Mark-making & media
A studio reference for dry and wet drawing media: what each one is made of, how it behaves on different papers, how to erase, blend and fix it, and the marks it is good at. Finish by printing a test sheet and making your own swatches: the only reliable guide to your materials is a sample you made yourself.
Graphite grades
A pencil "lead" is graphite fired with clay. More clay makes it harder, paler and finer; more graphite makes it softer, darker and more prone to smudging. H stands for hard, B for black, and F for fine (or firm). Choose a grade to see the range of values it gives from light to heavy pressure.
9H hardest, palestF · HB middle9B softest, darkest
HB
Hardness
Smudging
- Value range (1–9 scale)
- Typical uses
- Smudging and erasing
- Grades aren't standardisedThere is no shared standard for the letters. One maker's 2B can match another's B or 3B, and even colours of graphite differ (warm, cool, grainy). Test a set before you mix brands in one drawing, and label your own swatches.
- Graphite sheenHeavy layers of soft graphite burnish and reflect light, so the darkest areas look shiny and read lighter at an angle. For a matt, true black, finish with charcoal, or build darks by layering rather than pressing.
- IndentingHard grades used with pressure groove the paper. The grooves won't take later tone and show as white lines, which is sometimes used deliberately (impressed line) but usually is not wanted.
- A working rangeMost studio drawing needs three or four grades, for example 2H or H for layout, HB or B for mid-tones and 4B to 6B for darks. Add a hard grade over soft tone to fill the tooth for smooth finishes.
Media
Each swatch shows line marks, a tonal build from light to heavy, and a blended or characteristic area, on the kind of paper that suits it. Filter the cards by family.
Paper guide
Paper is half of every mark. Weight (grams per square metre, gsm) tells you how much erasing, blending and water it can take; tooth is the surface texture that files particles off dry media and holds them; sizing controls how fast wet media sink in.
| Paper | Typical weight | Surface and tooth | Suits | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Newsprint | 45–55 gsm | Thin, soft, slight tooth; cheap and absorbent. | Charcoal, conté, graphite stick and soft pencil for gesture, life drawing and warm-ups. | Acidic: yellows and goes brittle. Tears under heavy erasing and cockles with any water. Not for finished work. |
| Cartridge | 90–220 gsm (130–170 common) | Smooth to light tooth, good all-rounder; heavier sheets have more body. | Graphite, charcoal pencil, conté, fineliner, coloured pencil; light ink washes at 200 gsm and above. | Lighter sheets buckle under wet media and pill with heavy erasing. Surface varies a lot between brands. |
| Bristol board | 250–300 gsm | Smooth (plate) or very light tooth (vellum); stiff, multi-ply. | Plate: dip pen, fineliner, brush pen, technical graphite. Vellum: graphite, charcoal pencil, coloured pencil. | Plate is too slick to hold many layers of dry media. Not designed for heavy washes. |
| Hot-pressed (HP) | 300 gsm (190–640) | Watercolour paper pressed through hot rollers: smooth, hard, well sized. | Dip pen and ink, detailed ink wash, graphite, coloured pencil, fine line work over wash. | Washes dry with harder edges and can streak; less forgiving of blooms. |
| Cold-pressed (NOT) | 300 gsm (190–640) | "Not hot-pressed": medium tooth, the standard watercolour surface. | Ink wash, graded washes, wet-in-wet, dry brush, charcoal and soft pastel. | The texture breaks fine pen lines. Below about 300 gsm, stretch or tape it down before heavy washes. |
| Rough | 300–640 gsm | Pronounced, irregular tooth. | Expressive wash, dry brush, granulating ink, bold charcoal and pastel texture. | Nibs snag and spatter; fine detail and smooth gradations are hard to get. |
| Toned paper | 120–180 gsm | Mid-value grey, tan or blue-grey; often laid (Ingres-type) with a fine ribbed texture. | Charcoal with white chalk, conté trois crayons, white gel pen, coloured pencil. The paper is the mid-tone, so you work up to the lights and down to the darks. | Choose a tone that suits your subject; cheap toned papers fade. The laid texture shows through light pressure. |
| Pastel / sanded | 160–360 gsm | Heavy tooth or a gritty, sandpaper-like coating that holds many layers. | Soft pastel, pastel pencil, charcoal; layering light over dark. | Eats pencils and erasers, and fingertips when blending. Some coatings can't take water. |
- Reading weightPrinter paper is about 80 gsm. 150 gsm and above takes repeated erasing; 300 gsm (the old "140 lb") is the usual minimum for heavy washes without stretching.
