Why Choose a Pencil instead of a Paintbrush?

My next article in International Artist Magazine (Issue 132 April/May 2020) is about the pencil, the the universal tool for any artist or designer.

Caernarfon Harbor, pencil, 7 x 8"

A graphite pencil is the medium of choice when I’m interested more in form than I am in light or color. If I was painting this scene, I would be thinking about warm versus cool colors, atmospheric perspective and reflected light. With pencil I can concentrate on the bones of the scene, the simple overlap of light and dark shapes. If there’s a light mast or railing, I’ve got to be sure to draw around it.

Since pencils can be used in a lot of different ways. I’ve taken some random sketchbook pages and grouped them into six categories: events, architecture, nature, imagination, vehicles, and people. For each group, I suggest some different techniques, and different attitudes or mindsets that I bring to the challenge.

Recommended pencils (Links to Amazon):

Kneaded eraser (can be shaped and won't leave crumbs)

Faber Castell 9000 (good basic graphite pencil)

Derwent Graphitint (water-soluble graphite look)

Chung Hwa Drawing 4B (from China)

Staedtler Mars Lumograph 4B (soft graphite art pencil)

Staedtler Mars Lumograph B (medium-soft graphite pencil)

Supracolor Water-soluble colored pencil II #2888

Koh-I-Noor Hardtmuth Triograph (triangular section)

Rembrandt Sketching 4B

Niji Water Brush, medium

-----

There are also articles by Ricky Mujica and Nathan Fowkes in the next issue of IA.
International Artist Magazine (Issue 132)
Previous posts on pencil sketching (269 of them)