Below are the pencils and pens that I use when I’m working at the drawing board. Finding the right tools that work for you only happens through continuous experimentation as you grow and develop your creative practice. Over time, the knowledge you accumulate from your experiments will come in handy as you encounter different subjects that present new drawing challenges.

Mechanical Pencil

For precision drawing, the Pentel Orenz 0.2 always delivers. This pencil has a line width of 0.2mm which is unique and unmatched by other brands. Unlike the 0.3mm Pentel Orenz pencils, the Orenz 02 that’s sold in Canada does not come with a rubber grip. The lack of any grip makes the pencil slippery to hold, so I fitted it with a grip that I removed off of a Paper Mate ballpoint pen. I highly recommend this pencil for anyone who draws detailed subject matter.

Wooden Graphite Pencil

The Tombow Mono 100 is a premium pencil made for expressive drawing. The Mono 100 has the finest milled graphite of any pencil at 10 billion particles per cubic millimetre, and yes, the smooth feeling on the page is noticeable if you’re comparing it with German flagship pencils from Faber-Castell or Staedtler.  The Mono 100’s main rival is the Hi-Uni, another legendary Japanese pencil that’s lovely to draw with.

Charcoal Pencil

For over 20 years I’ve been drawing on and off with Pitt Charcoal pencils. They are a classic. Not to be confused with Pitt Compressed Charcoal pencils, which are a rich, black carbon, the pencils you see here are natural charcoal pencils. Natural charcoal has a softer, “smoky” appearance that’s highly appealing and very malleable with the fingers or a blending stump.

The Hard grade pencil at top is old stock; you can see how they’ve simplified the gold lettering which I believe was done to modernize and keep the look consistent across the entire lineup of Faber-Castell  pencils. The charcoal itself remains unchanged.

These pencils are superb when paired with Stonehenge Toned printmaking paper and a white pastel pencil for highlights.

Oil Based Pencils

If you’ve only ever drawn with graphite, I suggest occasionally switching it up with oil based pencils. These pencils glide across stone/mineral paper and are a nice reminder that drawing should be fun!

The consistency of Lyra pencils varies between different colours, so try them in the store before taking them home. Their Oriental blue has a dry, slightly scratching feel, while the Indian red is smooth. I find them both appealing. However, Van Dyke brown was a letdown - the pigment lacks the richness I was expecting – go for the Polychromos Burnt Umber if you want to draw with rich brown pencil.

The Pitt Oil base pencils comes in Hard, Medium, Soft and Extra Soft grades…I personally prefer the buttery Extra Soft pencil.

Thanks to my mom for posing for these hand studies!

Traditional Dip Pen

Japanese G nibs are top quality drawing nibs for the artist. Depending on what’s in stock at the local shops in Toronto, I’ll draw with either Zebra or Nikko brands of G nibs. These nibs slot perfectly into a Japanese wooden handle and you’re good to go. Yes, dipping into a bottle of ink is inconvenient, but what you can achieve with a dip pen is worth the extra effort.

The dip pen underneath the Japanese G nib/handle is an American made Hunt Crowquill nib. This was the nib of choice for many legendary comic book inkers like the great Joe Sinnott. While the nib is superb, the cheap plastic Speedball handle leaves a lot to be desired. I read how inkers would wrap the gripless handle with wads of masking tape to form a crude grip, so I started looking around and discovered that it’s easy enough to cannibalize the rubber grip off of a Pentel Champ pencil. Voila, problem solved.

Modern Finerliner Pen and Japanese Brush Pen

Fineliners and brush pens compliment dip pens and expand the mark making possibilities. To my knowledge, the Copic SP line is the only brand of fineliner that’s refillable and has replaceable nibs. The fit and finish of this pen is impeccable. If you’re using the Copic with other brands of pens or bottles of ink on the same drawing, just be aware that it probably won’t match the same density of black.

Not to be outdone, the Pentel Pocket Brush is a widely available soft bristled Japanese brush pen that comes with either black of sepia ink refills. It really feels like you’re using a traditional brush with the Pentel, but I’ve found the ink can feather with certain papers, so it’s advisable to test it with your chosen paper stock. And if you’re expecting the rapid drying of a typical Micron pen, you’re going to need to adjust your expectations because the Pentel ink takes much longer to fully dry. By fully dry, I mean dry enough to overlay watercolour washes with the risk of lifting the ink layer. Drying time will of course vary with temperature and humidity, but the absorbency of the paper also has to be taken into consideration.

If you have your own favourite pencils or pens that you think I should know about, please shoot me a message in the contact form. I buy my supplies from local shops here in Toronto and the selection is extensive, but there are always items which are not easily found.

I hope this blog post has been helpful.

Alan