Sub-millimeter leads are basically all in pencil bodies that have a discernible click when the lead is advanced. This is of course for manual advance pencils only, the automatic pencils pretty much don’t click. There are many mechanical pencils out there, from fountain pen like aspirationaly priced desk queens to disposable plastic abominations that feel like they’re produced by collecting the metabolic byproducts of genetically modified escherichia coli.

The thing is, every pencil can mark a paper. A used Dodge Neon can get you to your destination as much as any Cadillac might. Whoever invited you to the party cares that you’ve shown up, not how you got there. It’s the same for art, you’re selling a product not a process. And if I die on a hill I’ll die on that one. When a work is valued for how it was made instead of what it is it’s the luxury wine market all over again. Why then does it matter how nice one pencil is compared to another? Only because you’re going to be holding it quite a lot and if it feels better in the hand that can only help.

Process matters because that’s where every artist lives. When other people start caring about where you sleep at night they stop being customers and become patrons. That’s when art becomes silly. The point though, is that be it a boardwalk caricature, an architectural mantle piece for the local B&B, an eye burning rule thirty four commission, a landscape sold on consignment off the wall of the local coffee shop, or just figure practice, process is what ought to matter to the artist and product is what ought to matter to the buyer.

Which is why having a nice consistent tooth on the paper, a comfortable grip and reassuring balance to the pencil makes a difference. It’s why a smooth lead that lays down nicely on the first stroke is important. Almost anything can get you where you want to be and that’s a valuable truth. It doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t make the trip if you can’t make it in style, only that it can be worth the expense to buy the better tools if they’re affordable.

So I think I’ll write about mechanical pencils for a bit.