More Kinds of Pencils

A pencil is a pencil. In the last post, I talked a little about different lead types. Here are some lead holders (for that is what pencils are). My favorite pencil to just carry around is the Tombow Zoom 505. The only slight annoyance is that the eraser is not easy to get to. My go-to for my drawing kits is the Graphgear 500 which is not expensive and is very reliable so long as you don't let it get wet.

Types of Pencil Lead

I suppose the Internet exists so that someone can write a blog post about types of pencil lead. I guess I am not the only one!

• https://pencils.com/hb-graphite-grading-scale/
• https://www.jetpens.com/blog/the-best-lead-grade-for-every-application/pt/475
• https://cwpencils.com/blogs/news/131980803-beginners-guide-to-pencil-shopping-a-guide-to-grades

Whether I am drawing a comic or an illustration, I generally start with a 0.7 mm HB or a Staedtler Norica woodcased pencil.

Comic Drawing Tools: Three Worlds

By "tablet" here, I mean an Android tablet, an iPad, or a Windows 10 tablet like the Microsoft Surface or the Lenovo Miix. Input tablets also have screens in them these days, and I am not sure why anyone would buy something like a Wacom anymore when a Miix (or a Surface Go) is cheaper. There's still the old-school input tablets that are just pressure-sensitive surfaces with no screens. And then there's the ISKN Slate 2 which is kind of an input tablet but you can take it with you and you can draw on paper while it digitizes what you draw. I'm playing with this one these days and I find it to be okay... but not quite as good as the Miix or just using paper and brush pens.

• https://try.iskn.co/us/the-slate/
• https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/tablets/windows-tablets/miix-series/c/miix-series
• https://www.wacom.com/en-us