Art: Cecily Brown

David Cohen describes Cecily Brown on artcritical.com:

Ms. Brown’s attitude is postmodern, her tastes figurative, and her modus operandi abstract: This all adds up to art that’s an energetic mess. In her case, the sum of individual parts actually *is* greater than the whole, for hers is an art of beautiful bits and bobs that willfully evade composition, closure, or any kind of sustainable reading.

View her work on artnet and the Rose-Colored Glasses blog (be sure to view the images directly to see them full-size).

Category: Art

Misc: Pencil Bug: The Naturals

As I mentioned late last year, I developed a minor obsession with pencils after being awakened by the Pencil Revolution website. I draw in my sketch book a couple days each week and I use pencils at work almost exclusively. My little collection has grown quite a bit in the past six months. Since my last blog post about pencils is the most visited page on this site (after the homepage of course), I decided to write about them again.

My favorite pencils are often the natural, unpainted variety of incense cedar pencils. A nice coat of varnish is fine - completely bare is even better. The details and my opinions of the pencils pictured are below. A larger photo is available on Flickr.

a) Blackfeet Indian #2: My expectations on this one were really high given all that folks have written about them. It is a very nice pencil but the writing quality didn't blow me away.

• Ferrule: black
• Eraser: pink
• Print: black
• Finish: clear varnish
• Availability: eBay, may be hard to find

b) Musgrave HB Natural Finish: A dark and smooth line comparable to the Forest Choice - maybe smoother. This is one I picked up recently that I'm very happy with. The white eraser makes this one stand out.

• Ferrule: Light gold with a maroon stripe
• Eraser: white
• Print: gold and black
• Finish: clear varnish
• Availability: Pencil Things

c) Forest Choice #2: A very dark and smooth line - these are a little softer than some number two pencils but very nice.

• Ferrule: green
• Eraser: pink
• Print: green
• Finish: no varnish - very smooth
• Availability: Pencil World Creativity Store

d) Mongol Trio Jumbo, triangular barrel: This pencil is too big for me to write with for extended periods, but my son loves it and it looks great.

• Ferrule: black with copper stripe
• Eraser: pink
• Print: black
• Finish: clear varnish
• Availability: Pencil Things

e) Mirado Woodtone #2 HB: Not as smooth or dark a line as some of the competition but it doesn't require sharpening as often either. This may be the same wood, lead, and performance as the popular Mirado Black Warrior.

• Ferrule: gold with red stripe
• Eraser: pink
• Print: gold
• Finish: tinted varnish
• Availability: office supply stores

f) USA General's Cedar Pointe 333 # 2 HB: The lead produces a nice balance of darkness and hardness. I like the look and feel of this pencil a lot. The writing can feel a tad grittier than some of the softer number two pencils but this is still one of my favorites.

• Ferrule: black
• Eraser: black
• Print: black
• Finish: no varnish
• Availability: Dick Blick

g) Dixon Ticonderoga Woodgrain #2 Soft: A good line but the point goes blunt a little too quickly. I prefer a #2.5 for Dixon pencils but I've only seen them in yellow. Also, the varnish of this one is a little too golden for a cedar pencil.

• Ferrule: green with yellow stripes
• Eraser: pink
• Print: green
• Finish: tinted varnish
• Availability: office supply stores