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Michael Hogan
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 2070
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| Posted: 17 May 2025 at 1:21am | IP Logged | 1
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As a CPA for nearly 40 years, I have worked through my
share of pencils, both wooden and mechanical. Years ago,
after a thread here where JB showed his Staedtler, I
purchased one and found it very satisfying for drawing.
At a friend's urging, I picked up a box of Blackwing 602
pencils. Writing and drawing feel COMPLETELY DIFFERENT!
The graphite seems to float over the paper (of any type).
My question: Have any of you used Blackwing 602s?
Edited by Michael Hogan on 17 May 2025 at 1:47am
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 134368
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| Posted: 17 May 2025 at 2:18am | IP Logged | 2
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Nope. (An easy one!)
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Michael Hogan
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 2070
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| Posted: 17 May 2025 at 9:35pm | IP Logged | 3
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Thanks for the response, JB.
For any of you who use pencils regularly, I heartily suggest you treat
yourself to a small box of these. A different composition of
lead/graphite/clay makes for the smoother writing. And the erasers are
replaceable!
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Dave Kopperman
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 27 December 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 3743
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| Posted: 18 May 2025 at 2:04am | IP Logged | 4
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@Michael: thanks - will check it out.
@JB: what is your pencil of choice?
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
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| Posted: 23 May 2025 at 2:31pm | IP Logged | 5
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Staedtler Mars carbon leads in a mechanical pencil. (It’s not in the pencil.)
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
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| Posted: 23 May 2025 at 2:34pm | IP Logged | 6
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(Although sometimes I think it is, at least on a cosmic level. I like to imagine that all of the drawings that were done with those leads were already there, just waiting to be scraped onto the paper.)
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Dave Kopperman
Byrne Robotics Member
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| Posted: 23 May 2025 at 5:21pm | IP Logged | 7
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JB wrote:
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I sometimes feel like the whole impetus behind AI is those nerds among us who couldn't draw desperately, desperately wanting to make that magic Byrne pencil a thing.
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John Byrne
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| Posted: 23 May 2025 at 6:11pm | IP Logged | 8
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Someone said AI proves the existence of the human soul. It shows us what art looks like without one.
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Jim Petersman
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 26 June 2012
Location: United States
Posts: 670
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| Posted: 23 May 2025 at 6:31pm | IP Logged | 9
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JB:(Although sometimes I think it is, at least on a cosmic level. I like to imagine that all of the drawings that were done with those leads were already there, just waiting to be scraped onto the paper.)++++++
May I borrow your pencil? (and could you think Alpha Flight thoughts first?) |
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John Byrne
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| Posted: 23 May 2025 at 7:05pm | IP Logged | 10
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Remember, the art is already in the lead! I don’t control it!
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Conrad Teves
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 28 January 2014
Location: United States
Posts: 2308
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| Posted: 23 May 2025 at 7:32pm | IP Logged | 11
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Haven't regularly used wooden pencils in forever, so I couldn't tell you if I'd tried one or not. Graphgear 1000s for me. Does it make me draw better? Not really. Had some occasions to draw with some stubs of some random #2, and it doesn't change what happens on the paper in any way I can notice. If I need ultra-sharp points, I'll use a lead holder (Steadler). But the Graphgear's are heavy, and I like the weight.
JB>>It shows us what art looks like without one.<<
Yes! I've been noticing a thing where the closer you look at an AI work (however polished or "photo real"), the worse it looks, and the opposite is true of human artists (even noobs). You can see intent in rough sketches that can brighten up the whole piece with hints of personality that aren't there in the slickest AI work, and I've seen some really slick ones.
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Dave Kopperman
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| Posted: 23 May 2025 at 8:52pm | IP Logged | 12
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I got so dissatisfied with all of the graphite I used (in a case of being the lousy craftsman who blames his tools) that I adopted a pretty roundabout comics pencilling process. Since layout and anatomy are my weakest skills, I've found that a combination of blue pencil and lightboxing are the most efficient ways to get results - then the things that might need a little more detail worked out before the inking phase get some fuller graphite development, like so:
Which is a vast improvement over the smeared shit I used to get with full graphite. And while I never found a graphite pencil I loved, I did at least finally find a perfect black ink that was seemingly unaffected by however much erasing you needed to do - I strongly recommend Dr. Ph Martin's Bombay Black India Ink. Great flow, really beautiful, uniformly solid tone.
Edited by Dave Kopperman on 23 May 2025 at 8:53pm
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