Sometime around 1500 AD a large deposit of graphite was discovered in England. At first it was not used for making pencils but was used as a release agent in the moulds for making cannonballs.

  Graphite had to be smuggled out for the manufacture of pencils. Graphite sticks were initially wrapped in string or sheepskin for stability. The news of this new mark maker spread far and wide, attracting the attention of artists all over the known world.

  Around 1560, an Italian couple named Simonio and Lyndiana Bernacotti made what are thought to be the first wood encased pencils. They hollowed out a stick of juniper wood and inserted a stick of graphite. Shortly thereafter, the technique of joining two halves of wood together with glue with a stick of graphite inserted was developed. This is essentially the same method still in use today.

  The pencil drawings shown here were created from photos taken on hikes in the mountains west of Ft. Collins,Colorado. Some of these were later translated into woodcuts.

And then I added more drawings and will continue to do so.