Why is a simple pencil called "simple"? How is the hardness of a pencil marked in different countries? Commodity Dictionary As indicated by the softness of a pencil.

Practical tasks in engineering graphics

Drawing lines and fonts

Graphic Work No. 1

Graphic work № 1 , recommended for students to perform engineering graphics, aims to master the skills of drawing drawing lines, fonts and inscriptions, as well as to get acquainted with the basics of working with a compass.
In the process of doing the work, the student must complete the frame of the drawing, the main lines provided ESKD, drawing font letters, and circles represented by various drawing lines.

The work is done on drawing paper A3 (420×297 mm).
To complete the work, you will need pencils with hardness TM ,T , 2T , a ruler with a length of at least 300 mm, a protractor, a compass, a square (for making auxiliary parallel lines), eraser, pencil sharpener.
Ruler and square must be wooden or plastic (metal ones strongly “cut” the pencil lead, leaving dirt on the drawing).

For high-quality graphic work, it is necessary to have a set of pencils, which must necessarily include a pencil of medium hardness ( TM ), solid ( T ) and very hard ( 2T ). In this case, hard pencils are used to draw thin lines on the drawing and for a preliminary outline of the outline of the image, which is subsequently outlined with a medium-hard pencil.
The marking of pencils adopted in different countries is described below.

Designation of pencil hardness

In different countries, the hardness of pencils is marked with different symbols.
In Russia, the marking of pencils with letters has been adoptedM (soft) andT (solid) or combinations of these letters with numbers and with each other. The numbers in front of the letter are an indication of the degree of hardness or softness of the pencil. At the same time, it is intuitively clear that2M - very softM - soft pencil,TM - a pencil of medium hardness (hard-soft),T - hard and2T - a very hard pencil.

There are often imported pencils on sale, for which European or American markings are used.
In the USA, pencils are marked with numbers from 1 to 9 (fractional numbers are also used, for example: 2.5), while the number is usually preceded by a # (pound sign):#1 , #2 , #2,5 , #3 , #4 etc. The larger the number (number) in the marking, the harder the pencil.

The European marking of pencils is based on the letters of the Latin alphabet:

· B (short for blackness - blackness) - corresponds to the Russian marking under the letterM (soft);

· H (from hardness - hardness) - corresponds to the Russian hardness markingT (solid);

· F (from fine point - subtlety, tenderness) - a pencil of medium hardness, approximately corresponds toTM . However, the combination of lettersH AndIN – HB also indicate the average hardness of the pencil.

European marking provides for a combination of lettersIN AndH with numbers (from 2 to 9), while, as in Russian marking, the larger the number, the higher the property of the pencil corresponding to the letter (softness or hardness). Pencils of medium hardness according to the European marking have the designationH , F , HB orIN .
If there is a letter on the pencilIN with a number from 2 to 9 (for example:4V , 9B etc.), then you are dealing with a soft or very soft pencil.
LetterH with a number from 2 to 9 on a pencil indicates its increased hardness (for example,2H , 7H and so on.).

Graphic work task №1 and a sample of the work performed are shown in the figure below.
A full-size sample of the work can be opened in a separate browser window by clicking on the picture with the mouse. After that, it can be downloaded to a computer or printed on a printer for use as a task for students.
The task is presented in two versions:

· Option number 1

· Option number 2

The task is aimed at acquiring and improving the skills of drawing lines of a drawing and fonts, while their style must comply with the requirements stipulated by the standards ESKD And ESTD.

As required ESKD the dimensions of lines and fonts in the drawing must meet the following requirements:

· main solid thick line (for drawing a frame, title block, outline of a part or assembly - that is, the main lines of graphic work) should be thick 0.6...0.8 mm; on large drawings, this line can reach 1.5mm in thickness.

· dashed line (draw lines of an invisible contour)- made thick 0.3 ... 0.4 mm (i.e. twice as thin as the main thick line). Stroke length (4-6mm) and the distance between adjacent strokes (1-1.5 mm) normalized GOST 2.303-68;

other lines (dash-dotted, wavy, solid fine - to designate axes, extension and dimension lines, section boundaries, etc.)- thick 0.2 mm (i.e. three times thinner than the main thick solid line).
The length of the strokes in the dash-dotted line (designation of axes) should be 15-20 mm, the distance between adjacent strokes - 3 mm.

