A unique publication dedicated entirely to pencil-based artwork is making waves in the creative community, offering a distinctive alternative to digital media through its celebration of analog craftsmanship. Pencil Magazine, founded by Maine-based writer and visual artist Sasha Wizansky, represents a deliberate return to the tactile experience of creating with one of humanity's most basic tools.
The magazine emerged from a simple thought experiment in 2012 when Wizansky asked her husband whether it would be possible to create an entire publication using only pencils and paper. Drawing from her extensive background in art books, bookbinding, letterpress printing, and drawing, she transformed this concept into reality. Wizansky previously co-founded Meatpaper in 2007 with journalist Amy Standen, a quarterly journal exploring meat culture through art and journalism, demonstrating her commitment to niche publications.
Thirteen years after its initial conception, Pencil Magazine has released two issues of what its creator describes as a "hybrid text-image publication." Each issue features drawings, comics, essays, poems, diagrams, and experimental pieces created exclusively with graphite pencils. The first issue took the form of a tribute to Wizansky's teenage years spent drawing still lifes in graphite, while the project has evolved to represent something much more significant.
"Since starting the project, I've come to believe that using pencils cultivates patience and strengthens attention," Wizansky explained. "We're also fascinated by the creative possibilities that emerge when you impose tight constraints – like the small scale and graphite requirement." The magazine positions itself as a form of resistance against what she describes as the fragmented attention caused by digital media.
The publication distinguishes itself through its commitment to preserving the authentic experience of pencil work. Sasha and her team reproduce most contributions at 100 percent scale, maintaining the immediacy and intimacy of the original artwork. This approach, combined with distinctive handwritten text and the natural friction of pencil writing, creates a tactile connection between readers, writers, and the page itself.
Each issue of Pencil Magazine follows a specific thematic approach while adhering to its graphite-only constraint. Issue 0 focused on pencils themselves as the central theme, while Issue 1 explored the concept of attention – attention to craft, drawing, details, and life in general. The upcoming issue plans to examine erasers, continuing to explore all possibilities within the pencil's creative parameters.
Wizansky emphasizes the profound simplicity of the ordinary pencil as both tool and symbol. "There's something so humble about the ordinary pencil – we use them in school and you can forge a strong connection with a particular pencil, but like the best of analog technologies, they are liable to break, wear away and become obsolete," she noted. "There's something profound about how a tool so simple – cheap, accessible, nearly universal – can hold infinite creative potential. Entire worlds can emerge from a single pencil."
The magazine's mission extends beyond artistic expression to address broader concerns about technology's impact on mental health and attention spans. Wizansky advocates for pushing back against technologies that profit from human attention, instead promoting the therapeutic qualities of drawing and writing with pencils. "I've felt how these technologies chip away at my sense of agency – manipulating me into spending more time than I intended," she shared. "When I step away from screens and pick up a pencil to write, draw, or when I read a book, I just feel better: calmer, more grounded."
Through Pencil Magazine, Wizansky aims to reclaim attention for something fundamentally simpler and more primitive – what she calls "this crumbly grey metal that we owe much of our art culture to." The publication serves as both artistic platform and cultural statement, celebrating analog experiences in an increasingly digital world while demonstrating the enduring creative potential of humanity's most basic artistic tools.
