Can you have too many colors?

We'll get back to talking pencils in due course but I'd like to bring a bit of color into the mix. About a year ago I took a chance on a set of color pens I'd never heard of before. "100 Unique Fineliners" by Shuttle Art. Unfortunately, real life has kept me from using them until very recently, but I've finally had a chance to take some of them out for a test drive.

Fifty Shades of Gray

Let's talk lead. Well, actually graphite, but everybody still calls it pencil lead. In a previous post I talked about using mechanical pencils with Wild Gears and touched briefly on the variety of leads available.

If you're not familiar with grading of pencil leads, take a look at this excellent primer from Jet Pens. (TLDR: B is softer/darker, H is harder/lighter, larger numbers indicate greater hardness or softness. 10B is incredibly soft and dark, 10H is so light it's basically invisible. HB is "normal", between H and B, about like a standard #2 pencil. F is an oddball, sitting between H and HB.)

Aside from 2mm drafting leads used a lifetime ago when I took drafting class (and we actually drew things on paper), my experience with mechanical pencil lead has been limited to the Pentel brand. There are others. Some of them are probably quite good. Pentel is readily available and hasn't disappointed me so I've stuck with it.