KOH-I-NOOR HARDTMUTH www.koh-i-noor.eu - Koh-i

The history of drawing
by graphite pencils
KOH-I-NOOR and TOISON D’OR
9999001489GB
KOH - I - NOOR HARDTMUTH a.s.
F. A. Gerstnera 21/3, 371 30 České Budějovice, Czech Republic
Tel.: 00420 389 000 200, Fax: 00420 389 000 501 - 3
E-mail: sales@koh-i-noor.cz
www.koh-i-noor.eu
The history of drawing dates back twenty thousand years ago to when
Palaeolithic man began to draw on the walls of their caves. With the
help of flints, charcoal and the first primitive colours, they realistically
captured bulls, bison and horses. Drawing was an important part of
Ancient Egyptian art, which was closely knit with religion, primarily
serving as the preliminary sketch prior to the actual painting itself.
Greece and Rome brought originality and elegance in drawing lines in
the sixth and fourth century BC., which we still admire and reap
inspiration from today.
The Middle and Far East regions are a chapter of their own, where
drawing developed in a completely different manner, mainly influenced
by Islam and its propagation. A significant landmark is the discovery
of manufacturing paper in China in 105 AD. This invention also
expanded to the West and many artists dyed the paper themselves
and used it as an ideal background for drawing and other art techniques.
During the middle ages, drawing rather stagnated, basically not
much information is available on it. The themes of latter day works
were almost exclusively focussed on religion, primarily influenced by
Carolinian and Byzantium art, which were the subjects of the
Romanesque style. The ensuing Gothic period at the end of the 12th
century ended the dark ages and art of the middle ages reached its
peak. The Renaissance period brought tremendous prosperity to art
and the 15th century in Italy can be considered as the most productive
and most magnificent period in the history of art ever. Exceptional drawers,
painters and sculptors created their works here with the significant
support of the nobility. The ability to draw became a necessity and
a sign of mastery among the finest. Artists used materials that were
available at the time: charcoal, chalk and pencil with lead or silver tips.
We are fascinated by the perfection of Leonardo’s drawings still today,
full of lightness and energy, or Michealangelo’s obsession and perfect
knowledge of the human body, which enabled him to create extensive
studies of human bodies. Raffael learnt the sfumatti technique from
Leonardo da Vinci, and created an incredible amount of technically
perfect and very effective drawings and portraits. At the beginning
of the 16th century, a new concept called cinqecento was created
in Venice, which was perfected by Titian, Tinotoretto and Veronese. The
technique mainly uses black chalk, charcoal or Italian rock, chalk and
ruddle. Artists in Europe watched the dramatic development of art in
Italy and soon began to study here and be inspired by the new styles
of art.
At the beginning of the 17th century, during the Baroque period,
Amsterdam, Seville and Antwerp became important art centres,
representing artists such as Rubens, Rembrandt, Velázquez, El Greco
and many others. In 1640, the first graphite pencils were made.
A significant increase in the popularity of drawing on paper occurred
during the 18th century, at the time when drawing with charcoal, red
and white chalk on coloured paper was very popular in France.
At the beginning of the 19th century, romantic and realistic drawings
appear. At the end of the 19th and at the beginning of the 20th century,
drawing became more demanding in thought, it achieved greater
depth and greater dramatics, as is visible in the works of Toulouse
-Lautrec, Schiele or Picasso.
The technique of pencil, charcoal and ruddle drawing is very popular
even now and accessible to both renowned artists and those, who
are just discovering the beauty of it.
Drawing tools and materials have hardly changed over the past 200
years. However, recently the scale of offered hardness and forms
of charcoal, ruddle, chalk and background materials and tools has expanded
and is even supplied in special interest packages.
KOH-I-NOOR HARDTMUTH
Characteristics:
Graphite base products are a very traditional product of KOH-I-NOOR HARDTMUTH a.s., with history dating back to 1790.
The combination of basic raw materials – low-sintering soft clays and pure, modified ground graphite powder and its complex homogenisation
creates a mixture for the production of 20 gradations of graphite leads, with the scope of 8B to 10H. Soft gradations are marked with the
letter B taken from the word “Black” and hard gradations are marked with the letter H, which comes from the word “Hard”. There are two
gradations between these two groups marked HB (HardBlack) and F (Fine).
The method of production is the same for all lengths, diameters and shapes of graphite leads. Under moist conditions, the pre-prepared
mixture for the required gradation is formed into leads by stretching, which are then dried. The dried leads are burnt at a temperature of
almost 1000°C and then impregnated with a mixture of fat, oil and paraffin. Special modifications to some types of lead have the possibility
of achieving the aquarelle effect by washing the drawing with water.
The final stage of the operation is cutting, sanding, pointing, painting and in some cases leads are marked according to the specific type of product.
The produced leads are either used independently or inserted into the appropriate type of versatile holder. The most common form is inserting
the leads into wood in the form of pencils with varying types of profiles and shapes.
The mutual denominator and characteristic of these products is the high quality application of the lead on the selected type of paper, with
its typical metal sparkle, caused by the basic raw material - graphite. The mineralogical essence of graphite, i.e its lamellar shape, brings
an easy way of creating a soft, flowing application, which is most notable with soft gradations B to 8B.
Graphite base products KOH-I-NOOR HARDTMUTH:
Graphite pencils
1500 KOH-I-NOOR
1502 ART, GRAPHIC, TECHNIC
1504 KOH-I-NOOR
1512 N KOH-I-NOOR
1900 TOISON D’OR
1902 TOISON D’OR
1912 TOISON D’OR
1860 KOH-I-NOOR
8800 GIOCONDA AQUARELLE
12 pcs of 1 gradation in a cardboard
12 pcs gradation sets in a tin box
24 pcs gradation set in a tin box
12 pcs gradation set in a tin box
12 pcs of 1 gradation in a cardboard
12 pcs gradation set in a tin box
12 pcs gradation set in a tin box
12 pcs of 1 gradation in a cardboard
12 pcs of 1 gradation in a cardboard
Woodless graphite pencils
8911 PROGRESSO
8912 PROGRESSO AQUARELL
8915 PROGRESSO
8971
12 pcs of 1 gradation in a plastic drawer with a sleeve
12 pcs of 1 gradation in a plastic drawer with a sleeve
6 pcs gradation set in a plastic drawer with a sleeve
12 pcs of 1 gradation in a cardboard box
Round graphite leads
4865
6 pcs of 1 gradation in a plastic drawer with a sleeve
Square graphite blocks
4390
4390006001BL
18 pcs of 1 gradation in a cardboard box
6 pcs gradation set in a blister card
Graphite powder
9756
in 80 ml plastic bottle
box
box
box
box or 1 pc in a blister card
The following accessories for graphite products KOH-I-NOOR HARDTMUTH are available:
Watercolour pad from hand-made paper, sheet size A3
9925
Watercolour pad from hand-made paper, sheet size A4
9926
Watercolour pad from hand-made paper, sheet size A5
9927
Pop Draw drawing pad, white, sheet size A4, 180 g/ m2
9920005001SF
Pop Draw drawing pad, white, sheet size A3, 180 g/ m2
9920004001SF
Fixative in jar , 100 ml
142 600
Fixativ spray, 300 ml
142 598
Vaporizer
0221
Paper spreaders
9477, 9478
Erasers
6421, 6423, 0300
Printed representation of colours may not be exact.
KOH-I-NOOR HARDTMUTH