As the morning fog lifts off the bay, John Muir Laws is sitting in the dirt talking to a seagull. "The oval of your body curves back to your head," he says in a low voice. "Sloping forehead angle. I ...

The lowly pencil is not an elite or showy artistic medium. It doesn't have oil paint's gravitas, or plaster's endearing gauche. Instead, the pencil is accessible, plebeian and utilitarian. If put in ...