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Because it's so ... so.... AWWWWWW!!!!
Tuesday, January 15th, 2008 07:52 amThe Impertinent Daughter and I were having a discussion that pretty much only the artists on my f-list are going to understand, so all y'all others, just... be patient, okay?
We were talking about... the perfect pencil.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know, most people think, a pencil's a pencil, it writes, you sharpen it, what else is there to know?
For an artist, though... well, you can always go to an art supply or hobby store and get drawing pencils in varying levels of hardness (my personal favorites? 2b and 4b, Faber Castell). But every once in a while, you've got the urge to noodle, and your drawing pencils aren't around, so you just grab an everyday pencil and sort of start scribbling, and you're like, "Holy Mackinoly... it's... THE PENCIL!!"
Because the graphite is just the right shade of darkness/lightness that you like, just the right weight, it feels right in your hand, and you like the way the line smudges when you rub it with your thumb...
The Impertinent Daughter was doodling ideas for her manga (yes, she has a manga she's working on, isn't that cool?) and looked at the pencil I had left on the table. She started to reach for it, and I snatched it away (yes, I'm childish early in the morning, so sue me!). "What?" she said innocently, but I could tell by that gleam in her eye that she was coveting my pencil!!
"I love this pencil,"I said simply, sticking it in my pocket with a loving pat.
"Oh," she said knowingly. "It's a Perfect Pencil."
"Yep," I said, going back to making bacon.
"You know, I had one, and I had sharpened it down to a teeny, tiny nub." She demonstrated by holding her fingers apart just so, and I grinned.
"Yeah, I've done that, too."
We all do. You find the Perfect Pencil, and you don't want to let it go. You want to use it every time you doodle, or draw, because it's just right, then it gets down to a particular size, and you suddenly realize, it's not going to be here forever. So, you start saving it for special doodles, or drawings. You only use it for particular drawings, like, only for dragons, or shading, or eyes, or when you're outlining, etc. And you actually buy a manual sharpener just for that pencil because electric sharpeners take too much off, and you're trying to make this pencil last as long as possible. Just a few turns, and you worry you've taken too much off! You sharpen carefully, and hang on to that pencil until all you have is a nub. I mean, it is sharpened all the way up to the metal, or to the cap (if it's a drawing pencil, like the Faber Castell pencils). You have to hold it between your fingertips to use it. And you know, one day soon, that tip is going to break, and that's it. It's... The End. Because you can sharpen it no more.
Yes, we get ridiculously attached to pencils. It's a sickness, I'm telling you. It doesn't happen often, but when it does... *sigh*
The Impertinent Daughter reached into her pocket and pulled out her current stub. It had about an inch and a half of actual pencil before the point left. "Wow," I said.
"My teacher tried to take it," she said, looking at it fondly. "She asked me how I could possibly write with that, and I said, I don't write with it, I draw with it, and she said, you're not supposed to be drawing in math class. And I said, I don't draw until I'm done with my work."
"And she tried to take it?" I said, buttering the toast.
"Yeah, but I gave her the big, teary eyes, and said, but it's my favorite pencil, and it makes the eyes just right and the texture is just the way I like it..."
"And she thought you were insane, and decided to keep the insane person from going berserk, and left you the pencil?"
"Yeah, basically."
I snorted. And now you know why everyone thinks artists are insane!!
We were talking about... the perfect pencil.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know, most people think, a pencil's a pencil, it writes, you sharpen it, what else is there to know?
For an artist, though... well, you can always go to an art supply or hobby store and get drawing pencils in varying levels of hardness (my personal favorites? 2b and 4b, Faber Castell). But every once in a while, you've got the urge to noodle, and your drawing pencils aren't around, so you just grab an everyday pencil and sort of start scribbling, and you're like, "Holy Mackinoly... it's... THE PENCIL!!"
Because the graphite is just the right shade of darkness/lightness that you like, just the right weight, it feels right in your hand, and you like the way the line smudges when you rub it with your thumb...
The Impertinent Daughter was doodling ideas for her manga (yes, she has a manga she's working on, isn't that cool?) and looked at the pencil I had left on the table. She started to reach for it, and I snatched it away (yes, I'm childish early in the morning, so sue me!). "What?" she said innocently, but I could tell by that gleam in her eye that she was coveting my pencil!!
"I love this pencil,"I said simply, sticking it in my pocket with a loving pat.
"Oh," she said knowingly. "It's a Perfect Pencil."
"Yep," I said, going back to making bacon.
"You know, I had one, and I had sharpened it down to a teeny, tiny nub." She demonstrated by holding her fingers apart just so, and I grinned.
"Yeah, I've done that, too."
We all do. You find the Perfect Pencil, and you don't want to let it go. You want to use it every time you doodle, or draw, because it's just right, then it gets down to a particular size, and you suddenly realize, it's not going to be here forever. So, you start saving it for special doodles, or drawings. You only use it for particular drawings, like, only for dragons, or shading, or eyes, or when you're outlining, etc. And you actually buy a manual sharpener just for that pencil because electric sharpeners take too much off, and you're trying to make this pencil last as long as possible. Just a few turns, and you worry you've taken too much off! You sharpen carefully, and hang on to that pencil until all you have is a nub. I mean, it is sharpened all the way up to the metal, or to the cap (if it's a drawing pencil, like the Faber Castell pencils). You have to hold it between your fingertips to use it. And you know, one day soon, that tip is going to break, and that's it. It's... The End. Because you can sharpen it no more.
Yes, we get ridiculously attached to pencils. It's a sickness, I'm telling you. It doesn't happen often, but when it does... *sigh*
The Impertinent Daughter reached into her pocket and pulled out her current stub. It had about an inch and a half of actual pencil before the point left. "Wow," I said.
"My teacher tried to take it," she said, looking at it fondly. "She asked me how I could possibly write with that, and I said, I don't write with it, I draw with it, and she said, you're not supposed to be drawing in math class. And I said, I don't draw until I'm done with my work."
"And she tried to take it?" I said, buttering the toast.
"Yeah, but I gave her the big, teary eyes, and said, but it's my favorite pencil, and it makes the eyes just right and the texture is just the way I like it..."
"And she thought you were insane, and decided to keep the insane person from going berserk, and left you the pencil?"
"Yeah, basically."
I snorted. And now you know why everyone thinks artists are insane!!