- Tooth vs mediumSoft, powdery media (charcoal, pastel) need tooth to grip. Fine, precise media (pens, hard graphite) prefer smooth surfaces. Tooth fills up: once it's full, further layers slide or polish.
- SizingGelatin or synthetic size stops ink feathering and lets you lift washes. Unsized or cheap papers make ink bleed, which can also be used deliberately.
- Archival qualityFor work you want to keep, look for acid-free paper, ideally 100% cotton. Newsprint and cheap cartridge discolour within months in light.
Marks and techniques
A vocabulary of marks for building value, texture and edge. Each swatch draws itself when it scrolls into view; press Replay to watch again.
Tools
Erasers, blenders and sharpening are mark-making tools too: rubbing out is as much a way of drawing as putting down.
Erasers
- Putty (kneaded) rubber
- Lifts by pressing, dabbing or rolling rather than rubbing, so it doesn't damage the surface or leave crumbs. Pinch it to a point or edge for highlights. Knead it to clean; replace it when it goes shiny and dark. Best for charcoal, graphite and pastel.
- Vinyl (plastic) eraser
- Firm and thorough: removes graphite almost completely. Cut it to a sharp edge for crisp lines and rub with a clean edge. Rub too hard and you abrade the tooth, which then takes tone differently. A pencil-shaped eraser pen gives the same action with precision.
- Electric eraser
- A spinning tip for fine, precise highlights and hatching "drawn" in white: hair, grass, reflections. Use a light touch and keep it moving; it can heat and wear through thin paper.
Blending
- Blending stump
- Tightly rolled, compressed paper, pointed at both ends. Firm enough to push particles into the tooth and draw with the tone it carries. Use the side for broad areas and the tip for small ones.
- Tortillon
- Hollow, loosely rolled paper with a single fine point for small details. Too much pressure pushes the tip in; unroll or poke it back out with a paperclip.
- Chamois leather
- Soft, broad blending and lifting for charcoal and pastel. A light pass softens; a firm wipe removes tone to leave a ghost of the drawing. Wash in soapy water and dry flat.
- Keeping them clean
- Clean stumps on a sandpaper block. Keep separate blenders for graphite, charcoal and colour. Avoid fingers: skin oils leave marks that later layers and fixative won't cover.
Sharpening
- Craft knife
- Cut the wood back to expose 1–2 cm of lead, which gives a long point for side-of-lead tone and control, and lets you shape charcoal pencils that snap in sharpeners. Always cut away from yourself, with the pencil resting against a surface, and use a retractable or snap-off blade.
- Sharpener
- Fast and tidy, but gives a short cone and can break soft leads. A long-point (two-stage) sharpener or a helical desk sharpener gives a longer point. Keep blades sharp; a dull blade chews the wood and snaps leads.
- Sandpaper block
- Fine abrasive paper stapled to a paddle. Refines a knife-cut point to a needle, a chisel or a flat wedge for broad strokes. Also sharpens charcoal and pastel sticks and cleans stumps. Tap the dust into a bin; don't blow it.
Fixative
- Workable vs final
- Workable fixative binds loose particles but keeps some tooth, so you can draw back into it between stages. Final fixative seals the finished piece; use it sparingly.
- How to spray
- Hold the board upright, about 30 cm away, and sweep across in light, even passes that start and finish off the paper. Two thin coats are better than one wet one, which can drip, darken or spot.
- Side effects
- Fixative darkens and dulls soft pastel and can shift light values; many pastellists fix only the under-layers. It won't stop oil pastel smearing. Hairspray is not archival and yellows.
- Safety: aerosol solvents and fine resin mist. Spray outdoors or in an extracted spray booth, never in a closed room, away from flames and heaters; don't breathe the mist, and leave the work to dry before bringing it back in.
Media test sheet
Choose the media you want to test, print on the paper you'll use, then fill each box: a pressure run from light to dark, and four characteristic marks. The 9-step strips are for matching values (1 paper white, 9 darkest).