Favorite Pencils for Writing, Drawing, Mark Making, etc...

I thought I'd share a post on my favorite pencils and what I'm doing with them. 

  

First up, for writing, note taking, my favorite is a Blackwing pencil. The design doesn't matter to me, it just should be sharp! (These are still tempting me though.)

 

For sketching, my favorite is the Cretacolor Mega Graphite 9B. I love the thickness of the pencil barrel and how it's easy to hold. I like to keep my pencils sharp (though you can't tell from the photo! haha!) This holds a line really well and is my all around favorite drawing pencil. (They can be difficult to find. I order mine from Carter Sexton in North Hollywood.) 

I have two favorite BLACK pencils for juicy mark making that work well on paper AND paint:

• Stabilo All (aka Aquarellable) Pencil in BLACK
• Derwent Inktense Chinese Ink (unlike the Stabilo All, these are PERMANENT once dry.)

 

Another favorite drawing pencil (and it is difficult for me to pick just one color) is the Derwent Drawing line. I usually have several of these in my bag in an array of colors. I honestly didn't think that I "needed" these until I used them. Truly, one of my favorite pencils to reach for. 

 

Some recent acquisitions are the Holbein Artist Colored Pencils. These are the most expensive pencil I own so I only have them in a handful of colors. They are heavily pigmented and if you're into colored pencils, they put some other big name brands (not mentioned here) to shame. I am not a huge colored pencil fan (for coloring) but I like these a lot. I haven't played with them very much yet but they are nice.

The Inktense pencils are very nice but a second favorite watercolor pencil is the Faber Castell Albrecht Durer line. This is another line that's permanent once dry. I don't have too many and I chose colors that weren't in the Inktense line. 

 

What about white pencils?

 

On Canson Black paper, on painted paper and smeared with a rag, here are my three favorites:

 

Inktense Derwent Chinese White are lousy on dried acrylic paint but very nice on dark paper and for blending, coloring and shading on paper (especially pastel paper and the like.)

 

General Pencil Company Primo Blanco 59W can be like nails on a chalkboard squeaky at times. But, it's a BRIGHT white. It is charcoal but it's not as dusty or messy as other charcoal pencils can be. The black pencils are lovely, too. If you are heavy handed, you will probably want to skip these.

Derwent Drawing to the rescue again! Between these and the Cretacolor, they truly are my favorite pencils for drawing. 

What are your favorite pencils?