Art questions

[Tetsuwan Penguin]

Those of you drawing in pencil, what kind of pencils do you use (hardness number), and what type of erasures (just the rubber nubb on the pencil, or a softer bar type)?

[Angel of the Stars]

I just use a mechanical pencil!

[Tetsuwan Penguin]

I just use a mechanical pencil!

Probably a common #2 lead then.

[Juanita]

There are lots of different kinds of pencils which are classified by H and B (at least those are the ones I use). H1 - H6 are lighter while B1 -B6 are darker. H6 is lighter than H1, and B6 is darker than B1.
In terms of brands, I'm not entirely sure.

[Angel of the Stars]

[QUOTE=Angel of the Stars;223375]I just use a mechanical pencil!

Probably a common #2 lead then.[/QUOTE]

I just checked my lead cases and it says #2!

[tailz]

Um, is it okay if I say something weird to you guys here?

click for spoilerI like the way lead smells. It smells good. I don't know why, maybe because I'm soo used to smelling it and drawing with lead? But yes, I like the smell of it.

I use Papermate Sharpwriter #2 mechanical pencils. They are the best kinds. :3

[Tetsuwan Penguin]

Um, is it okay if I say something weird to you guys here?

click for spoilerI like the way lead smells. It smells good. I don't know why, maybe because I'm soo used to smelling it and drawing with lead? But yes, I like the smell of it.

I use Papermate Sharpwriter #2 mechanical pencils. They are the best kinds. :3

I've never noticed any smell to pencil lead, which is actually graphite and carbon, not Pb. Freshly sharpened pencils smell like sawdust.

[Little Brown Fox]

Hm, I use my mechanical pencil almost exclusively. But I sometimes use harder leads, for lighter lines. Unfortunately, they don't erase very well... the lead shows up lighter, but it's because it's harder, so it can leave a noticeable mark on the paper, even if the actual pencil marks (the graphite) are erased. It can dent the page, pretty much.

I'm not sure if this holds true for harder leads, that go in mechanical pencils. The type of lead I use depends on what I have, but it's usually on the softer side, and #2 grade. Not sure what makes the difference, and I'm not entirely sure if I've ever actually seen a pencil or lead that wasn't #2 (although I kinda have to assume that those unmarked, decorative pencils I've accumulated over the years are the ones that aren't exactly #2- at least most of them might be)...

I'm no expert on these things. But the softer the lead, the darker the marks; the harder, the lighter. They're marked pretty much how Pika said, except I think she accidentally reversed the order of the letter and the number.

[Earthshine]

I use whatever happens to be near me at the moment. I tend to soft lead though as to not score the paper when I go in to color it. I don't color digitally so this is a crucial step. If you use a lead that's too hard or sharp you can carve into the paper and leave grooves that when colored pencils glide over it the color will not go into the groove and it will leave white streaks in your piece.

[Little Brown Fox]

See, that's exactly the type of problem I was talking about. :T

As for erasers, I don't know much about them. Some work better than others, I'll give you that. But I mostly use whatever I happen to have nearby, anyways.