It’s a question I’m often asked – why pencil? Why not paint, or pastel, or anything more colourful?
I’ve dabbled with other media. I’ve made pictures with charcoal and pen and ink, and I enjoy sketching outdoors with pen and ink and watercolour. The summer before last I used only coloured pencils for a couple of months. I have tins of coloured charcoal, acrylic paints, watercolour pencils, coloured pencils and colourful brush pens. I admire paintings, especially soft pastel and watercolour. I just don’t want to spend my time using any of it.
Over the years I’ve become fairly good at making pencil drawings. I know what I’m doing, I know how I can use pencils to create the effects I’m after, and I’m developed my own style. This is the result of me spending a quite ridiculous amount of time drawing with graphite pencils. Honestly, a ridiculous amount of time. Do I want to start again and invest that much time in something new? I do not. But also, I think that if I was granted some kind of superpower and could instantly paint really well, I’m not even sure I’d want to spend my time painting anyway.
There is something about a pencil drawing that speaks to me in a way a painting does not. It’s very hard to put what that is into words but I’m going to try anyway.
It feels direct to me. Mind – hand – pencil – paper. There’s no mixing paints, choosing colours, blending in. (These are fun things to do, I admit, but they insert an extra layer, for me at least: they move the mind a little further away.) When I look at a good pencil drawing I feel like I can see into the artist’s being in a way I rarely get with a painting. I know this isn’t fair to paintings! I know that paintings have the same effect on lots of people and there are indeed some (many?) paintings that affect me in that same direct way. But on the whole, I get this feeling of a direct connection more often with a pencil drawing. I know that someone made it and I can feel them drawing it.
I suspect that a watercolour painter feels the same way when they see a watercolour painting, an oil painter when they see an oil painting, and so on. I’m not saying there’s anything special about pencil in general. It’s special for me.
Does this make any sense at all? Possibly not. Let me know!
One final point (no pun intended). I do also just like pencils as objects. This is just a small selection of the pencils I’ve accumulated.
Your comments about pencils make total sense to me. I’m not an artist; can’t draw to save my life. But I collect and use fountain pens. I have a special connection with the way their nibs feel on the paper when I write with them. It gets complicated, because when you add in different types/colors of ink and various textures of papers…well, I think you’d understand. All of these variables affect the feel of the act of writing and the outcome of how my letters look. I even changed the way I write to better show off inks that have shading and sheen (I print now instead of writing in cursive). When I look at the writing of someone else using a fountain pen, I can read a lot into it. I can tell whether they’re using a fine or broad nib, or a stub or italic nib, etc. Or whether they were writing in a hurry. I could go on, but I won’t because it would bore most people to death. I can certainly understand how using pencils feels more direct. When you’re holding the instrument that makes the marks on the paper, there’s little room for mental clutter.
Thanks Debi. You’re in good company here, with regards to fountain pens and inks!
P.S. I really like your work. Meant to say that. Debi
Hi, Ian! I can’t believe your blog has been off my radar until today!! It was brought to my attention by the Well-Appointed Desk! I will certainly follow now! Anyway, you certainly don’t need to explain the pencil thing to me…I get it completely. Although I use and enjoy many different media, there is something very different and special about the seemingly simple graphite pencil…that a single tool that fits behind one’s ear could produce, with time, a masterpiece, or a simple, satisfying sketch in minutes. I question whether any other medium could claim the same. Plus there’s just the tactile pleasure of graphite on paper. Carry on, dude! – Tina