Do you still use pencils? If so, what for?

Drawing and sketching mainly. There’s a crummy sharpener on the wall of the studio.

Pens or pencils, interchangeably. My sharpener is a sharp knife. Hasn’t broken down in 69 years!

Last time that I used a pencil was for to pick lotto numbers years ago. As you can’t use a pen. As the lottery machine rejects pen.

Also to do a diploma English comprehension multiple choice test. You need to use pencil.

I use one on occasion. I have the really old hand crank style in my garage. What’s odd is it’s up about 6 feet above the floor.
I’m about 5’2 and would need a ladder to use it. Were the children that used to live here really tall? Or just not allowed to use the sharpener?

I have a bunch that I use, notes, crosswords, little designs and doodles, marking fabric while sewing, stuff like that. I have an electric sharpener and some little plastic ones.

Dungeons and Dragons characters. I usually use a mechanical pencil although if there is a wood pencil I will use it if there is a sharpener around.

If I am writing a draft of something (as opposed to typing it) I usually us a pencil as I prefer the feel of a pencil to most pens.

I have a very expensive (sadly) set of “Prismacolor” colored pencils. Maybe 6 black “sketch” pencils.

I have used chalks before. They are a very challenging. Especially to preserve.
I lost my chalk, in one of my floods… I got more pencils, and sketch pads.

As far as my sharpener? Very important, that it be a tiny manual one. Just the little plastic ones, with the razor blade holes. Yes. A crazy big hole, and a regular one.
So that I can shape the pencil “lead.” And I can’t have some noisy automated sharpener eating up my expensive pencils.

The last time that I saw a pencil used in the movies was Heath Ledger as the “Joker”.

Yes. When drawing out a plan for a house.

I also hand out pencils for a presentation I do, because you can get a box of short pencils for cheap.

Once in a while I use a pencil for something else, but I can’t think right now of more examples.

I sharpen with a small sharpener that I have to twist the pencil, like a make-up pencil sharpener.

Yes, for drawing. There are some manual, wall-mounted pencil sharpeners around the school I teach at, but it’s an art school.

No, don’t own any pencils. No point in it.

Yes. For writing anything I might want to be able to erase.

Especially good for keeping track of game notes/situations.

Also good for creative drawing, making fantasy maps, maps of game situations, designing things, designing UIs, working on ideas, taking notes, etc.

Electric sharpener.

@elbanditoroso I see what you did there.

Well….if I happen to come across one. I sharpen with a pareing knife, if necessary.

At home, I have them but rarely use them. I have a ton of colored pencils but rarely use them. My intention was to one day do some sketching and coloring, but I haven’t, yet.

I volunteer for a local historical society and archives and historical societies often use pencils because they don’t do damage like pens do, if they accidentally get on documents.

I use pencils for drawing.

Looks like golfers use short pencils for scoring because I see pencils on the parking areas around a local golf course.

I have always loved writing devices. A pencil with an eraser cap is typically behind my ear.

I have mechanical and graphic pencils always around and always in use. I also have an electric pencil sharpener on my desk. As an engineer, I take copious notes everyday.

Writing music, stories or poetry I use a pencil.

Other uses: Sketching, working with wood, grocery lists.

You will make mistakes along the way. But you can correct them and learn from them. Mistakes, and failures, are not fatal.

I still use mechanical pencils extensively

Mechanical pencils exclusively. No sharpener. 0.5mm lead only.

Only when I need to mark where to cut/paint on a piece of paper.

This question makes me realize how much I have strayed away from pencils. I used to be a pencil connoisseur, collecting some really strange pencils for the sake of my art. Now I’m so dependent on digital drawing that I don’t touch those things anymore. I have somewhat lost my ability to draw on papers, and those pencils that I bought are now gathering dust.

I have a whole collection of fun ones from about 20–30 years ago, ones with fun tops (characters). They’re in a drawer somewhere. I had to hide them because when my daughter was little, she would have wanted to take them and they’d be scattered all over the house.

I have carpenter pencils in my toolbag. They are flat sticks, like a ruler, not round like a normal pencil, so they don’t roll on a tilted surface. The sharpeners are interesting, turning a non-round profile in a circle to give a round tip.

For drawing my simple construction plans I use good ol’ No. 2 Ticonderogas. Black because I like the look. Also I picked up some Tombow 8900 Japanese pencils when I was feeling fetishy about desk tools. I have a few little aluminum sharpeners for the Ticonderogas and Tombows.

I don’t use pencils at home, but we have pencils in our attendance books at my job, so I do have an electronic pencil sharpener on my desk.

Not often, but occasionally.

I currently have 1,000 pencils in my Amazon cart. And that’s just the #2s. I teach art. One electric, one manual wall-mounted, two hand held.