Pencil Grips: Relearning the Basics

As I explore my artist practice and continue to shape my art style, fundamental skills and my knowledge of creating art I am reminded to return to basics.  

I’m doing this by practicing different pencil grips (mine is atrocious!). So far all of them have their merits but the basic tripod grip and the ‘lefty grip’ are so far my favourites.  

Tripod Grip:

This is the classic method taught in most school systems  I unfortunately went rogue and practice a very sloppy version of this which results in my palm cramping up.

To hold a pencil in this grip place the pencil between your thumb and index (pointer) finger and use your middle finger to stabilize the pencil from behind. Pressure should primarily be on the index finger.

This grip is great for most sketching and writing but if you are a lefty like me or hold your pencil with a very tight grip you may want to try the alternatives below!

Overhand Grip: 

This grip is great for broad strokes and larger shapes where you need less control and want more fluidity. Perfect for gesture sketches! I haven’t used this one as much as the other two in this list but I want to play with it more since it absolutely has a place in my art practice!

To test out this grip you would place the pencil down on a flat surface and position your thumb on one side of the pencil and gently grip the other side with your other fingers.

The index finger should sit on top of the pencil with your thumb on one side and the remain fingers should curl slightly under the pencil to stabilize it. You’ll find in this grip that the index finger will take most of the pressure.

Back of Hand Grip:

This grip is excellent if you press hard or clench your pencil OR you are left handed!  

I personally find it quite nice as it forces my to relax a bit when drawing and gets my hand out of the way of my piece since this method shift your hand position to be more on the side of your drawing space then directly over top  

To test this one out place the pencil on the back of your left hand between the index (pointer) finger and middle finger and brace it under neither the pencil with your thumb. In this grip pressure is primarily on the thumb.

I really like this grip because it’s reduced the amount of tension when I drawing. I don’t hold the pencil as tightly which means I can draw for longer and with more pencil control.

I’ve also found with my analogue pieces there is less smudging with this grip! It’s taken some getting use to and I don’t always use this grip but over all I highly recommend giving it a try!

Here's a video of me practicing this grip so you can see it in action.

Related Resources:

• This video from Proko had an awesome breakdown of the tripod and overhand grips if you want to see these in action or try them out yourself! 
  
  
• This resource from Salgood Sam does a great job showing off each grip as well and shows another look at use cases for all three. This one also shows how to use the back of hand grip in greater detail  
  
• This video has some drawing exercises you can use to test these out and generally improve your pencil grip and control! Level 1 is the most relevant to this since we are looking at basics today but I absolutely encourage you to try out the exercises in each level from the video!Do you have a favourite way to hold your pencil? I’ve really been blown away with all the possible methods! 
  
  If you are looking to level up your art practice and want to learn together I would encourage you to join my discord here