Save this article to read it later. Find this story in your account’s ‘Saved for Later’ section. Because they are erasable, pencils are often the first tool creative people use when sketching out a ...

We independently review everything we recommend. We may make money from the links on our site. Learn more› By Laura Fenton After considering dozens of colored-pencil sets and spending six hours ...

We independently review everything we recommend. We may get paid to link out to retailer sites, and when you buy through our links, we may earn a commission. Learn more› Advice, staff picks, ...

Everyone has their own way of decompressing. Mine is drawing. Specifically, it’s drawing to the soothing sounds of Bill Callahan with a Modelo Especial or a cup of mint tea by my side. Like yoga or ...

The Standard's journalism is supported by our readers. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Colouring pencils are often the first artistic medium that ...

This live art-making class is inspired by Paul Cézanne’s watercolor painting Three Pears (Trois poires), ca. 1888–90. In this session, we will explore drawing basic shapes that are illuminated by a ...

David Rees thinks he knows how to sharpen pencils. He says people have entrusted 1,500 pencil points to his sharpening business. I know a little something about working with sharp pencils, and let me ...

The lowly pencil is not an elite or showy artistic medium. It doesn't have oil paint's gravitas, or plaster's endearing gauche. Instead, the pencil is accessible, plebeian and utilitarian. If put in ...

From Pencils You Should Know: A History of the Ultimate Writing Utensil in 75 Anecdotes by Caroline Weaver (published by Chronicle Books 2020, all images courtesy Chronicle Books) I hadn’t thought of ...