A pencil is a very useful tool for artists.
Pencils are writing or drawing tools
that have a solid pigment core
and a surrounding shaft.
The shaft is there to protect the core.
Most pencils use a graphite powder
mixed with a binder.
The graphite pencils (or lead pencils)
leave grey/black marks that you can erase.
For drawing, the core is usually charcoal and not graphite.
You can also have colour pencils, with a wax or oil based core.
There are many different types of pencils.
Artists use charcoal pencils
for sketching and outlining art.
They also use colour pencils as a form of artwork.
