Mechanical Pencil?

[Blind]

Hi all... I'm going to give sketching a shot using a mechanical pencil, and I was wondering if anyone could make a sugestion on brand, size, lead weight, etc. I've never used one before, so I'm not sure what I'm getting into. I did a search on here and found tons of mentions about people using them, but not much else about the pencil itself. I'd really appreciate any advice you might have to offer. Thanks!

[Blind]

BTW... I've got my eye on this one so far:
http://www.dick-blick.com/items/206/22/20622-OA4ww.jpg
It's an Alvin Draftmatic and runs about $8 USD. It's a .7mm in the picture, but I'm think of going with a .5mm as a good all around size to go with. Sound right? And I'm thinking HB graphite to start out as well. Am I on the right track?

[gekitsu]

i don#t think it is so important which brand you use. just take one that feels nice in your hand and is affordable.

i have two of them, which i use whenever i need fine lines:
one is your default faber castell plastic model and the other is some more expensive full-steel lamy thing.
i don't see that much difference in working with them. the difference is more evident in the mines you feed it with. (i use b for dark line stuff and sketching, and 3h for the real tight work)

just get one, get some mines in a grade you like to work with (i prefer them somewhat harder than what i use for sketching, since you'll be using the mech pencil for line excessively).

[Kortez]

I think you are, but there has been some discussion about 0,5 and 0,7 being bad for the paper. That's why I stopped using my babies.

But I'm starting to use .5's again cause it's so nice to render details with those lovable pencilbeings. But I'm also trying to get used to sharpening my 2mm mechanical pencil.

But you should definately get one if you don't already :)

[BadMange]

How would it be bad for the paper? Are people drawing on tissue paper? Just don't press too hard and you won't have any problems.

Blind, why are you paying so much for a mech pencil?? Companies charge way too much for art supplies, y'know? I picked up a PaperMate Clearpoint 0.7mm mech pencil at Walgreens. It was about $3. It also comes in a 0.5mm flavor, too. Here's a pic:
http://www.papermate.com/sanford/consumer/papermate/images/clearpoint.jpg

-Bad Mange

[Blind]

Thanks for the replies all... I just got back from the local art store. All they had was the econo version of the one I mentioned above, so I snagged it just to check it out. It's an Alvin Klic-Matic 0.5mm and it was only $5. It's basically the same thing as the Draft-Matic except a lighter plastic version without things like "cushioned tip" and "12 lead capacity". I can't see why I would need those things at this point. I also snagged some Pentel HB lead refills to replace the cheesy ones that came with the Klic. I've just made some little doodles with it and I think I like it already. I'll experiment with some different leads, but so far I'm diggin' this thing. Ahhh... it's the simple things in life :cool:

[Crash]

i still have my trusty pilot

pilot "the shaker" (you can shake the leads out of the pen, never used it but i like the weight it gives the pen) 0.5 H-245

ive had it for 6 years =) love it.

i have another one just like it, prolly had that one for 2 years ( lol) but i use B leads in it.

[Big-Dave]

BadMange: I had one of thos. Loaned it out to someone on the last day of school and never got it back though :rolleyes:. It's a pretty good design though, I was surprised that was all they were charging for it.

I've heard rotring is one of the more well known mech pencil manufacturers, although they're meant to be kinda expensive (I think the one I got was on sale, so lucky me :D)