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Pencils.


Just before I wake properly, I dream I am drawing large commas all over a sheet of Arches paper.

Initially I think this means needing to pause. Commas have lots of uses but for me they always signify a pause for breath. Now I have thought about it a bit more the dream was more about the feel of drawing the commas on the Arches paper.

I have been having issues with pencils. I have been using the Derwent Graphic which I thought should be good, but I have found them scratchy. Every so often there seems to be a harder lump of graphite that scratches the paper. I am now dreaming about pencils that glide across the page.

I never thought much about the pencils I use before. I go back to using a tin of Boldmere which I think came from The Works and find them alright. I buy some Staedtler and they are also alright. I buy some Bruynzeel and they are a little scratchy. I find some HB Faber-Castell in TK Max and I like them so do whole drawings with one HB pencil, using pressure to get the darker shades.

I decide to order myself a tin of the Faber-Castell 9000. I am hoping that these will be good as I have read good reviews. The Faber-Castell 9000 arrive and instead of using these I keep drawing with the HB Faber-Castell I have already been using. In the meantime, I start obsessing about other brands I want to try. First, I obsess about Caran D’Ache pencils, then Conte a Paris and finally Blackwing. I order myself a sample pack of four Blackwing pencils and hope they are the pencils of my dreams. I am now worried that I may develop a pencil obsession. It could be worse; pencils are not an expensive obsession but what if I turned into a pencil collector?

I use the Blackwings and find they do not suit my drawing style at all. I am so disappointed, they are too soft, dark and grainy. The Faber-Castell 9000 on the other hand are perfect. I have a very light touch when I am drawing and these suite my drawing style, they run light and are very smooth. This does not stop me from ordering some Conte a Paris which I also like, they run a bit darker than the Faber-Castell 9000 and I find I am using both. This has not stopped me wondering about Wolff’s and Tombow?

Although I prefer the Faber-Castell 9000 I have found that my drawings do not photograph well due to being so light. They look ghostly. This may explain why Faber-Castell have released their Pitt Graphite Matt pencils which could be worth a try. I decide to use the Conte a Paris for now as the graphite deposits are darker.

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