Pencil is one of my favorite mediums. It is so versatile: you can change line width and value and make all sorts of marks, each with a different character. All with one tool.
This is my cat, Samson. Rendered on textured paper in black colored pencil using long and short strokes that follow the direction of his fur.
These people at a cafe are sketched in charcoal pencil. Messy? Yes, but totally worth it for the dark smooshiness of charcoal turning to dust against paper. (and yes, some finger-smudging is involved)
This scene was all greens. So green, in fact, that I abandoned color and captured it all in brown conte pencil and graphite pencil.
I love all sorts of pencils: Blackwing graphite pencils, Pitt oil pencils, conte pencils, charcoal pencils, watersoluble pencils, and more. They all make marks with slightly different characters, but what they share is the ability to produce a variety of marks that no other medium can come close to.
Sketch Away: Travels with my sketchbook 
Love pencils as well, a friend gave me a dozen Blackwings for Christmas best present for sure, he didn’t even know what he was giving. Last year I found Fabre Castille Pitt Graphite Matt, love that they don’t shine.
BUT, I have never found a good and easy to carry way to fix sketches in my sketchbooks, any advice? All the spray ideas are so cumbersome. A thin watercolor wash does do it if the paper will allow for it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Terry, let me know when you find one: I don’t fix my sketches, I just let them do their thing.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Will do, but not working to hard at it. Been doing a lot of Procreate lately, think Rob. Thankfully they don’t smudge.
LikeLike