Little Flower Petals has an interesting post about the permanence of pencil:
“At one point I was worried about using pencil in notebooks I wanted to keep around for awhile, just because it’s erasable. But I got to thinking…*unless* it’s erased, pencil is more permanent than pretty much anything, and the chances of my notebooks experiencing heat or humidity are a lot higher than the chances of a stranger armed with a Pink Pearl breaking in while I’m out and going to town on my old journals. I’m probably safe to use pencil.”
Back when Pencil Revolution first surfaced in 2005 (and before a 4-year hiatus!), my friend was shocked to hear that I still used pens in my journal. I realized I was probably being silly in my paranoia that my meaningless words would not survive a visit from The Eraser Monster or a few hundred brushes with a dirty hand. Still, I worried and ordered a dozen No Blot “ink pencils” and tried them out in my journal. Aside from them being scratchy, I also assumed, after a while, that the dye was probably not safe for long-term use, concerning both the paper and my own skin. I might have been wrong, but there you go.
I went out late one night back then, listening loudly to Alice in Chains, and bought a new “large” Moleskine to begin my adventures in officially journaling in pencil. Didn’t take long for me to sully my book with ink, however. And, despite some forays into graphite journaling, I didn’t start really really really journaling in graphite until this past August. Now my journal is completely archival safe and, strangely, completely erasable.
And, as it were, the pens I was using in my journaling in 2005, when I was too afraid to journal in graphite, were some of the least archival safe implements with which I have ever written. I shudder when I see what only five years have done to the writing. The black ink made the facing page turn yellow with the writing (strange effect indeed), while the blue just faded, especially within a .5-.75 inch border of the pages’ edges. Everything written back then in pencil: fine, save where I rubbed my hairy mitts on some pages to test smearability, out of said paranoia.
Sure, journaling in pencil means that you have to be pretty careful not to go smearing things around. But, well, who reads their journals everyday? Does anyone pet her/his writing? And, anything but the most waterproof inks require at least some special handling. Gel ink, for the most part, gets messy with even moderately damp hands.
Are there others who journal in pencil for the fun of it, or for the archival properties, etc.?
Pencil is great for journals, and note taking, but it is difficult to put a fountain pen aside when writing letters.
I use both ink and pencils. I don’t think there’s any perfect solution. Ink will fade and pencil will smear – I can’t decide which is most unreadable: smeared pencil or faded ink?
Anyway, you could use “fixative” like pencil artist – spray the page and it will be unaresable, whether it is ink or graphite.
regards
Henrik
Where I grew up in Western Colorado there was a mountain peak with a flag posted on it, just barely visible with binoculars from the valley. Right under the flagpole was a logbook in a waterproof container that hikers could sign–kinda like modern geocaching, without the satellites or coordinates or websites. The container also had a pencil or two and instructions that hikers should sign with pencil, not pen. The graphite, it claimed, was more permanent and waterproof than ink. That was the first I had ever thought such a thing. Before that, I had always been paranoid about writing my journal in pencil.
I hate smearing and “ghosting,” as our esteemed Editor has called it, so I have come to like a nice, scratchy #2 1/2 (F) or #3 (H) pencil. Lets me often go a whole page without resharpening. No buttery or velvety writing needed here. I like to etch my words in the paper with a hard lead more akin to its stylus ancestors.
“I like to etch my words in the paper with a hard lead more akin to its stylus ancestors.”
That must be a nice sound (seriously)!
Speaking of pencil sounds, have you heard the Eminem song, “Stan”? It has “the sound of the pencil scratching onto the letter” (Wikipedia) through most of the song. (Caution: explicit lyrics.) I thought it was cool he worked that sound in.
People often confuse archivability and erasability. I have a secret little black book that contains my multitude of login usernames and passwords. I use pencil for that becuase ink fading, etc could cause a problem in 5 years when my password memory has faded too. Now I just have to worry about losing my little book, or evil forces discovering it.
I love the picture on the bottom! Is that a journal with a scarlet peahen or something stamped on it? It’s beautiful.
It’s a repurposed book my sister-in-law gave me for my birthday a few years ago. I’d link to the Etsy store, but I think it might be (?) defunct.
Whoa, I’m famous! I’m very honored to be quoted on one of my favorite blogs.
I think I’m coming to terms with the erasable-yet-archival nature of pencil. I’m also finding that my penciled journal is surprisingly neat. Yes, there’s a small amount of smearing on occasion, but I smear ink, too. And with pencil, I avoid a generous sprinkling of half-written words with lines through them from where my mind went one way and my pen the other. I can just clean those right up. Plus the slight friction/feedback seems to do nice things to my handwriting.
“Plus the slight friction/feedback seems to do nice things to my handwriting.”
Me, too! I learned to write in Catholic school, in pencil and we were eventually allowed ballpoint pen. I swear my writing looks better in cheap ballpoint than anything else. But, best in pencil. :)
[...] Palomino; Forest Choice — all HB grade) didn’t leave any ghosting whatsoever. If you journal in pencil, you might appreciate this pleasingly unique characteristic in a spiral-bound book. Speaking of [...]
In my old journals, words written by ballpoints have greasy halos around them. Yucks. :(
This may help you feel better about writing in pencil. The link is to a page with a video showing someone using waterproof paper with a pencil. Works quite well and shows safe graphite can be.
http://www.gofastandlight.com/Waterproof-Outdoor-Paper-Spiral-Notebook/productinfo/TO-RITE/
I just watched a tv programme about a group of people who fought in the First World War.
An elderly lady was showing a journal written by her uncle in the trenches. It was found on his body after he died from wounds in a field hospital.
She reads it regularly.
Even on tv the writing was clear.
It was all written in pencil.
Very interesting, Sapphire–thanks for that. And your post jogged a memory regarding another example: a local antique mall has one section with old post cards, some of them filled out. Many date back to the first decade of the 1900s. I looked at them last time I was there (though it felt a little voyeuristic, even a hundred years down the line) and was fascinated by how many were in pencil, particularly among those sent while traveling. Presumably it was far easier to carry a pencil box instead of dealing with the messiness of ink. And most were still perfectly readable in spite of being post cards, exposed to constant rubbing and touch. A closed journal would be far better protected.
This is getting long, but I’ll add one more bit: I’m curious, has HB grade or the equivalent generally been what most people used when writing? I wonder what the typical writing pencil used, say, during the Civil War would have been in today’s terminology. Harder? Softer? Or did they have lots of choices? Anyone know?
[...] Find out if you can use pencils for journaling at PencilRevolution.com. [...]
Pencils don’t leak ink, fountain pens do.
Fountain pens have variable nibs, pencils don’t.
I just carry both.
For writing a letter (at my desk) I prefer a good fountain pen with nice ink (like green or orange). For taking notes in the field, I prefer a small book and a good pencil.
Than you for this very nice post!!
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