Are expensive pencils worth it?

I often get asked what pencils I use and the role that plays in my practice. In this video I tested out a bunch of pencils, ranging from expensive to cheap. I hope it is helpful but it might not be what you think!


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[distortedblack]

I have learned a long time ago that it's not the instruments used but the artist's ability to work with the instruments. I've seen people use a regular Bic Ballpoint pen to create beautiful works and I've seen creatives make a masterpiece out of a regular Wal-mart HB pencil found in a twelve pack for back-to-school supplies. Time, patience, and honing your skills can allow you to develop extraordinary works of art. Today the timelapse video gives the wrong impression that a piece is created in a matter of minutes when in real-time it's days sometimes weeks or even months. Allow yourself to develop your own skill and your own creative developmental style. What works for one, will not necessarily work for another. Draw every day! Sketchbooks are amazing and meant to be destroyed and abused. Not every page should be a masterpiece. Allow yourself room for success and failure and overall; just have fun! Excellent video and thank you for sharing your creative direction.

[experts_sketch]

1:03 oh that's a really smooth transition 🤩

[ArtySubu]

You're so right, Jono. It's what you do with your tools that makes the difference. And practice of course. 👍🏼

[amburbyler]

I use to have to use multiple types of pencils because I couldn't control my pressure, now I mainly use HB, B, and 2B. Mainly 2B in my mechanic Faber castell pencil. I started only using HB when Jono said that was one of his favorite, it make me a much better artist. Little gems of info like that impacts me incredibly in my art.

[savannahcarlon]

I had been using Koh-i-Noor for years but last year I discovered the Faber-Castell 9000 pencils, will never use anything else after these. They're so smooth, they blend beautifully, and they know how to draw all of the shapes.

[gamuchirayichitambo]

The sarcasm in this video is killing me😂😂

[davidmenke]

It's so weird watching Jono draw a stick figure cat and basic shapes. It's like the twilight zone or something.

[johnwayne]

I don't draw but I do write and I have always been satisfied with a Eberhard Faber Blackwing 602. To me it's the just right pencil. I've used other pencils in the same category as the 602 but this one seems to always be the right shade of darkness while being buttery smooth.

[Tkizz]

Your humor is amazing, this video was a complete delight!

[oldschoolcajun]

I prefer a smooth graphite pencil over the gritty ones. I find that the cheaper are good to learn with but frustrate me when its gritty and feels scratchy and not so pigmented.

[johnhoffmanpaintings]

i am so glad you brought this video out, , I have not been able to find the pencil for long cat noses..thankyou thankyou thankyou..no more wasted taxi journeys..

[mike]

I really like to have sharp details so I switched very early on to using a standard mechanical pencil. I was suspecting that maybe the softness of the graphite could effect the range of values you could get but I never tested it, though it makes sense that the paper would effect it more. Another thing is you can use charcoal pencils to get deeper blacks while matching the rest of the drawing. A black colored pencil is the darkest, but the waxy material doesnt play well with the graphite and can look out of place. Ink can work aswell but will have the same problems but worse. Granted I've been doing colored drawing for years and haven't touched graphite since I switched.

[Sharlz]

Thankyou for sharing this with us, I luv your art, you are an amazing artist

[chloeivan]

I’ve used the arches paper you speak of and holy cow, I noticed a huge difference compared to Bristol vellum 500. Thanks for the tip! Fabers are my favorite pencil also!

[JamieBoots]

Another really entertaining video. Switched from Derwent years ago they where inconsistent with tone and full of grit, the best one I had came in a set and it was banana shaped😂 I was given a CARAN d'ACHE to try when the Grafwood's came out and then gave all my Derwent pencils away. The Grafwoods are very smooth and have a great feel to them. I have finally managed to get some of the new Faber Castell matt pencils to review but am very happy with the CARAN d'ACHE. They are probably the most expensive but as I use most of them blunt they last a long time.

[emadmoussa]

I think over the years I probably collected and tried 15 pencil brands. One fact stuck, a good artist can make do with any type of pencil as long as: it sharpens well, has consistency, and can layer well. I produced atelier level artwork using bottom of the range pencils, along side Faber Castell or Staedtler ones.

[paul_domici]

I really love mechanical pencils! From .30 to 5mm it's so much easier to keep them sharp! Thanks Jono!!!

[chrismaggio]

Laughing so hard! It seems no one below figured out what you were doing! Well played. hahaha Love your work and you are an inspiration to myself, and the many students I send to your videos.

[Noobtacular]

From my personal experience with doing hyperrealistic portrait drawings I've experimented with Lyra, Faber Castell, and a renowned brand Caran d'Ache (also relatively the most expensive). After using these brands I've actually found Lyra to be a really exceptional brand. Depending on the paper material I will switch between Faber Castell for more prominent areas of my drawing, but when it came to blending different values I always will switch to Lyra pencils to deliver really smooth textures and transitions. I really hope you give Lyra a chance and try the full set I really think you may reconsider. Thanks for the great videos as always Jono!

[strandedinseattle]

I'm fine using Derwent pencils. Heck, even a #2 Black Beauty is nice. However, every time I hold a Caran D'Ache Grafwood the clouds part and this beam of sunshine lances through the window onto my sketchbook. I'm still trying to figure out where the choir is hiding.

(The Grafwood seems to have more intensity than my Derwent, but both are nice to work with.)