The humble pencil. During my time in Umbria, I saw what Amity Parks could do with a pencil, so when she landed in nearby Guelph, I just had to take her popular Sharp Pencil and Keen Eye workshop.

In class, we played with many (many!) techniques, but I was particularly drawn to playing with pressure and release on Roman capitals.

Pressure and release technique using a 2B pencil on Arches Text Wove coloured with paste.

Same technique on Arches hot press (smooth) watercolour paper.

Experimenting on paper with a bit more texture.

Amity and me at the end of her two-day workshop which satisfied my curiosity about everything graphite.