I have been meaning to discuss the use of Pencils in Art. I know all the brands available in the U.S.A. Well, I think I know most of them. Pencils are unique! They come in several forms. The humble wood form or for a few years now the Woodless form of pencil and the Businessman's Mechanical form.
I have always had a pencil in my hand. I have loved them and cherished them all my life. I used to have a prized cache of short pencils I had used in my life. I had them stored in some old Half and Half tobacco tins and various cigar boxes. Yes, there were other things that rattled around inside with them.
In there in one Half and Half Tin were some real prizes. The Blackwing 602. Do you know or ever had a Blackwing 602? I cried for them. It was the only thing My Father would go ahead and buy for me. It was a pencil. Yes, it was more than a regular Yellow #2. But I cherished that square eraser. That ferrule with the unique replaceable eraser. The store salesman always had extra erasers for me.
I loved that pencil.
Then one day, I was allowed to use a real pencil. A Mechanical Pencil. I was barely allowed to hold it in my hand. It was not for a child. What He wanted was the Pencil in my hand, a Blackwing 602. If I gave him my pencil then I could draw a line with the mechanical Pencil. I did not trade my Blackwing 602 for a line of mechanical graphite.
Well, it has been a long time and I have had 100 dozen pencil plus. I morned the loss of the Blackwing 602 and I welcomed the New Palomino Blackwing. I love it! I will show you the stages of a Zentangle from beginning to end with the New Palomino Blackwing. I have a brand new 12 pack just arrived from California.
Now, about the photo above. It shows my mechanical Pencils that I love the most. My favorite is Sanford PhD .05mm and .07mm and I had a .09mm but have lost it.
Yes, I have a couple of the new Papermate PhDs too. They feel different. Papermate
is an excellent at making these wonderful Pencils. They just do not feel the same. NO! I would not gut one of my Sanford PhD Mechanical Pencils and lay it by the side of a Papermate PhD Mechanical Pencil.
They feel different. I love my Sanford Mechanical PhD pencils for the wonderful leads I can put in them from F B2B2B4B H HB 2H 3H and yes even colored leads. All of these leads can be found on line at Jet Pens. http://www.jetpens.com/. I simply am in awe of how Sanford had the good sense to put such a wonderful Eraser on the top of this Pencil. This first I bought was ten years ago.
I had just arrived in Boston, MA and had left home with a sketchbook and no pens or pencils to my name. I had left them with my pajamas on the couch. Just forgot to pack with the excitement of my first Jump-seat experience with an airline. So, I found myself at a CVS Pharmacy. There they had a huge section for the pencils and paper and children's art supplies. There was the most expensive Mechanical Pencil I had ever seen in a Drug Store. It was almost $10.00 and I could not believe the eraser. Right beside it was the matching Pen. I could not resist the eraser. I also purchased a package of Yellow #2 standbys with extra erasers. I was now in business and felt at ease. I set off to sketch Boston and the new world around me.
I will post some of my sketches I have done in Boston with my first Mechanical PhD Pencil Love.
Here are a selection of Tangles done with my Mechanical Pencils shown above:
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| All of these are leaving to go to other people. |
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| I will miss each one of them. |
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| Each has been a delight and a pleasure to create. |
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| All of these are done with Mechanical Pencils in the photo above. |
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I hope the Artist that will receive these are not disappointed in not having a Zentangle type Tangle with no Micron pen involved in its executions. All the patterns you see are mine. I create them as I draw and create my Tangle or as I like to say: One of my Scribble Doodles Zee's.
Tune in tomorrow: ((Circle of Pencil Art Hugs))
