Leadholders 101: Where to Find Leadholders for sketching and drawing

During my drawing classes students get the opportunity to try and draw with a variety of specialized sketching tools. One of the most popular happen to be one of my favorite mechanical pencils for doodling on the go: leadholders. I have gotten many of mine through JetPens.

The "Drafting Tools" section of your local office supplies store would also be a good bet for finding the reliable German Staedtler Mars Technico 780 2 mm leadholder. Its main advantage would be the built-in lead pointer in its push button. Though refills available in brick-and-mortar stores are usually limited to standard HB graphite drawing leads.

You can find a greater variety of 2 mm graphite lead grades online, and even some red and non-photo blue leads.

I would recommend getting one or two Uni leadholders and a selection of your favorite lead grades. If you plan to sketch lightly and then ink your drawings, you might want to use harder leads like 3H or H. If your style relies more on linear strokes, you might want to go with F or HB leads. If you prefer bold dark lines and prefer to draw with lots of shading, a 2B or 4B would be good choices. If you need a lead pointer to restore your sharp points, I would recommend the KUM Automatic 23 or the Kum Automatic Brake Long Point sharpener that also features 2 mm & 3.2 mm lead pointers on its sides.

Private Art Session for Kids

4 kids (Ages 3 to 8 years old) + 4 waterbrushes + Pan watercolor kit = Fun time exploring water media during the weekend.

Drawing and coloring of Minecraft character.

Coloring a carton portrait with a waterbrush.

The deck bench proved to be a suitable drying rack in the nice weather.

Switching to some marker coloring.

Never too young to enjoy a fine Fixpencil leadholder.

Attention parents: some quick links to sources for some sketching kit upgrades

Thanks to the teens and parents that came to the manga cartoon sketching class on Saturday at the Cary Arts Center.  I know we discussed and introduced quite a few sketching tools that are not so readily available locally, so for your convenience here are some links for the main ones that your kids may wish to add to their current sketching kits.

Japanese mechanical pencils for those that prefer not to have to sharpen regular wooden pencils:

1. Pentel Graph 1000 a personal favorite.
2. Uni Shift Pipe Lock Drafting Pencils feature a design that protects the drafting tip during transport.
3. Pilot S3 drafting pencils value priced plastic model with sleek look and good performance. I recall seeing it for the first time in photos in the How to Draw Manga: Sketching Manga-Style book 1 by Hikaru Hayashi.

2 mm Leadholders for a reliable drawing too with constant length and width with a comfortable grip:

1. Ohto Comfort Sharp Leadholders are a nice value priced introductory choice with built-in lead pointer in the push button.
2. Uni leadholders and leads are another personal favorite choice that have been a staple of my own sketching kit for years. You might want to pick up a leadpointer to round up your kit and sharpen your lead as needed.

Waterbrushes and Brush pens to expand the versatility of your sketching kit with the ability to apply watercolors with a minimal set up and draw with brush and ink anywhere:

1. Pentel Aquash waterbrush nice convenient tool for working with watercolor pans and water soluble pencils anywhere. Also available from Holbein, Sakura Koi, and Kuretake.
2. Brush pens wide selection of drawing pens for when you need some line width variation in your strokes. Some feature flexible nylon marker tips, and others are actually made of synthetic filaments and even sable hairs. Popular choices include: Zebra disposable brush pen, Pentel Pocket brush pen, Kuretake No. 13 Fountain brush pen, and Pilot Futayaku double-sided brush pens.

Erasers:

1. Uni Boxy Eraser Black another personal favorite since it does not show smudges given its dark base color.
2. Pilot Foam eraser love its performance with dark softer leads.
3. Iwako erasers for a bit of fun or inspiration, but probably won't be used much for actual erasing.

Some sketches drawn at the auto shop waiting room

While waiting for a couple of hours at the auto shop, managed to complete this set of assorted characters with a Sakura Pigma Sensei 0.6 mm pen. Then continued drawing on paper and card stock just to keep busy. Remember grasshoppers always carry your sketching kits with you, so you can make the most of time spent in waiting rooms practicing your drawing skills.
For the most part I used a few leadholders to sketch fantasy subjects and some of the other customers in the waiting room.





Spending a bit more time and practicing some shading on these imaginary objects. Remember doodle and sketch whenever you can: it will help you ward off boredom while improving your sketching skills.

