Pencils

[dream]

Have you ever had a pencil-related thought and wondered, "Dang, where can I express this pencil-related thought?" Well, look no further! Welcome to the Pencils thread.

I love pencils. I like pens too... But, this is a pencils thread! Now I've found there are two major camps in pencilvania: wooden pencil fans and mechanical pencil fans. I have love for both, but as a writer, I'm partial to wooden pencils.

Have any of your heard of Blackwing pencils? I've touched one once. They're quite fancy. But of all the pencils I've encountered, I like the U.S.A. General's Cedar Pointe the most. It's nice to hold, it's nice to write with, and perhaps mostly importantly, it's nice to smell. And it's a darn handsome pencil; naked cedar wood, a black ferrule, a black eraser (a tall, quality eraser too).

Now I have to ask--what are your pencil thoughts this evening? Or, today--whenever. Click 'leave a reply' and pencil in your thoughts below. Stay sharp!

[imnotjahan]

Often times I'll look at a pencil, and I'll admire all the little marks and divots on it. A slight scratch of the yellow, the small skew of it's tip's slope on one side. All these little details, sitting on the pencil, just for me to notice. The soft body of a pencil holds much easier to spot spots than a pen.

[Riqo]

In recent Years, I have Been exclusively using the Paper Mate Clear Point mechanical pencils ... They're quite Nice to me- Good weight, A grip That doesn't irritate My hand, and a Spirable part for The eraser That proves to Be fun to Fiddle with ^_________^ One of my Favorite pastimes While bored in Class was to Disassemble it and Stare at the Cool and shiny Parts til I got bored Again and Clicked everything Back together LOL . I don't Really do This anymore, but There is something To appreciate In how Mechanical pencils Are arranged!!!!

I haven't Seriously used a Normal wooden Pencil in a WHILE I do Miss being in Elementary school and Having pencils with Zany and Wacky patterns .... Especially when They had custom Eraser colors too!!!! There was Always fun In that!

[ThunderPerfectWitchcraft]

I use pencils heavily when playing, leading, preparing and developing pen and paper sessions.
I usually used wooden ones (never liked the mechanic ones much). Last year, my father ordered some full graphite pencils ("Progresso 8911/HB", apparently they were vividly described in a novel that he had read at the time) and gave one of them to me, along with some nice words 'bout our menages artistic output in the last few years (*blush*).

Its my favorite pencil - pretty, quite durable, and very stable - hadn't a single broken mine, even though it got passed around in several wild sessions.

[Zombiethederg]

Pencils are pretty cool. I use them quite a bit for school, and I know almost all of the ones I own have seen the horror of calculus.

But you know what must be scary for pencils? Pencil sharpeners. Firstly, like. What is a pencil sharpener to a pencil? Is it like getting a haircut? Is it body modification? Is it just torture?

I have so many questions about it. Like, does it hurt the pencil? If that hurts the pencil, how do they feel about me carrying them in my mouth when I'm going places? Is it like a father holding its cub by the scruff? Or is it like a massive eldritch being holding them in their mouth, only to use their face to write scrawling's on paper?

Dude. Pencils must think we are HORRIFYING.

[nuclearblues]

I swear by dixon ticonderoga #2 wooden pencils - cheap enough to buy in bulk (I have a horrible habit of losing them or chewing them to bits, so it's important to have a lot), consistent quality, and excellent to use when planning projects or drawing as they have a pretty tight graphite core and don't break as easily as a lot of pencils I've encountered. occasionally I'll use a BIC mechanical pencil if I'm in a pinch, but I really dislike their erasers and find it more convenient to just use a pen.

[malice]

Oooh I'm an art major with a drawing concentration, this thread is right up my alley! I do have some nice Blackwing 602 pencils, they're wonderful and super soft, but not so great for sketchbooks as they transfer really easily onto the previous page. I keep a small one that my old dog chewed up in my pencil bag as a nice memory of him. Right now my go-to for writing and sketching has been a Zebra DelGuard, i like a good thin lead and these leads don't break as easily as other 0.5 ones do (a really nice luxury if you're heavy handed like I am). Only downside is that their erasers are so small and the pack didn't come with refills! I also had no idea there was an eraser for it until around last week when I tried to take the bottom part off to refill the lead. It's under the cap! For proper drawings, I use a Generals drawing set. Mechanicals are nice for just getting lines down on paper and for detail work, but not so much when you're trying to shade or get thick lines. Having a set of wooden pencils with varying degrees of hardness does the trick.

I have been looking into ebony pencils for super super dark lines, but compressed charcoal has been holding me over for the time being. Charcoal pencils on the other hand are too hard for me, even ones that claim to be soft are still quite tough. Except for Generals Carbon Sketch, which is buttery soft...I ran that one down quick. Also, you can't sharpen charcoal pencils the way you would with graphite pencils, you need to use a small knife and sandpaper/a sanding block. If you use a pencil sharpener, it'll just crumble inside of it I've learned that the hard way.

[Bumperdog]

I have a interesting story with pencils. Both for mechanical and regular ones. When I was in highschool, one thing that I have always discovered in school was the amount of mechanical pencils I would find abandoned on the floor all around the hallways of my highschool. I had so many of them that I would take a entire box to fill them that was originally a shoe box. It was very unnecessary but it was quite fun to me and it felt like a Ispy game, I would always get the over excitement to see one abandoned, however it got so addicted to me that it got unhealthy and I started trying to take people's mechanical pencils behind their back without them knowing.

