I use three different brands of pencils. None is particularly better than any other, but my current favorite is the red one, Stabilo. I can’t find them anymore, but being someone who dislikes shopping, I haven’t tried very hard yet. The blue ones, Staedtler,  are pretty good, quite dark, but not as dark as the Stabilo. Turquoise, made by Sanford, are the ones I used in college, so there is a weird sense of loyalty even though they aren’t as dark as the others. Besides, they are very easy to find.  There are other brands, but these are enough for me. You can see colored pencils in the cups in the background, but that is for another entry.

That little black and silver dealie on the end of the three pencils in the lid of the box is a pencil extender. It used to be a bit of a game to me to see how short I could get a pencil and still use it. Then carpal tunnel syndrome kicked in, and it became clear that the longer the pencil, the less the pain.

For years I drew without understanding what the H and B actually stood for on those drawing pencils. With some reading, I finally learned that H is for Hard and B is for Black. The higher the number with the letter, the more there is of that particular quality. So a 5H is harder (and lighter) than an H (which is 1H but the 1 is assumed). A 6B is blacker (and softer) than a 3B. An HB is exactly in the middle, and is the equivalent of a #2.

And get this: the lead is a combination of graphite and clay. The more clay, the harder and lighter the pencil. The more graphite, the softer and blacker the pencil. Ever used a pencil that scratched? It probably had a rough piece of clay in it. (Don’t you just hate that?)

  Sometimes students ask why the pencils don’t come with erasers. EASY answer! Because we would use the eraser up long before the pencil, and then we would automatically flip the pencil over to erase and scratch our drawings. By forcing us to develop the habit of picking up the separate eraser, the pencil manufacturers are sparing us some unnecessary pain. (And for that,we thank you, lovely Pencil Manufacturers.)

  All this leaves me with some questions: 1. Who decided that hard is the opposite of black? and 2. What in the world does F stand for? 3. How does this all fit with the school-type rating of pencils, 1, 2 and 3?