My Current Favorite Pencil

So, we'll start with some basics. Pencils.

I adore pencils, and why not?...after crayons, it's our first tool. And when you want control, you can't beat a pencil. I have a lot of different pencils, and I'm sure that you do too. Graphite pencils, charcoal, colored pencils, water soluble toning pencils, watercolor pencils, and I'm sure there are plenty of others that I'm not thinking of at the moment. I'm also sure that you have your favorites, and that your favorites switch, as you might try something new.

My current favorite pencil for sketching is a Stabilo "All" 8046. It's a dense black pencil. It also comes in some colors (which I have not tried), and brown and white. It is water soluble, so you can make washes by brushing with water. I like this one because it's a hefty black, has almost a waxy dense color, takes punishment without the tip breaking, and has a wonderful flow on the paper. It's great for the way I like to sketch. And bonus, you can sharpen it in a standard pencil sharpener, so no fussing with Exacto knives.

Here are a few sketches I've done, and then the links to the pencils on Amazon. I am an Amazon affiliate, so if you buy through this page, I get a small kick back. (We have to say that.)

All the sketches below are done with Stabilo pencil in two different sizes of Piccadilly notebooks. They are cheaper than the Moleskine notebooks, but have much thinner paper. The paper is the same sort of smooth creamy buff color as what's in the Moleskines. You can see a bit of a ghost above, it's the next page's sketch showing thru. For my purposes though, quick sketches of people riding the Metro, it is a perfect sketchbook. The paper has a smooth surface. I've linked to the Piccadilly in the sidebar.

You can tell that I sketch "hard" with a lot of pressure on the page. Since you are very limited in time when drawing people on a train, these are not only hard, but fast and direct. The Stabilo just suits. Links below.


Black Pencil

White Pencil

Brown Pencil