YouTube video of me drawing Jesse Spencer in graphite.

To draw skin:
- get a hard pencil (5H will do) and lightly start with crosshatching
- draw in circular motions over the crosshatching

This way all of the paper will be covered with graphite and you will get an even skin tone.

You can add more layers in darker shades by drawing on top of the 5H layer, or by starting out with a softer (=darker) pencil.
Where you accidentally made it too dark, dab with a kneaded eraser.