Practice drawings at Doctor's waiting room

While waiting at the Clinic, I was able to practice my cartoon portrait drawing approach with a variety of subjects of different ages and gender. Started with a couple of quick graphite sketches using a leadholder.
It was a tad difficult to get the arms down since this subject kept fidgeting and changing his posture.
Used my trusty Sakura Pigma Sensei 0.6 mm and 1.0 mm Manga drawing pens to sketch this older gentleman comfortably seated across the room.
Had a good view of the receiving desk and this receptionist from my seat in the waiting room.
Chose to draw this pleasant lady and young girl with the water soluble Caran D'Ache Technalo 3B lead and partially blended the pencil marks with a waterbrush.
Even when aiming for a stylized cartoon style, remember to practice your sketching skills by observing live subjects whenever possible. Always carry your sketching kit and some paper or sketchbook so you can take full advantage of any drawing opportunities that would otherwise get wasted simply waiting or getting bored.

Doodling with Mitsubishi Uni 2 mm graphite leads and other leadholders

Spent a couple of hours sketching at the Target food court. Advantages of using a leadholder: constant barrel length of the drawing tool since it doesn't get shorter after each sharpening and easily adjustable length of the exposed lead for creating a variety of marks by simply activating its push button.Started this session with a woodless pencil which facilitates making broad marks for quicker shading when used on its side. The Derwent 2B Aquatone sample sketches produced rather light washes when blended with the waterbrush.
The substantially larger Lyra Watersoluble 2B Graphite crayon was used to sketch this cartoon athlete. The dry marks were partially blended with the Aquaflo waterbrush. The moistened marks turned out quite darker than the Derwent 2B Aquatone example.
Some of my favorite 2 mm leadholders from my daily sketching kit. Comparison chart of Mitsubishi Uni graphite leads' marks. Demo video using assorted leads.
Doodling a sample comic layout on Georgia Pacific 110 lb white card stock with a 4B Lamy 3.15 mm graphite lead.
While I started this sample page with the Worther 3.15 mm Shorty leadholder, decided to switch to the Mitsubishi Uni H 2 mm lead for narrower clean lines.
Second H lead sample doodle page.
Third H lead sample doodle page. Middle character inspired by a customer having lunch across the room.
By the fourth page, the point of the H lead still remained quite sharp and functional. Good choice for long drawing sessions in the field since it requires less frequent sharpening.
The HB lead sample doodle.
The B lead sample doodle. This lead grade got blunt quickly and required more frequent sharpening. Still like the rest of the Mitsubishi Uni graphite leads, it is quite smudge resistant. These 2 mm graphite leads are non-crumbling, of uniform darkness, and smooth throughout without any surprise scratchy bits that could interrupt your work flow while sketching.
The penciled outlines can easily be inked and later erased. This pencil dragon sketch was inked with Sakura Pigma 05 black pigment pen and labeled with a couple of color pens with the same size nibs.

Sun-Star Knock Free Sharp Mechanical Pencil and the SharPits 2.0 mm leadholder video review

George from the My Supply Room blog generously send me a couple of his extra pencils from his latest Jet Pens order: the green Sun-Star Knock Free 0.7 mm HB Sharp Mechanical Pencil and the black Sun-Star SharPits 2.0 mm B leadholder. Thanks again George!
The Sun-Star Knock Free 0.7 mm Sharp Mechanical Pencil was made in Taiwan, and I had to play around with it a bit to figure out how it works and how to refill it. While it might look just like your regular yellow No. 2 pencil, it is made entirely out of plastic with an automatic-advance mechanism that uses 0.7 mm graphite leads. You can view my video review for both items here.
Considering that we are dealing with a value-priced Chinese plastic leadholder, I was pleasantly surprised to discover a metal clutch mechanism after unscrewing the front conical cover inside the SharPits.
The 3 metal jaws hold the 2.0 mm lead securely and prevent it from rattling. The SharPits felt quite precise and easy to control while drawing, and its included B lead was smooth, dark, and quite smudge resistant for such a soft graphite grade.
The non-replaceable pink eraser on the Knock Free Sharp Pencil cap does a fair job in removing graphite from the paper in a pinch, but it would be advisable to rely on a dedicated vinyl eraser instead to preserve the pencil's pristine look.
Sample doodles on Rhodia dotPad paper. The Knock Free Sharp Pencil automatically advances its lead, but its tip tends to drag when the lead grows short and the plastic sleeve starts rubbing against the paper. Though the lead can be advanced a bit manually by pushing down on the black plastic sleeve around the exposed lead if you don't like the speed of its automatic advance feature. Personally I have yet to meet a mechanical pencil with an automatic advance mechanism that I like, for I did not care for the Kuru-Toga or the Faber Castell Grip-matic 1375 either. I suppose the auto-advance feature would be more appreciated by people that use their pencils more for writing, but I just find them annoying when attempting to sketch quickly with them. While not certain about the durability of either pencil, they are both inexpensive and should perform well enough to meet a child's writing and drawing needs during a school term.

