When I feel like I really want to get into something more and then I don't, I get pretty annoyed with myself. Pencils are one of those things that I enjoy the idea of, LOVE using when I do, but I haven't found a way to inject an "all pencil" approach into my writing habits as of yet for a short term experience. That doesn't stop me from buying them as I WANT to use them, but just don't as often as I want to.

Have you ever done this with anything writing/stationary related? I think I need to set a goal: use only pencils (unless otherwise necessary) for a month.... maybe a new pencil or two per week. I probably have 50 different pencils to work with in my "collection", so I have the resources to make it happen.

At the desk of my job-job I've had a Staedtler Mars Lumograph 2B pencil laying around for awhile and finally decided I would use it for the last week or so with my client notes.

For pencil reviews, and I've said this before, I am a total novice. What properties are the best? What am I looking for? I suppose it will just take using a lot of pencils to be able to compare what works, what feels good, what looks good...

The Mars Lumograph isn't necessarily a sexy looking pencil (which sounds weird to say out loud...) like the Tombow Mono 100, but it still stands out and is well made and finished. These run about $1.50 I think from my local art store, so not super cheap like a dozen generic storebrand pencils, but you seem to pay for a higher quality.

You can also pick these up in a variety of lead hardness variations for around $1.40 from Jetpens.

As the ML is considered a drawing/drafting pencil, it has better tolerances it seems than most run of the mill pencils. The cores are centered and they sharpen cleanly.

The paint/lacquer on the ML is nicely done and doesn't look choppy or thin in parts. The glossy blue, white, and black combination is subtle but attractive and stands out in a nice, conservative way. Since these are an item you can buy in singles, Staedtler does put an imprinted barcode on the side for scanning which distracts a bit from the overall aesthetic, but, meh.

For some reason I enjoy pencils without an eraser more from a design standpoint. Clean.

I've been using the pencil this week on my new Nock DotDash Spiral Pad and the 2B lead grade is definitely dark enough for my needs. For a page of writing notes (not full pages as my notes with clients are often diagrams, etc), the pencil held a point pretty well and I didn't notice that I was sharpening too often.

I like the way this pencil looks and writes, but I'm excited to dive into others.