Justin Gerard's Materials List for Mobile Pencil Artists

In this post I am going to share my favorite materials for drawing "under-the-circumstances".  This is something I developed out of necessity after having kids, while trying to maintain a work/life balance of watching them as babies, and also keeping my job. Now that they are older and less prone to climb gates or pull lamps over or microwave the cat, I find this mobile studio continues to deliver, and has allowed me to finish hundreds of professional drawings wether on the couch, at the park, waiting for the oven to preheat, or back at the comfort of my desk.

Going into the New Year I hope this list will give those of you struggling to find the time or space to draw some new tools to try, and hopefully some solutions to problems that may currently be holding you back.

Something I always find fun about starting a new year is trying out new supplies! And sure, maybe the old masters would say that it isn't some fancy pencil, but rather it is solid technical skills, deep study, personal dedication, and industrious hard work that make you better; but somehow it feels like the REAL answer is SHINY NEW TOOLS, and that's what they don't want you to know about. And sure, maybe new tools won’t make you Leonardo Da Vinci, but BAD tools WILL result in frustration with inferior quality materials, lost time correcting unsightly errors, and work that isn’t archival. Good tools dont make you great, but they sure make life easier. 

So without further ado, here is my list of DRAWING tools that I used in 2024 to make my life easier:

Going into 2025 this is my basic mobile setup. The theory here is that if your drawing setup requires you to be at your pristine desk deep in your fortress of solitude, with your advanced prototype-Tony-Stark-iron-man-tools all perfectly arranged around you, then you simply wont get around to doing anything because life is not like that. I want a setup I can take with me that can stand up to anything. Essentially anytime I find myself stuck waiting, or bored, or on my phone doomscrolling, i want to cut that out, i want to find a way to have a drawing in front of me instead. But what about lack if sharpeners? What about bad lighting situations? What about lack of all the usual tools? What about feral animals you've decided for some reason to keep as pets? The setup I am recommending here solves for all of that. And does it without costing a fortune.

For this post I am going to restrict things to JUST pencil work. (We can cover my travel setup for ink and wet media later.) I'll go through my tools list and offer some tips and tricks I've learned while using this setup, as well as some materials I recommend and ones I stay away from. It is also worth mentioning that I work in a specific way, and my choices here are tuned to that method. I prefer to transfer and sketch a drawing in a very light 2H pencil, then redraw in HB, and then add shadows in 4B. I want to produce very precise drawings with stark shadows and very few mid-tones.

Favorite GRAPHITE WOOD PENCIL:

The General's Kimberly (In 2H) is still the legendary wooden pencil to beat for me. There are 3 attributes I look for in a wood pencil and the General's Pencil Co. Kimberly's 2H excels at all 3, while also being extremely cheap and easy to find here in America.

• 1. Edge Shading: Primarily, I'd like to be able to use the edge of the pencil to shade rather than the point. Edge Shading is something a wood pencil can do that smaller mechanical pencils cannot. This technique not only offers gorgeous deep, murky shadows, it also sharpens the pencil point while you do it. Inferior wooden pencils will break and chip when you shade with the edge, and can be incredibly frustrating. A well-made pencil should have very few breakages, which means less time lost in sharpening your pencil, and more value from your purchase.

• 2. Low-Smudging: I don't smudge when I draw, and any stray graphite is something I am just going to have to clean up later. I also really want to be able to erase any mistakes, (otherwise, I might as well use ink!) However, this is different for everyone. The same pencils I dislike for their smudginess, my wife Annie loves, because smudging to achieve value transitions is an important part of her process. For most pencils, the H grades of lead will smudge less, while the B grades will smudge more. A word of caution on the Kimberly's, including their General's Layout Pencil: Their B grades are VERY smudge prone, so I rarely use anything of theirs above their vaunted 2H.

• 3. Excellent Layering: The Most BEAUTIFUL shading, in my opinion, comes from layering lead on top of lead, usually working up from lighter grades to darker ones in a pattern. The best pencils will allow for this, while the worst pencils will resist any layering by becoming a shiny mess.

Hi-Uni by Mitsubishi is my second favorite wooden pencil. Their B series is extremely smooth, easy to erase, and strong and I tend to use them when I need a darker lead to shade with. If you are looking for a full line of pencils to sketch and draw with, the Hi-Uni is one of the finest on the market offering smooth lines, gorgeous shading and very low smudging.

