Here's a very simple illustration, showing the fundamental way of rendering in pencil. The "slinky" stroke (as Anthony Ryder calls it, in his outstanding Life Drawing book) is a unique way to describe a certain kind of pencil stroke. Ryder calls it a "slinky" because it goes back and forth, back and forth, just like that childhood toy, the Slinky.

This is the basis for much of the rendering and shading in pencil and pen. It's as simple as that! If you are unfamiliar with drawing with this stroke, practice it in your sketchbook. It's fun!

Some more examples of pencil strokes. The example on the left shows how a dark dark tone looks. One bears down a little harder with their pencil, and gets the darkest tone they can while using the "slinky" stroke. They do this going several different directions. Voilà! A very dark (even black) tone.

The example on the right is a more strict crosshatch. It isn't so much of a "slinky" stroke (one lifts the pencil up after making each line) but the same principle applies.

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