But I returned to them today, looking for something faster and more convenient than watercolor, and less unforgiving than black brush pens with color markers. I was surprised to find I actually enjoyed using them. It helps to work at a more reasonable scale obviously. What were my art teachers thinking --- keeping us occupied with a Sisyphean task, probably. Used at normal scale, you can appreciate the buttery softness of the leads, and the wide range of light to dark lines possible from any one pencil. They do still have at least one black mark against them, though: they don't scan particularly well.
