Geraldine Page

I can tell from the sketch book this is in that it was done mid 90s.  I'd run across a photograph of Geraldine Page that I liked so much I did a graphite drawing from it. In this case, probably a 3HB sketching pencil or higher. Pencils come in hard or soft lead, with a designation of 'HB' or 'B' for soft and 'H' for hard. The higher the number, the harder or softer the lead. Soft lead can go up to 6B (be prepared to have lead residue all over your hands and forearms/sleeves) I think hard pencils only go up to 4H. Nobody in their right mind uses an H pencil to sketch.
Why H, B or HB?
H is from the French word for HAUT, the B is from the French LOW. (How come the French got to name pencils? There's a research project for my Faithful Readers)! Hard pencils have a higher quantity of binder in them, hence less graphite deposit which leads to a lighter stroke and less need to sharpen. The lower B designation has less binder which results in a darker stroke. The softer the lead, the more you have to sharpen.

If I'm cartooning, I use a soft pointy HB or maybe 2HB pencil to get things down  (soft lead is easier to erase) before finishing with ink pens. Densities of 3HB or higher are going to clog the ink pen!