing and topographic work; produced mainly in sets of 6 or 10 colors; hexagon shape; coating color - according to the color of the rod.

Drawing pencils - for graphic works; several types were produced, differing from school ones in length and in the number of flowers in sets, from 12 to 48, mostly round, except for drawing No. 1 and No. 2, which had a hexagonal shape. All sets had 6 primary colors, additional shades of these colors and usually white pencils.

All pencils produced in sets were packaged in artistically designed cardboard boxes with multi-colored labels.

Assortment of colored pencils

Copying pencils two types were produced: graphite, that is, containing graphite as a filler, and colored, the writing rod of which contained talc instead of graphite. Copying pencils were produced in three degrees of hardness: soft, medium hard and hard. Copying pencils were produced, as a rule, in a round shape.

Assortment of copying pencils

Specialty pencils - pencils with special properties of the writing rod or special purpose; produced graphite and non-ferrous. The group of special graphite pencils included "Carpenter", "Retouch" and briefcase pencils (for notebooks).

Carpenter's pencil was intended for marks on a tree when performing carpentry and joinery work. It had an oval-shaped shell and sometimes a rectangular section of the writing rod.

Pencil "Retouch"- for retouching photos, shading, applying shadows. The writing rod contained finely ground birch charcoal, as a result of which it gave a thick line of thick black color.

Four numbers were produced, differing in hardness: No. 1 - very soft, No. 2 - soft, No. 3 - medium hardness, No. 4 - hard.

Special colored pencils included "Glassographer" and "Traffic light".

Pencil "Glassographer" had a soft core, giving a fat and thick line; used for marks on glass, metal, porcelain, celluloid, for laboratory work, etc. 6 colors were produced: red, blue, green, yellow, brown and black.

Pencil "Traffic light" It was a type of colored pencils, had a longitudinally composite rod, consisting of two or three colors, which made it possible to get a line of several colors when writing with one pencil. Pencils were designated by numbers corresponding to the number of colors that the rod wrote with.

Names and main indicators of special pencils

Pencil quality

The quality of the pencils was determined by the conformity of the core, shell, finish and packaging to the requirements set by the standard. The most important indicator of the quality of pencils were: for graphite - fracture strength, hardness, intensity of the line and slip; for color - the same indicators and (color compliance with approved standards; for copiers - the same is the copying ability of the rod. All these indicators were checked with special instruments and in laboratory conditions. In practice, to determine the quality of pencils, the following requirements should be followed. The writing rod should have be glued into a wooden shell firmly and as accurately as possible in its center; the non-centricity of the rod was determined by the smallest, i.e., the thinnest part of the shell, the dimensions of which were established by the standard for pencils of the 1st and 2nd grades; the writing rod should not come out freely from the shell when sharpening a pencil or when pressing on it from the end; should be whole and uniform along its entire length, should not contain foreign impurities and inclusions that scratch the paper when writing, should not have any obvious or hidden cracks, should not was supposed to crumble when sharpening and writing.When sharpening a pencil, with a vertical pressing on the sharpened tip of the rod, the latter should not give chips, i.e., arbitrary breaking off or chipping of the rod particles. The cross-sectional area of ​​the rod at the ends of the pencil had to be even, smooth, without damage and chips. For colored rods, a line of the same color and intensity was required when writing along the entire length of the rod.

The shell of the pencils was made of good quality wood, without knots, cracks and other defects; should have low cutting resistance, i.e., it should be easily and softly repaired with a sharply sharpened knife, not break during sharpening and have a smooth cut surface. The ends of the pencils had to be cut evenly, smoothly and strictly perpendicular to the axis of the pencil. The pencil should be straight and even along its entire length, without deformation. The surface had to be smooth, shiny, without scratches, dents, cracks and varnish runs. The varnish coating should not crack, crumble and stick when wet.

According to defects in appearance, pencils were divided into two grades: 1st and 2nd; moreover, the writing properties for pencils of both varieties should have been the same. The 2nd grade included pencils in which the deflection along the length was not more than 0.8 mm, the chipping of wood or varnish film from the end of the pencil was not more than 1.5 mm, the chipping of the rod at the ends was not more than half the cross-sectional area of ​​the rod - to a depth not more than 1.0 mm, the non-centricity of the rod is not more than 0.33 D—d (D is the diameter of the pencil shell along the inscribed circle, d is the diameter of the rod in mm), as well as scratches, dents, roughness and sagging (width and depth not more than 0.4 mm) no more than 3 over the entire surface of the pencil, with a total length of up to 6 mm and a width of up to 2 mm.

Pencils were marked with bronze or aluminum foil on one or more faces. The marking had to contain the name of the manufacturer, the name of the pencils, the degree of hardness (usually in letters) and the year of issue (usually the last two digits of the corresponding year (for example, “55” means the release of 1955). On copying pencils, the marking contained the abbreviated word “Copy” On pencils of the 2nd grade, in addition, there should have been the designation “2 s.” The marking had to stick firmly to the surface of the pencil, be clear, legible, all lines and signs should be solid and not merge.

Pencils: Ruslan, Rogdai, Ratmir (factory named after Krasin)

Pencils were packed in cardboard boxes, mainly in 50 and 100 pieces of the same name and grade. Colored pencils for school and drawing were packed in sets of different colors of 6, 12, 18, 24, 36 and 48 colors in one set. Graphite drawing pencils, colored drawing pencils and some other types of pencils were also produced in sets of different contents. Boxes with pencils of 50 and 100 pieces and sets of all kinds were issued with a multi-color art label sticker. Boxes with sets and pencils of 10 and 25 pieces were placed in cardboard cases or packed in packs of thick wrapping paper and tied with twine or braid. Boxes with pencils of 50 and 100 pieces were tied with twine or braid or pasted over with a paper parcel. Boxes with sets of colored pencils were pasted over with multi-color labels, usually with art reproductions.

Pencils "Cosmetics" (Slavic State Pencil Factory MMP Ukrainian SSR)

Graphite pencils "Painting", "Youth", "Colored"

Set of colored pencils "Youth" - art. 139 out of 6 pencils. The price is 77 kopecks.

Set of colored pencils "Color" - art. 127 and 128 from 6 and 12 pencils. The price of one pencil is 8 kopecks and 17 kopecks, respectively.

Set of colored pencils "Painting" - art. 135 out of 18 pencils. The price is 80 kopecks.

Colored graphite pencils "Painting", "Art"

Set of colored pencils "Painting" - art. 133 out of 6 pencils. The price is 23 kopecks.

Set of colored pencils "Art" - art. 113 out of 18 pencils. The price is 69 kopecks.

Set of colored pencils "Art" - art. 116 out of 24 pencils. The price is 1 ruble 20 kopecks.