What does "HB" or "H" or "B" mean in terms of Art

Question: What does "HB" or "H" or "B" mean in terms of Art & Design!?

The pencil ranges I'm talking about! You know like HB, B, 2B, and H, 2H!? Tah!.

P!.S I also understand that there might be an 'F'!? For you "know-it-all" Art & Design Expert's! ;)Www@QuestionHome@Com

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:

"H" stands for hardness and "B" stands for blackness!.!.!."F" is for finepoint!. the range of pencils from hardest to softest (hardest being the lightest and softest being the blackest/darkest pencils) goes like this:

9H-8H-7H-6H-5H-4H-3H-2H-H-F-HB-B-2B-3B!.!.!.

Hope this helped!Www@QuestionHome@Com

There is a system of grading the hardness (H) and the softness – blackness (B) of the graphite of a pencil – in the middle is HB where the two meet, frequently stated as the best writing pencil, from the middle the grades run H, 2H, 3H to 9H on the hard side and B, 2B, 3B to 9B on the soft range!.
Finepoint (F) is a grade outside the H-B range that was developed with shorthand in mind and competes with HB as the best writing pencil!.Www@QuestionHome@Com