Staedtler Mars gets an honorable mention here. I love Staedtler, and I've used their wooden pencils a LOT, particularly for deep, dark shadows where their Mars leads truly excel. They do smudge a great deal though, which keeps me from using them more in my process and is why they are not part of my line-up in 2025. (Don't despair Staedtler, you're time will come...)

I've also worked extensively with Koh-i-Noor, Derwent and Blackwing, and do not care for any of those, primarily because they all tend to smudge a lot, while not offering the smoothness of the Hi-Uni's or the versatility of the Kimberly 2H. The Tombow Mono is a good pencil series, but I dislike how much little graphite they put down and hate layering with them. (A lot of my friends swear by them, and I know they CAN produce great work, I just don't enjoy using them.)

One last mention is that the Faber-Castell 9000 series. They are good little academic pencils. However, I hate them. I used these in school to do academic drawings of boxes, and now whenever I pick these pencils up I find myself filled with box-hating rage and my hands start flexing involuntarily and reaching for nearby boxes of their own accord, with thoughts only of ripping and tearing and smashing. Anyway, in the interests of studio safety I just can't bring myself to use these pencils anymore...

Favorite MECHANICAL PENCIL: 

• The Staedtler 925 25 05 is still the king for mechanical pencils for me. Solidly at #1 for it's legendary precision, sturdy-yet-lightweight metal construction, jaw-dropping good looks, and overall comfort. I have it in several colors on my desk to correspond with lead grade. (Black for 4B leads, Dark Blue for HB leads, Silver for 2H leads.) It is also very affordable and at the time of this writing is only $10 on Amazon. I have never had one break or malfunction in 8 years of daily use.

• The Pentel P209 still gets a lot of usage from me as a cheap, dependable, tough little travel pencil. At only $4 a pen, it isn't one I worry about losing or damaging, meaning I am more likely to bring it on a hike or a roadtrip and actually use it. I still don't love Pentel's Graphgear series and this heresy has gotten me kicked out of every pencil enthusiast forum in existence.

• If I want something retractable and "pocket-safe" the Rotring 800 is perfect, though I have a hard time recommending it here since the price tag is SHOCKING. You could buy eight P209s, or four Staedtler 925s, or four Graphgear 1000 pencils for the same price. Rotring is the BMW of pencils, technically better in every way, but four times the price.

FAVORITE LEAD (in 0.5mm): 

• Pentel's Ain leads were my favorite in 2024. Both the standard Pentel Ain and the Ain Stein series are excellent, but the Pentel Ain is somehow the smoothest, strongest mechanical lead with the greatest smudge-resistance and erasability of all the leads I've ever tested. It is the closet thing I've found to a flawless lead mechanical. I will buy a Staedtler 925 or a Pentel P207 or a Rotring and literally throw away all the lead that came with it just to make sure that there is no chance I might even accidentally use another lead other than an Ain series. I personally prefer the Stein series for H grade leads, and the Ain series for B grade leads. I highly recommend you try both.

Favorite 2mm LEAD HOLDER:

Lead holders are excellent for covering large areas of shadow, something that can be tedious with smaller mechanical pencils like my Staedtler 925 05. While in the studio next to a sharpener, I will more often reach for a wooden pencil and use the edge to shade, a lead holder has the advantage of not needing resharpening and so makes for an ideal solution in a mobile studio setup where you are not able to sharpen very often.

• Rotring Rapid Pro 2.0 with Staedlter Mars Carbon lead in 4B. The Rotring is, as we've previously mentioned, quite expensive, but I believe for lead holders it is absolutely worth it. Apart from it's incredebly strong and lightweight metal barrel, which could kill a Star Destroyer if launched properly, it has a very clever lead advancing mechanism which prevents the lead from simply falling out of the barrel every time you try to advance it, something that plagues every other lead holder I've tried. It also has a nifty lead pointer in the cap instead of an eraser. I use it with 4b mars leads for easy coverage of large shadow areas and for noodling in little occlusions.

Favorite NON-PHOTO BLUE: 

Non-photo blue was my favorite way of starting a drawing in 2024. I love the way it looks, and it also has the benefit of being easy to eliminate from a scan if you are wanting a really clean drawing.

• Prismacolor Col-erase blue - the Col-erase series has been my favorite for as long as I have been drawing for its incredibly smooth lines, beautiful shading, and ease of erasing. It has a great value range too if you use the "Blue" one, (and not the "Non-Photo Blue" or the "Light Blue", both of which are VERY light.)

• 2mm Staedtler Mars Lumochrom BLUE in a matching Blue Staedtler Technico - A lovely choice for bigger drawings. It offers incredible coverage and a great value range, but at the cost of difficult erasures.

