'Treats' Acrylic on wood assemblage ©robinrkent
Showing posts with label pencils. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pencils. Show all posts

Sunday, January 27, 2013

The Mighty Pencil


What a wonderful thing the pencil is. I think of this often as I write notes to myself or sketch late at night in bed. 
'The Pencil Is Mightier'
wall assemblage ©robinrkent
I never worry about it failing to write when held upside down or leaking ink blobs on my blankets or sheets.

Pencils aren't greedy - they are fine with sharing the same space with other marks as I loosely sketch, waiting while I decide which line to use, a prelude to a new work.
They have a close history with Thoreau also:  No. 339: Thoreau's Pencils www.uh.edu/engines/epi339.html  He knew pencils inside and out, literally. The lowly pencil didn't give him any lip when he expounded on the philosophy of transcendentalism.
http://www.thoreausociety.org
It was the pencil that initially communicated those feelings to all who cared to read his words when he wasn't there. Such a responsibility.

When I think about it, pencils are taken for granted, ubiquitous, inexpensive, and can be the accepted object of frustration. 

I don't know where I'd be without them. I think they need to be shown a little more respect.