Many artists use the pencil as a basis for working with drawing ink or aquarelle. We first sketch the motive with a pencil, working with a narrow tip of medium gradation, because a hard pencil is harder to see without pressure and a too soft pencil is hard to overlap and leaves a distinctive black, suitable only when drawing using pencil only.

In general, when working with a line, higher pressure means more intense black, which gives the line more plasticity, when combined with less pressure. Similarly, when shading, we can start with hard pencils and continue with soft ones where we intend to more intensive black colour. The best way to handle shading is making the strokes in the direction of the shape of the object, with enough patience to be precise. The way of working with light, shadow, and lightness of the line can show the skills of the draughtsman.