• Pilot Neox Blue is a unique little 0.5m mechanical lead that comes in a variety of colors. I use the standard blue one in my mobile studio setup. They hold up very well and make for a VERY precise little under-drawing. Not as easy to erase as the Col-erase pencil, but it never requires sharpening! One word of caution here: All mechanical blue leads that I've tested are much softer and more brittle than their equivelant graphite leads. Because of this it is very important to have a high quality mechancial pencil when using color leads that will hold the lead firmly with no wobble. The Staedlter 925 is a great pick of course, but I use a Pentel Sharp p207 because of the reasons listed above, and because it is available in a matching blue casing, making for less confusion for my under-clocked brain when searching for my non-photo blue mechanical pencil.

  I've tried many other non-photo blues, but in general I do not like them as they are either a struggle to erase, or just don't produce good lines. One exception is the Faber-Castel Polychromos, which erasers well and shades beautifully, I personally just don't like the powder blue color it produces.

OTHER RECOMMENDED TOOLS:

• Staedtler 900 25 Pencil Holder: I'll admit this is a bit of an indulgence at almost $25, but hear me out!: You will make that money back in being able to use all of your wooden pencils, as opposed to throwing them out once they are just passed the half-way point and you either reach for a new pencil or simply crab-claw your way along with the remainder of the pencil. The Staedtler also has an excellent clip which makes it much easier to use with a clipboard.

• Kneadable eraser - And indispensable tool for the pencil artist. I use it for clean up and for tamping out highlights. A little awkward to carry in a travel set but these tend to stick well to the metal of a clipboard.

• Tombow Mono Zero Eraser - This tiny little mechanical eraser is perfect for travel. Very cheap, very solid, and capable of incredibly detailed erasers, allowing you to essentially use it as a highlighter. I will give a shoutout to the General's Factis BM-2 eraser, which is clunkier and isn't as good as the Mono Zero, but is somehow always right there when I need it. Something to do with its obnoxious bulk and unsightly-yet-somehow-stealthy design that results in it never getting moved or stolen. Because of this I've used it ten times as often as the better Mono Zero, which always somehow ends up on my wife's desk instead of where I left it.

• Staedtler Pencil Sharpener - A cheap and reasonable sharpener for travel that can do both your non-photo blue pencils and graphite ones. It has a lot of carrying capacity for when you are in a place where you don't have a trash can, and don't want any lead shavings going anywhere (like for drawing on the couch). If you want a metal one, the Blackwing On-Step Sharpener is gorgeous and a pleasure to use. If you want ABSOLUTE luxury and a point that could cut a laser, Carl Angel-5 is the best thing I've ever used. However, it is not really a good travel one and you must place them strategically around at the locations you plan to be drawing at. Ultimately with all of these, I rarely bring them with me, and choose instead to use the edge of the pencil to shade every now and then to re-establish a fine point on a pencil.

• Uni 2mm Point Sharpener - A tool for sharpening a 2mm lead. I rarely use these since a blunt 2mm is fine for my purposes. But if you are wanting to draw lines with your 2mm, this is an absolute must. The tiny form factor makes it easy to keep in a pocket. And for those of you who love to smudge with graphite, the shavings in the barrel are exquisite.

• Pencil Cases and Straps - I like these to keep in a bag but i honestly hate having to keep track of them while working. I much prefer everything clipped to the board, but I will admit they are very useful for storing things while traveling. There is a company called Diodrio which makes some excellent pencil organizers and holders on straps that I've used a lot and can recommend for their quality. They feel like a bit of an indulgence, but if you are struggling to keep all your needed tools on your board, they offer some great solutions.

Favorite PAPER: 

In general I prefer smooth papers to textured ones. If I need to add interesting "noise" to the image, I can do that with rough stray lines, and using the edge of the pencil instead of the tip. No need to get some paper made out of real coffee beans with Rembrandt levels of texture pre-baked into the surface like all these extra credit "fine artists" use. Just a plain, regular old sheet of smooth paper please.

• Strathmore 400 series plate Bristol. - Most smooth 2-ply bristol is good, and in general I find the pencils more important than the paper. So if you cannot find this brand, don't stress about it. Fabriano is great, Borden & Riley is okay. The ubiquitous Canson bristol papers feels too smooth and a bit harder to layer on and I stay away from those. Strathmore is easier for me go come by and is what I'm used to. Very smooth, very tough, inexpensive and scans well. It doesn't do any tricks but it also doesn't get in your way. Daler Rowney is another brand I like but have had trouble sourcing them in recent years. I also like Hammermill copy paper. I buy that stuff by the box for printer usage and for cheap scribbling.

