All of these pencils, but you can't erase the past
I don’t remember the exact time in my life that I wanted to be involved in art/design. But I do remember the small incremental steps of the tools of creation efficiency. What?
(Above) Pentel A125 one of my first pencils as a child
As a child you usually start with whatever you can use to draw. Starting with crayons you realize, how imprecise it is. With markers, you realize how the bleeding works against you when you draw. With a ballpoint pen, you realize you can not erase your mistakes.
Warm, Forgiving and Efficient
The pencil was the grail... erasable, yet it needed sharpening but that trumped the issues a pen had. Not perfect, but warm, forgiving, and efficient.
(Above) Pentel QE405, Pentel PD345, Pentel A125 Sharplet-2
It wasn't until the day I discovered mechanical pencils, that shit blew my mind. No sharpening, push button, spring action, lead advancing and so on. I’ve been obsessed. I think every designer / artist has had an infatuation with a writing instrument at one point in their lives.
The pencil is the the original word document, the original calculator, the original xerox machine, the original scanner, the original camera, the original message app, the original status updater.
There is something so basic yet so satisfyingly about graphite hitting paper and creating a mark. The pencil is the the original word document, the original calculator, the original xerox machine, the original scanner, the original camera, the original message app, the original status updater.
Pencore
I’ve been collecting mechanical pencils and push click ball point pens thru the years. Expect to see future posts relating to this obsession. But for this post here are some of my favorite pencils from my collection.
(Above left to right) Pentel Teal QE405, Delfonics Natural, Pentel Orange PD345, Platinum 500, Pilot H-115, Livework Grey Brown Convex Pencil, Pilot Teal Pink Fure Fure Sprinter, Gold Fisher Space Pencil, Platinum Pro-Use, Pentel S445, Black Uni Shift, Rotring, Papermate Cassette, Faber-Castell TK-Fine Vario, Gold Paper Mate Pencil, Uni Wood Malt Pencil, Parker Classic Pencil, White Pentel Techniclick, Pentel Pink Black Smash, Sierra Incense Cedar, Caran d’Ache grey pencil, Pilot Coleto Dual barrel with pencil insert and eraser insert, Pilot Shaker 1010, Kura Toga, Zebra Stainless Steel, Pentel Q525, Sheaffer Japan Setinel Pencil, Pilot Cocoon pencil, Pentel Kerry.