I am a Pencil Snob

I picked up a Staedler the other day. Paid a healthy 6 dollars for led pencil and sharpener.

6 dollars for a pencil? Why would I do it? The answer starts with a Y. Youtube. I was browsing random videos like a drunk man checking bottles for booze. I clicked on a link to "Jim Lee".

At that time of day, "Jim Lee" didn't trigger any ideas. Haha, he has my last name, nothing to give a holler about. Then it struck me, Jim Lee danced with the stars! Not literally of course, he IS asian after all. Jim Lee is one of the finest comic book artists alive. His sketches have been over X-men for a while, and now he runs his own comic book studio, drawing and writing whatever his whimsical soy-sauced desires command.

In a low-resolution, homemade video, he sketches up a mean superhero in pencil. He literally makes it look like he waves a wand and the image appears for him to ink.

Now as every asian has done before, we try to emulate. This first involves imitating the master in every aspect possible. I'm chinese, he's korean, check one. He's a nerd, I'm a nerd. He has paper. I have paper. Check. So what is left? The pencil.

And that brings me to this moment. I'm finger rubbing and smelling this pencil like its a fine cigar. And my faith is that this is the missing component to my future comic book empire.

In harry potter fashion, I wave this thick pencil over my paper and wa la! A thick line. That's it? No fantastic adventure? No spirit of the paper? I feel cheapened somehow. It is as though I traded my soul for a gold statue, only to find that gold statue to be made of twinkies.

I guess as long as people thing equipment makes the artist, there will always be a huge market for useless products. How many people do you know that actually use the full capacity of their computer? Their laptop? Their fancy SLR? Their fancy instruments. How blind we are, how materialistic our view of commodities are.

When did skill fall off the charts?

Summary: What do you mean I can't buy skill?