The Pencils I Use

Having rambled at some length last week about why I use pencils almost exclusively for my art, I thought perhaps this week I’d ramble about which pencils I use. This blog having once been all about pens and pencils, it feels a little like coming home.

Pictured is my pencil block, made from walnut by Mike Dudek many years ago. He no longer makes them, which is a shame for everyone who hasn’t got one.

I shall work from right to left, one row at a time. In the far right row are three Derwent charcoal pencils, white, light and medium. I hardly ever use these but I have a lot of fun with them when I do. In the next row are two Tombow Mono erasers. The first is a 2.3mm round eraser and the second a 2.5mm by 5mm eraser. The round one gets used a lot, it’s a good eraser and useful for lifting either little mistakes or creating some detail. The only pencil in that row is a Derwent dark charcoal pencil. In the third row from the right we get to the beginning of the exciting stuff! In the middle is a Staedtler Mar Lumograph HB pencil. I use this for writing. As I’m working on a drawing I often make little notes to myself for what I need to next or areas I might need to go back to later. I’m prone to overworking a small area sometimes so writing a note helps me move on. The pencil in this slot changes now and then as I have roughly one billion pencils and I like to mix it up a bit sometimes. Either side, and in fact in the whole of the left-hand side of the block, there are Mitsubishi Hi-Uni pencils.

Hi-Uni pencils aren’t particularly cheap as far as pencils go. Cult Pens currently sell them for £3.60 each. I have a few comments about the price of these pencils. First of all, it’s expensive for a pencil but relatively cheap compared to most other stationery and most other art supplies. Secondly, a pencil lasts a long time. My 10H pencil has been sharpened once since I got it. I draw a lot, you’ll be surprised to hear, and I probably spend about £25 a year on pencils. That in part is because of National Pencil Day! National Pencil Day is, I think, on 30 March every year and much as I love pencils I’m not sure why there needs to be a national day of celebration. But what’s best about it is that Cult Pens always do 3 for the price of 2 on Hi-Uni pencils around then and so that’s when I restock. And finally, I spent a lot of time trying out every pencil I could get my hands on and these are my favourite. They are smooth and very consistent which means I know exactly what they’re going to do when I use them and makes drawing with them completely delightful. Of course you could probably use very very cheap pencils and no-one would be able to tell the difference in the finished drawing. Just find pencils you like to use.

Crikey that was quite a digression. Back to the block. The shorter pencil at the start of the row is a 10B. This pencil is a beast which is why it has to live on that side of the block. I can’t risk picking it up by mistake as it’s so dark you can never completely erase it. I use this pencil only at the very end, and very sparingly, as it’s prone to smudging. But I think this pencil is my secret weapon because it can make such strong shadows. The other pencil on that row is the aforementioned 10H, the complete opposite, which is why there has to be a neutral pencil keeping them apart. It’s very hard to see the lines this pencil makes and if you press too hard it’s like a knife. I’ve also stabbed myself with it a few times when I’ve reached down to pick it up and missed. But it’s useful for just taking the edge off really light areas, smoothing areas and just making areas more interesting in a completely non-obvious way.

Nestled in the gap, hard to see, is a stylus with silver wire, used for silverpoint work.

Okay so we’re almost there as we can whizz through the last lot. In the middle of the left block is a cheap paintbrush, this is for brushing away bits of eraser. Then, starting at the top right of this block and working anti-clockwise, round the edge to the middle right slot, we have: 6B, 4B, 2B, HB, 2H, 4H, 6H and 8H. See if you can spot a pattern. Actually the 6H is missing because I’d just been using it and had forgotten to put it back when I took these photos.

So there you are. These are the pencils I use. Please feel free to ask any questions you might have in the comments.