Succesful Open House at Jo-Ann store completed

Thanks for stopping by at the Jo-Ann's Open House, I enjoyed meeting so many potential students for the summer camp and sketching cartoon portraits for quite a few as a preview of our beginner's cartooning drawing and pop-up card classes.
Suggested materials to start practicing:
- Sakura Pigma Sensei drawing kit
- Canson Fanboy manga papers
- Faber Castell Pitt Artist Pens Manga sets
- Prismacolor Double ended markers sets (Manga and Grays)
- 2 mm leadholder with B-2B leads
- sketchbooks/copy paper

A few Moleskine pencil doodles

It is usually a good idea to keep a small sketchbook and pencil with you at all times, for you never know when you might have a few free minutes that could be productively spent making some drawings or writing some thoughts down.
Sandbox at the playground inspired this straight cartoon portrait drawn while sitting on the edge of the sandbox.
Trip to the Zoo
inspired "Tato Keeper of Mutant Bees".
Dragon ninja in training
inspired "Tato meets his Dragon avatar". A pocket Moleskine sketchbook is the ideal size to take along on all sorts of outings and make quick notes, record stray thoughts, and sketch some doodles for later use. If I do not have much warning or carrying space on a given day, I simply stuff the Moleskine with my Worther Shorty or Staedtler leadholder in one of my pockets before going out.

How to use a Leadholder for Beginners and doodling videos

Leadholder 101 (2 min video): ok Daniela while you already probably figured out how to use your first leadholder, I often forget that many students have never tried one before since they are no longer a requirement for drafting classes in this Age of Computer Assisted Design. Thus these short videos show how to load a Staedtler 780 Mars Technico 2 mm leadholder with my favorite Uni graphite lead, how to use a rotary lead pointer, the existence of an emergency touch-up lead pointer built-in the push button, and a couple of doodling examples. Notice that for daily use, I prefer to cover the knurled metal grip with a plastic pencil grip for comfort and that I have removed the metal pocket clip to avoid scratching other tools in my sketching kit.
Speed sketching demo 1 is just a quick 2 minutes demo of a warm up doodle page. It is an exercise I often have my students perform at the beginning of a class in order to loosen up and get a feel for the sketching tool chosen for the day.
Speed sketching demo 2 consists of another 2 minutes of me doodling and mumbling at the same time. I promise I'll try to enunciate better on future videos once my braces come off. For now that is my excuse, and I'm sticking to it. Thank you very much Sunny for the helpful feedback.

The benefit of sharing artist grade supplies with children

Nicole finishing her homework with her "favorite lucky pencil": a Staedtler Mars Technico 2 mm leadholder. How many first graders do you know that can handle and operate a clutch pencil with a knurled metal grip on a regular basis? I started allowing her to try my gel pens, drafting tools, and watercolors gradually after she turned 2 years old. Thus she has gained some of her confidence and appreciation for artist grade materials naturally from a very early age as she developed her motor skills and eye-hand coordination.
Children often learn by example, so it is quite advisable to share quality time while exploring creative endeavors.
Closely watching her aunt Caro as she discovers the joys of painting with acrylic paints.
Proudly showing her first Barbie drawing for the evening.
Demonstrating her creativity and precise cutting control with her scissors, Nicole came up with a couple of reversible gift drawings depicting a colorful jacket for grandma and a Barbie for her little sister.
Didn't even need a ruler to draw fairly straight lines.

Coloring her third reversible gift drawing by request.

Sketching a coloring outline with a black Faber Castell Pitt Artist brush pen.
Her gift drawing to me: the wrapped present image drawn on the front, and a coloring picture drawn on the back. The easel with the castle drawing and the watercolor palettes and brushes show that with her keen observation skills she has already taken notice of my favorite hobby and interest in art supplies.
Out of the blue, Nicole declared that she was then going to draw an abstract piece.


Just finished her abstract piece.
A few examples of the creative work done on a single afternoon by my 6-years old niece. The concept and execution were entirely her own. All I did was provide her with some sheets of blank card stock and lent her some of my Faber Castell Pitt Artist pens to explore her own ideas. Sometimes all that is required to foster a child's interest in art, is to provide encouragement and supervised access to quality art materials. Just make certain that such tools are non-toxic and sturdy enough to meet their needs in a safe manner.