Sorry, I just love that tagline for the Capital One commercials. These scenes are usually arranged around complete mayhem, with one person set apart that is able to handle the situation. And so I decided it was perfect for a continuing series about what artist’s tools I find myself reaching for again and again; that never let me down and are perfect for their situation.

People often ask me about favorite tools, so I thought I’d make it sort of a Tuesday tradition.

These are great, inexpensive mechanical pencils. I remember clearly picking them up at the grocery store one day. I was surprised that a grocery store would have three different lead widths. Blew my arty mind! Great to have for starting a sketch. 0.9, 0.7 and 0.5 sizes. The only annoying thing is the inconsistency in packaging. Bic labels theirs. Pentel doesn’t. So I got in the habit of labeling them all on the barrel.

They come with HB lead. Your standard #2 pencil variety. Not too hard. Not too soft. And great for rough sketching. I’ve seen mechanical pencil leads that vary in hardness from 4H to 2B. 2B is the softest. Obvious reason why they don’t go softer is that they probably wouldn’t handle the delivery method well of being part of a mechanical pencil. But you CAN get 2B in there if you live and die by the smudginess. Here is a source.

So what’s in your wallet? Is there anything you’d like me to discuss next week?