Heres a little gif I made real quick to show you what I'm talking about, the amount in them is insane. Excuse of the use of dithering in these images I'm just too obsessed with it.



Now when it comes to traditional pencils, the one that is the basic No. 2 Yellow, there isn't really anything exciting about them but knowing this thread's existence it is too much of not a opportunity to discuss it.

Now this is a thing that my friend has teached me and it's a cool trick, if you use your finger or thumb or any sharp flimsy metal object and scrape it on the yellow paint of a pencil, you can actually tear it off. This was a fun sort of gimmick I had with pencils because if you do this for the entire thing you could literally tear off all the yellow paint making it pretty much "naked", you would see all of the basic wood of the pencil in it's glory.



Although it was cool (and possibly unnecessary) it was quite a nuisance to it being a mess of all the pencil shavings on the floor or desk and I ended up often getting yelled at by my teachers. But this weird gimmick sparked a idea in me, like why not make special pencils that are made to have their paint shredded off and if you do you find a whole cool pattern or design on it. Sounds stupid (according to my teachers) but you can turn anything into a great idea.

[dream]

I swear by dixon ticonderoga #2 wooden pencils - cheap enough to buy in bulk (I have a horrible habit of losing them or chewing them to bits, so it's important to have a lot), consistent quality, and excellent to use when planning projects or drawing as they have a pretty tight graphite core and don't break as easily as a lot of pencils I've encountered. occasionally I'll use a BIC mechanical pencil if I'm in a pinch, but I really dislike their erasers and find it more convenient to just use a pen.

Give USA Gold a shot. They're sold at Target for a quarter per pencil in a 12-pack. You could also buy USA Titanium at Walmart. Same pencils really, just a slightly different ferrule embellishment. Cedar wood, dark line. My fav is still Cedar Pointe but I'd be curious your take on USA Gold/Titanium vs Ticonderoga.

BIC mechanical pencils are pretty solid. At least they don't have the springy give of Papermate SharpWriters :P Wish I could still get my hands on the pencil-yellow style BIC mechanical pencils, but they're no longer in production. 

[dream]

Now this is a thing that my friend has teached me and it's a cool trick, if you use your finger or thumb or any sharp flimsy metal object and scrape it on the yellow paint of a pencil, you can actually tear it off. This was a fun sort of gimmick I had with pencils because if you do this for the entire thing you could literally tear off all the yellow paint making it pretty much "naked", you would see all of the basic wood of the pencil in it's glory.

Ooo you really should check our Cedar Pointe, Daiso Golden Sword, Mitsubishi 9852EW HB, Musgrave Greenbelt, or Moon Products Bare Wood. They're all natural wood and lacquer free and lovely. You may hear praise for Tennessee Reds, and they're neat, but just know they're lacquered and have a whole different feel to 'em than natural, bare cedar wood.

[nuclearblues]

Give USA Gold a shot. They're sold at Target for a quarter per pencil in a 12-pack. You could also buy USA Titanium at Walmart. Same pencils really, just a slightly different ferrule embellishment. Cedar wood, dark line. My fav is still Cedar Pointe but I'd be curious your take on USA Gold/Titanium vs Ticonderoga.

I don't have a target particularly close to me but I'll definitely keep an eye out for titaniums on my next walmart run and get back to you on that. always fun to do some experimentation, and it's getting to the time of year where I end up taking a LOT more field notes. thank you for the recommendation!

[pencilz]

An entire thread about me?  (Kidding)

A lot of people I know prefer mechanical pencils to draw or write with but I've always liked using the standard ones. Plus the fresh wood-shaving smell after they've been sharpened is peak, you don't get that with mechanical pencils. I'd honestly love to find a candle with a "freshly sharpened pencil" scent.

I don't particularly know enough about pencil brands. I only know about the graphite hardness scale (how light or dark the graphite is).

[purelyconstructive]

I almost always use a mechanical pencil to sketch. My favorites are the classic Paper Mate Write Bros 0.7mm. I take the eraser holder out and use a razor to slice the clip off of it so that I can roll the pencil around freely within my hand without it getting caught on me. This also makes it easier to quickly switch hands or to use more than pencil at a time within the same hand because they can be held flush with one another...Just don't let them roll off the table!

It is rare now, but if I am going to use a wooden pencil, a small set of Faber-Castell Goldfabers is nice. Like others here, I think the "bare" feel is pleasant, so sometimes I will use a razor to shave off the paint on the outside, similar to what @Bumperdog suggested above. If I need to remember the hardness value, then I will use a permanent marker pen (like a fine Sharpie) to write it directly on the pencil.

As you can probably tell, I keep it simple and plain. If I need it to do anything else, then I modify it as necessary.

I'd honestly love to find a candle with a "freshly sharpened pencil" scent.

You're in luck! There is a candle with this scent. I've never tried it though, just found it through a quick search.

[rainboe]

I've purchased so many pencils over the years for art, and have determined that just about any pencil of 2B hardness is my favourite for general doodling. However, my favourite pencil right now is this generic pencil with a donald duck topper that my sister got me as a gift a while back. I'm not even sure what hardness it is, and it's DEFINITELY not an art pencil, but I just love drawing with it?? Goes to show, never judge a book by its cover and all that...! 
I will say though, my preferences may be skewed, I was a pretty notorious pencil scavenger back in College. Most of my submitted works were drawn with stuff found on the ground!

[candycanearter07]

Honestly, I don't really care between wooden and mechanical. I had a habit of "collecting" pencils through my entire time at school, so I am a bit more partial to wooden since I have so many.