• Strathmore Layout Bond - This is a great, solid little tracing paper available in a range of sizes and pads, which doesn't buckle easily, and holds up well to erasures and strikes a good balance between the average lightweight tracing paper, and the plasticky smooth Canson Vidalon types. Great for when you want to do a transferred drawing, but don't have access to a light table.

Favorite SKETCHBOOK: 

For sketchbooks, I ALWAYS prefer spiral-bound. And this is for 2 reasons: #1. Spiral bound allows me to fold the book open and it lay perfectly flat, as opposed to a traditionally bound sketchbook, which has papers that will always have a crease near the binding. and #2. Because the spiral can safely store a couple pens in it while traveling. Also, I only use pens stolen from banks, hotels, or government offices. It is well-known that they have more raw power in them than anything store bought.

• Daler Rowney spiral sketchbooks were always the finest spiral-bound sketchbooks as far as I'm concerned, but as mentioned above, they have become hard to source.

• Because of this, I have been using Fabirano 1264 Sketch series book for 2024 and will again in 2025. It has excellent paper and decent design and isn't going to break the bank.

• Ultimately though, I recommend getting the CHEAPEST, most widely available book you can find, in a size that is most convenient to actually carry with you. Otherwise, you will either be too precious with it, or never be able to take it with you, and in any case, it will never get used. Buy something cheap and use it!

For me, the real value of a sketchbook is to CAPTURE ideas as they occur to you. As an artist, it is on you to keep a record of your ideas so that when you do sit down to actually paint later on, you have something ready to go. If you aren't SKETCHING in these informal moments of inspiration, you are losing out on vast amounts of ideas, and you will suffer more from the artist's version of writer's block. Get a cheap sketchbook and pen and keep it with you!

Favorite LIGHTS: 

The future is now! No need to fumble around finding the perfect angle in the ever-moving sunlight, or crane your neck so your head isn't casting a shadow, USB-charging clip lights (like the Gritin above) solve SO many problems for the mobile artist and are extremely cheap.

The alien-looking neck light (this one from Glocusent) is my favorite light to use as it somehow always puts light where it needs to be without causing any lead sheen. However it looks odd in public and may earn you some grumbling if you are using it while watching tv with the family. In which case a more discreet little clip light is the classy way to draw in the dark. These typically last 4 hours on a charge for me, which is about the max I want to be drawing in one session anyway. For 15$ to 20$ these are a no-brainer of an addition to a mobile studio.

Finally, I should mention the specific clipboard I am using the Blick Sketch Pad Clip Board. It's cheap, sturdy, mostly dog-proof, holds 9x12 easily, and most importantly compared to other brands, has a solid alligator clamp, rather than a wire, which I find much easier to quickly slide pencils on and off from. I use Spring Pencil Holder Clips on the top for any spare wooden pencils or smudge sticks that cannot otherwise be attached to the board. These cheap little clips are available as clamps or as stick-ons. The brand I am using here is Tulead (on Amazon).

PRO TIP: If you are wanting to get the most out of your mobile setup, have a few transferred drawings clipped to your board in a stack, ready to go. I always have two or three on my board at any given time. These both pad your current drawing, making the lines a bit softer, and also ensure that you never suffer from the artist's version of writer's block.

I do the following:

• 1. Sketch my ideas down in a sketchpad right when they come to me. This is the secret weapon for never being at a loss for what to do next! This is where most people get tripped up. They grabbed their paper and are ready to go, but have no idea what to draw. Then they just putter around scribbling nonsense that goes nowhere. But at some point previous they DID have a lot of great ideas, any one of which would have been a GREAT subject to draw, they just failed to collect them at that time, and now aren't remembering them. Collect those ideas and have them ready for when you DO have the time!

• 2. I scan these sketchbook drawings into the computer, (or use my phone) blow them up larger, and transfer them to a sheet of bristol paper using a Huion lightpad.

• 3. I stack several of these pages of transferred drawings on my board in preparation for the next time I have a moment to draw.

• 4. Draw! When I do finally have time to draw, I may or may not use my transferred drawings, depending on what I am feeling like. I can do something brand new of course, but no matter what, I will never be at a loss for what to draw.

I hope you've enjoyed this mobile studio tour for 2025! We will be covering a lot more pencil techniques as the year goes on. If you have any other specific areas you are struggling with, or subjects you'd like to hear more about in a future post, let me know in the comments!

-jg