How to Draw a Pencil

Last Updated: April 8, 2021

Many new artists choose a pencil as a subject. It will take a while to perfect the technique used to draw them, but here is a simple tutorial to help you learn how.

Steps

1
Sketch four even lines, with uneven spacing as shown. They're going diagonally up and to the right in the image shown, but they can point in any direction you want so long as you keep them parallel.
2
At the top, draw two curved lines for the ferrule (the piece that holds the eraser). Draw a semicircle above that for the eraser.

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3
Draw a triangle at the other end of the pencil and a curved line for the lead. If you want a blunt, well-used pencil, you should round off the tip so it looks as though it's been pressing into a page.
4
Sketch in quarter circles connecting the lines for the sharpened markings. Put only about three or four so that your pencil still looks realistic.
5
Outline our pencil and erase overlapping guidelines. Add in a little bit of shadow or extra darkening if you wish.
6
Color it in and you're done! Use yellow for the body of the pencil, light brown for the tip, and pink for the eraser for a traditional pencil.

Community Q&A

Question

How do you draw so good?

Community Answer

You will hear this a lot in your lifetime of drawing, but the secret to being good at drawing does not lie in our DNA. It's not just some skill one person has and another will never have. Drawing takes years and years of practice. So, the answer to your question is simply practice. Practice makes perfect, actually, perfect practice makes perfect because if you practice incorrectly, you'll never be perfect.
Question

How do I draw it realistically?

Community Answer

Use shading and realistic proportions. For example, don't make the tip twice the size of the eraser. I suggest using a model to help.
Question

How long should this take?

Community Answer

Drawing a simple pencil with no sketching takes about 30 seconds. If you sketch it out first, it still shouldn't take more than a minute.