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Sketching is an expressive activity that enables people to manifest their emotions and artistic imagination. It is a talent that can be honed through practice, however, employing the right instruments ...

The whole point of a mechanical pencil is to have perfect sharpness forever. Yet without precise engineering and build quality, the standard slender leads are doomed to constant breakages. This ...

While talking to a bunch of artists I admire for a piece about the best drawing pencils, it became clear that, for the most part, the relationship between artist and drawing tool is as personal as ...

The Standard's journalism is supported by our readers. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. As you advance in your chosen field, it’s important to work ...

People who write notes in ink must be very sure of their thoughts. I write notes in pencil: It seems more polite. Penciled notes are always provisional and erasable. But the apparent humility—or, ...

An employee works a machine that adds the eraser, left top bin, and ferrule, right top bin, to each pencil. It isn't the back-to-school rush, but workers at the General Pencil Co. in Jersey City are ...

Technical drawing required sturdy writing implements rather than, for instance, the sharpened quills that were frequently used as pens for correspondence and record-keeping until the 20th century.