Pencil Drawing

The most common type of pencil casing is a thin wooden cylinder permanently bonded around the core. Similar permanent casings may be constructed of other materials such as plastic or paper. In order to use the pencil, the casing must be carved or peeled off to expose the working end of the core as a sharp point. Mechanical pencils have more elaborate casings that support mobile pieces of pigment core, which can be extended or retracted through the casing tip as needed.
History
The archetypal pencil may have been the stylus, which was a thin metal stick, often made from lead and used for scratching in papyrus, a form of early paper. They were used extensively by the ancient Egyptians and Romans. The word pencil comes from the Latin word pencillus which means "little tail".