Some designers are devoted to a specific brand or style of graphics tablet and others swear by their optical mouse or multifunction trackball or the oversized finger touchpad on their laptop. But when it comes to pen and pencils are we quite so picky? After all, pencils are an important design tool. You don't do it all on the computer, do you? What about thumbnail sketches, original drawings, and marking up rough drafts and proofs?

If you never given your pencil choice a second thought, you might just re-think your position after perusing the pages in Pencils, Pencils, and More Pencils at the Graphic Design Basics Blog. To which I'll also add these pencil pages:

• The History of Pencils
• Before You Pick a Pencil
• Pencil Drawing Lesson - Using a Pencil
• Left-handed Pencils
• Before You Buy Drawing Materials