Much that has been said of etching and pen drawing is equally true of the
hard lead pencil; but the soft pencil has many of the qualities of
charcoal. It may even be made to resemble the ink wash. The most
successful pencil work is that in which line is the main thing, shading
being only suggested. These darks, whether meant for shadows, local tone,
or color, will form a “spotting” to which is largely due the interest of
the sketch.
If shading is attempted, the tones, whether gray or dark, are made by
laying lines side by side, not by cross‐hatching or going over twice. A
pencil sketch must be off‐hand, premier coup, brilliant and characterful.
Two examples are given as hints for handling, No. 60. It is not possible
here to discuss pencil, pen or etching, at length; they are only touched
upon in their relation to composition of line and notan.