· letter height fonts must correspond to the ruler allowed by the standard, while the height of lowercase letters and the distance between letters in a line correspond to the size of uppercase (capital) letters.
Most often in graphic works of the format A4 And A3 fonts like IN with tilt angle 75 degrees, while the height of lowercase letters (which should be equal to 7/10 of the height of uppercase i.e. capital letters), is taken equal to 3.5 or 5 mm (respectively, the height of capital letters is 5 or 7 mm).

· Letter spacing line should be equal to 1/5 capital height (capital) letters, i.e. for capital letter height 5 mm spacing between letters in a string - 1 mm, for capital letter height 7 mm- spacing between letters 1.5mm .
When writing letters, it is important to keep them the same height and slope in the line, as well as the distance between adjacent letters.

In the section on the question Who understands the marking of pencils - 2B, B, HB, given by the author Alexander Chumakov the best answer is
Pencils differ in the hardness of the lead, which is usually indicated on the pencil and indicated by the corresponding letters. Pencil hardness markings vary from country to country. On the pencil, you can see the letters T, MT and M. If the pencil is made abroad, then the letters will be H, HB, B, respectively. Before the letters, a number is indicated, which is an indicator of the degree of hardness of the pencil.
Pencil hardness markings:
US: #1, #2, #2½, #3, #4.
Europe: B, HB, F, H, 2H.
Russia: M, TM, T, 2T.
Hardest: 7H,8H,9H.
Hard: 2H,3H,4H,5H,6H.
Medium: H,F,HB,B.
Soft: 2B,3B,4B,5B,6B.
Softest: 7B,8B,9B.

Answer from Alexander Kobzev[guru]
artists))) and draftsmen))

Answer from Sedoy[guru]
H - hard, M or B - soft and softness levels

Answer from Tiger[guru]
Pencils differ in the hardness of the lead, which is usually indicated on the pencil and is indicated by the letters M (or B) - soft and T (or H) - hard. A standard (hard-soft) pencil, in addition to combinations of TM and HB, is denoted by the letter F.

Answer from Galchenok ......[active]
2B - hard lead. B - medium hardness. HB - soft

Answer from Sergey[newbie]
B means soft lead, 2B is a very soft pencil and is good for shading, B is a soft lead pencil, H is a hard lead pencil, and HB is a hard-soft pencil. Depending on the softness or hardness, lines of different thicknesses are drawn. Well, in my opinion, NV is suitable for all cases. Well, randomly in drawing they use pencils of different softness.

Koh-i-Noor Hardtmuth on Wikipedia
See the Wikipedia article about Koh-i-Noor Hardtmuth

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 areas to dark ones, 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).

Decide what you need pencils for.

• What are you going to do with the pencil? Will you write a lot? Or do homework? How about solving crossword puzzles? Or do sketches and draw full-fledged paintings?
• How much pressure do you use on the pencil when writing or drawing?
• Do you prefer a thin line or a thick one?
• Do you tend to regularly lose pencils, give them to others, chew them or spoil them, or do you try to save pencils and keep them exclusively in a pencil case?
• Do you carry pencils in your pocket, at the risk of injuring yourself with the tip of the lead?
• Do you try to keep the eraser on your pencil, or does it tend to get lost? Do you rarely use an eraser and it just dries out?

Pay attention to what you like or dislike about the pencils you use. Perhaps some are very comfortable to hold in your hand, while others, on the contrary, are difficult to move across a sheet of paper.

Think what you like best: mechanical pencil or traditional.

• Mechanical pencils do not need to be sharpened, but they do require replacement of the correct lead thickness. As a rule, when about 1 centimeter remains from the stylus, it can no longer be used.
• Mechanical pencils allow fine, even lines to be drawn, which may be advantageous when creating technical drawings or small drawings.
• The length of a mechanical pencil does not change over time.
• Mechanical pencils are usually more expensive than traditional ones, especially high-quality ones designed for long-term use. Most often, in mechanical pencils, it is possible to replace the lead and eraser, which allows you to use it for a very long time.
• Regular pencils are usually cheap. The thickness of the line may vary depending on the angle of inclination and the degree of dullness of the lead.
• The advantages of conventional pencils are their low cost, availability and ease of use. Many also like the feel of using a regular pencil.

