The Last Pencil I'll Ever Need

Artists use a lot of pencils. Wooded pencils, charcoal pencils, graphite, clutches and so many more

I use Staedtler 2MM mechanical pencils with their Mars HB, 2B and 4B graphite refills. As opposed to charcoal, where you can make a broad range of marks, graphite pencils like this lend themselves most to fine, detailed markings. They WANT to make detailed drawings.

What pencils do you use?

[Thomcrow]

You can also use the metal stopper on the back of it as a sharpener if you didn't know.(gotta tap the dust out pretty often) Give it a try!

[Barely_Evolved_Cognition]

Having a block of wood with a scrap of wet & dry sandpaper (about 800 grit) glued to it is also convenient to quickly sharpen the lead as you work.

[wvsss]

I just got my first mechanical pencil I love it. The weight of it and the mixture of easily erasable lines and sharp looking lines for more than sketching is really good. It actually helped improve my art.

[Tridnt]

Ah Staedtler Lead holder and the lead sharpener combo. Really good, I definitely like the blue and read leads for drawing.

[suicidaleuphoria]

It is called a drafting lead holder. Draftsmen used them before the advent of AutoCad. They are popular with many artists. I use the 4H and HB lead.

[basilwyrm]

Been using 2mm for years, it's my go-to every time

[Ariez-qt]

That kind of mechanical pencil is so rare to find here 😢

[justzach]

i have had my eye on this one since the Proko drawing fundamentals talked about it a year ago.

[JP-ccyn]

I was i troduced to this lead holder in the early 90's. It was a provided to us for our HS Drafting Class. I returned to it ten years ago and the design, from what I can remember, has not changed.

[ghengis]

I started using that lead holder because of David Finch, and i literally can't imagine not using it when drawing now (which probably isn't good but a little superstition never hurt lol)

[Scarshadow]

Would also recommend people look into getting a Pentel Sharp 500 or Pentel Graphgear 1000 mechanical pencil alongside the Staedlers drafting mechanical pencil. The Pentel ones might not be the best to turn the lead on it's side to shade, but they're great for fine detail drawings, rough underlying sketches, hatching/crosshatching, and for having easily accessible pencils on hand.
Fair warning that the Staedlers drafting pencil and the Pentel Graphgear are a little more expensive (though the Graphgear is worth it for the pencil grip and lead grade indicator), while the Pentel Sharp is cheaper and can be found in any art/office supply store.

[reanozeon]

😊 I don't know why but I really loving Pencils more after watching PROKo !

[jngarrettart]

That’s my own personal favorite pencil as well! I’ve used one for years. Nice to see it having a moment in the spotlight here. 😆🎉

[mesolithicman]

I bought one of these. No. I went back to Staedtler red and blacks. Quality pencils.

[RSA-zvhd]

Where did you get those? They look great!!

[shing]

btw for anyone whos to broke for this but by some chance has the faber castle 2.0mm it also has the sharpener thingy on the cap (only on newer models)

[DarkGloComics]

The top metal button to extend lead is the sharpener too. That's what the hole on top is for.

[anorphan]

it’s satisfying to eventually make the pencil extremely tiny though. that’s the joy in having graphite pencils.

[mskye]

I have a rotoring 2mm mechanical pencil and I love it!

[OldeVikingOriginal]

Ahhh, that pristine knurling feel, just the best.