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That YouTube channel is cool. Thanks for bringing it to our attention.
I don't use pencils that much so what I have is rather limited. That said, I swear by Staedtler's Lumographs; they have been the pencil for as long as I can remember... For sketching! I would not write with them. Honestly, I would not write with any pencil... well, maybe with a good mechanical.
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Staedtler makes great erasers too, but if I had to pick only one it would be the Uni-ball Boxy or Pentel's Ain Stein, if I couldn't find the Boxy.
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The "best" pencil sharpener has to be the KUM Automatic brake. I don't think you can get more sharpener for the money.
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However, for fun, or as a conversation starter, nothing beats the Faber-Castell UFO.
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Maybe I'm straying a bit, but for color pencils I'd go with Tombow's Irojiten Color Dictionary.
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I confess, however, that I am a bit of a fraud here. I recently sold my unused 90-pencil set. How can I recommend something I couldn't bring my self to use... IDK, I'd still rather have them on a shelf unused, than draw with something else.
MikeMD
1100
Oct 26, 2016
TherocThanks for the suggestions! I definitely prefer pens as I have a tendency to smear pencil when I write with it, but I'm excited about incorporating them back into daily use. Plus there's tons to appreciate about what goes into making a pencil (as I'm currently learning). Also found this guy last night: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-h7lZSJna02CBE8uVO5YdQ/videos Awesome videos / reviews and exremly talented artist!
mmg122
115
Oct 26, 2016
TherocBlackwing, Blackwing Pearl and Blackwing 602 are my favorite woodcase pencils (in that order). For s sharpener, I like the Kum Master Sharpener.
amateriat
31
Oct 26, 2016
TherocSigh...had to bring up pencils, didn't you?
The problem with pencils for me is the problem with lots of things, it seems - the best stuff disappeared a little while ago, and, of course, while it was around, I took it for granted. To wit: my all-time favorite woodcase pencil was Faber-Castell's Velvet Deluxe from around the 1990s: True to its name, writing quality was plush without being sloppy, smooth but very controlled. Yes, shoulda-would-coulda grabbed a case of the things, but by the time I was hip to just how good the things were (sometime around 2000-ish), the supply has totally dried up. Contacting F-C directly offered little more than sympathy...I think a few people there knew what I was going on about, but that ship had truly sailed. I keep a tight leash on the small and dwindling stash that remains.
My ABSOLUTE favorite mech pencil in the known world was a Niji "05" that was that rare "automatic" that truly walked the talk: an autofeed mechanism that worked without fail for some five years of heavy use, then suddenly stopping. Drove me nuts - it felt near-perfect in the hand, and, together with the Velvet Deluxe, actually got me back into taking pencils seriously, along with my then "new" rediscovery of fountain pens.
The close runner-up to that pencil was Rotring's now-discontinued Trio Pencil: not an auto, but largely makes up for that by offering three lead sizes (.3/.5/.7), and offers a fairly solid feel in spite of it's complex mechanics. That one's a keeper.
As for other woodcase pencils, Ticonderoga and Blackwing come somewhat close...when my supply of FCs disappears, I'll come back to trying those out.
And, I'll second Doctor_Memory's rave for Panasonic electric sharpeners...another well-kept secret in plain sight. Perfect points, and the "auto-stop" actually works.
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