Pencil is a very simple drawing material with which artists start their creative journey. Even any kid makes his first lines with a pencil before moving on to more complex material. But not such a pencil and primitive, if you study in more detail. He is able to help the artist create sketches, various illustrations, drawings and paintings. Pencils have their own types and it is important for any artist to be able to choose the right material for their work so that the illustration has a presentable appearance. So let's figure it out how to choose a pencil for drawing?

The principle of the pencil

When a person presses down on a pencil, the rod slides over the paper, and the graphite particles break down into small particles and linger in the paper fiber. Thus, a line is obtained. In the process of drawing, the graphite rod is erased, so it is sharpened. The most familiar way is a special sharpener, you can also use a regular blade. It is important to understand that this method requires special care and preparation in order to avoid cuts. But thanks to the blade, you can make the desired thickness and shape of graphite.

Types of a simple pencil

The basic definition of a pencil is a graphite rod framed in a wood or plastic frame. A simple graphite pencil comes in various types. They differ in their degree of hardness.
Human eyes can distinguish a large number of shades of gray, and to be precise - 150 tones. Despite this, the artist must have at least three types of simple pencil in his arsenal - hard, medium soft and soft. With their help, you can create a three-dimensional drawing. Different degrees of rigidity will be able to convey the contrast, you just need to skillfully handle them.
You can determine the degree of softness of graphite using the symbols (letters and numbers) that are printed on the frame of the pencil. The scale of hardness and softness are different. We will consider three types of notation:

Russia

1. T- solid.
2. M- soft.
3. TM- medium softness.

Europe

1. H- solid.
2. B- soft.
3. HB- medium softness.
4. F- middle tone, which is determined between H and HB.

1. #1 (B)- soft.
2. #2 (HB)- medium softness.
3. #2½ (F)- medium between hard and medium softness.
4. #3 (H)- solid.
5. #4 (2H)- very hard.

It is impossible not to take into account such a moment as the manufacturer. Sometimes, even the same softness of pencils from different manufacturers will differ significantly from each other due to their quality.

A palette of shades of a simple pencil

It is worth noting that the softness of pencils can vary significantly. In other words, softness and hardness are further divided into tonality. The H designation is considered the hardest, while B is the softest. It's not surprising if there are whole sets in the store from 9H (hardest) to 9B (softest).
The most common and popular is the HB pencil. It has moderate softness and hardness, making it easy to sketch. With it, you can enhance dark places, thanks to its light softness.
To enhance the contrast of the picture, it is worth purchasing 2B. Artists rarely use very hard pencils, but this is a matter of taste. This type of pencil is more suitable for drawing schemes or building perspectives for landscapes, because it is almost invisible in the image. It is impossible not to take into account that the high hardness of the pencil allows you to make a smooth transition on the hair or add a barely noticeable tone without fear of darkening.

At the beginning of work, it is worth using a hard pencil, especially if you are not sure about the result of the illustration. A soft pencil is designed to work out the shadows and highlight the desired lines.

Hatching and shading

Regardless of the softness, one must always remember that the pencil must be sharpened sharply. Strokes and lines are best obtained with a hard pencil due to the fact that the stylus does not dull quickly, but remains in its pointed shape for a long time. Shading is preferred for a soft pencil, but it is better to draw with the side of the stylus so that the material is applied evenly.

Features of working with a pencil

Do not forget that the pencil lead is a rather fragile thing. Every time a pencil falls to the floor or is hit, its core is damaged or even broken. As a result, it will be inconvenient to draw, because the stylus will crumble or fall out of its wooden frame.

Outcome. The information worth knowing is quite voluminous for a novice artist. But it is very useful, because it will help in creating future masterpieces. Over time, knowledge will automatically suggest which simple pencil is needed in a given situation. Most importantly, don't be afraid to experiment.