Does the quality of a pencils really matter? Do you buy quality brands or just pick up made-in-China sets from ebay?
Also, which pencils are essential for your work?
>>2490945
>quality of a pencils
whelp i m high
>>2490945
What sort of pencils are you talking about? Graphite? Charcoal? Color? Pastel?
It really varies by material and what you're using them for.
Quality matters, but you can draw with anything and you shouldn't be blowing lots of cash if you're just practicing.
As far as graphite pencils go they're all mostly the same shit and you should buy your favorite brand that's readily available and doesn't cost a lot. That said, it's not like fancy pencils are a huge investment either, you can get a box of 12 Hi-Uni for $12 + shipping from Japan if you want to see what all the hype is about.
When you get into other things like charcoal and pastel you have brands that handle vastly different from each other, so it's not so much about quality but how it works for you, and for color work you definitely want something that's at least lightfast if you want the drawings to last.
>>2490951
Thanks for the post man.
I was mostly thinking about graphite; because to me it really seems like the small differences in shades, especially the ones with more lead, are irrelevant to anyone that's not an architect.
I mostly use it for sketching and practice but I was curious if general quality has some bigger significance I might be missing.
And I don't really know shit about Charcoal desu.
To me it matters. Shitty graphite pencils are horrible to work with. Unless your doodling little nothings for shits and giggles get a nice set.
I personally use Kooh-I-Noor's set (2H-8B). I personally love them. Try to get your hands on a Kooh-I-Noor 2B and test it out. Shit's fucking divine
Well, staedtler HB leads get dull fast compared to Prismacolor HB leads. For me at leat.
>>2490945
i'll answer your question if u tell me kikos phone number
>>2493221
is that even kiko desu
>>2490945
Yeah, it matters. There are a lot of good pencils now, though, so you don't know it matters like you would have 20 years ago. Anytime I get a pencil with one of those hard, scratchy bits in the lead, I never buy the brand again. But take a chance. Most pencils are cheap enough you can buy a couple to try out the quality. If it's good, great. If it sucks, you can just use it for writing.
I would say yes. Not to say you have to always buy the most expensive pencils, but you don't want to get school-grade yellow pencils. They suck to draw with. Any reasonable quality art pencils will do you just fine, most of the time.
But if you want to get into the nicer stuff... I recommend Palomino Blackwings. They're based off some old design Disney animators used to use, and they draw like butter. However the lead is pretty soft and the lines are very smudgeable, so you may not want to use them if you're doing very precise work. Also they're not cheap.
I would also recommend Col-erase colored pencils. Draw very smoothly. Great for sketching and figure drawing.
I also use a Staedtler lead holder for more precise work that I ink over later.
Yes it matters especially if you compare the really cheap shit to the quality stuff.
Price != quality though.
At least get mid range stuff, you'll be able to feel the difference in how smooth everything feels.
>>2493222
oh yeah, still give kiko number
also checked
You can greatly improve the quality of your shitty pencil by heating the lead up with a lighter. It warms the wax in the graphite and makes it softer and super smooth.
>>2490945
Lately I've been using ink exclusively, but having different grades of pencil leads makes it easier to make the marks you're trying to make. Here's a picture I took for another thread. I found out recently that hard charcoal pencils sharpen just fine in my cheap electric pencil sharpener, which makes using them as substitutes for normal pencils a lot faster and cleaner. I use a 0.9mm 2b the most, but since I've been using a fine ballpoint pen a lot 0.3mm pencils feel more right lately. USA Gold pencils are my go to cheap HB pencils.
>>2493240
I'm not sure if most cheap pencils use wax as a binder or not. I'm pretty sure this video is taken at a Staedtler factory, but those are expensive:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkP3i1MQJWA
I wanted to call bullshit but I'll have to try that.
>>2493291
Forgot the pic.
>>2493292
how do you get the generals and prisma to sharpen like that what sharpner are you using
>????
>>2490945
What do you guys think about charcoal and graphite sticks.
Any use in your kit ?
I like to have a soft feeling pencil.
I just buy whatever brand my art store offers in a high number heavy b.
>>2493309
I use an X-Acto Mighty Mite (says model 195xx CN on the bottom) electric pencil sharpener I bought at Wal-Mart for $15. It stops sharpening (unless you're really pushing the pencil in there) once the tip gets around 0.5mm, but if you hold it in place after that and move the end of a pencil in a circle you can get it sharper than a 0.3mm mechanical. I used to use a knife and sandpaper but don't see the point anymore unless I'm using soft charcoal.
I just buy a set of 5 for a buck from a gas station
>>2493231
>Col-erase colored pencils
My nig
A blue and red col-erase are my go to generally, but I do have a few graphite pencils around, generally 4b or 2b.
>>2493231
>Col-Erase
They're so fucking hard and desaturated, though, I feel like I can only use the darker colors. I like some of the reds and browns, Terracota, Vermilion and Tuscan Red are pretty good.
I really like the Caran d'Ache Supracolors even though they're meant to be watercolor pencils, their Sanguine is great and Indian Red is awesome when used dry.
>>2493441
I use dark blue or a purple if the store is sold out of blue.
Really though I often use them to sketch out an image, then ink over the col-erase lines, scan the pic, and remove the blue lines in photoshop.
I find this very handy for getting physical art into the digital space.
>>2493291
it works with erasers as well
