Four ways to hold a pencil to draw

How you hold a pencil to draw is different from how you hold a pencil to write.

This post is for those who'd like to explore different ways of holding a pencil and what each offers you. It shows you:

• why different grips offer you more scope to draw in different ways
• affect the range of movement that is possible from both your hand - and arm
• enable you to move your pencil in different ways
• offer you the scope to draw more effectively - in different ways

Below I look at four different kinds of grips for drawing

• the basic tripod grip
• a basic drawing grip
• the overhand/gesture grip
• an extended underhand grip

How to hold a pencil to draw - four different ways

I'll be systematically showing you

• what the grip looks like - in diagrams hand drawn by me!
• which fingers it uses
• what it's useful for
• what it limits
• who it's recommended for

If you find it useful you might like to share it with your friends who also draw - or want to learn how to draw.

Context - How we learn to grip a pencil

It's often the case that those who have taught themselves to draw continue to use their familiar grip for holding a pen or pencil - the one they've probably learned at school when they learned how to write.

However this can cause problems and it also limits HOW you can use a pencil to draw.

It's also the case that many people who are teaching people 'how to draw' haven't necessarily been taught to draw themselves and are still using the grip they learned when little.

For me, the essential thing is that people have the information to make a choice. After that, how we choose to use a pencil is entirely up to the individual. 

• There is no right or wrong way. 
• Your way is your way. 
• However experimentation can lead to expanding and improving your skills in different ways of drawing - and ultimately change

Different ways to grip

Study the ways the grips vary. Look at people you know who draw and watch to see how their grip works. Ask them why they use the grip and why they like it. Ask them what they can do with it.

In particular note:

• which parts of the hand and arm are involved in the grip 
• what the role of the thumb is
• where and how the pencil rests if not gripped tightly by the fingers
• whether the hand and/or the fingers move the pencil
• what provides the pressure
• what provides balance 
• whether control is exerted via pressure or balance.

The basic traditional / tripod grip