Pencil tattoos are subtle, but their symbolism is compelling. You don’t have to be a writer or an artist to be a man who sketches out his own destiny. Your pencil tattoo shows the world that you are an architect of the future.

Touch screens and keyboards may be all the rage right now, but like the compass and the acoustic guitar, the pencil is a timeless instrument.

Pencils are a synthesis of materials: wood, metal, graphite. When created with skin and ink, the tables turn, and the humble pencil becomes the artwork. Its lines and shadows combine into a sleek, universally celebrated form.

A pencil tattoo represents the enduring quality that makes a man stand the test of time, and its slender design is ideal for someone who doesn’t want to be overwhelmed by ink.

Instead of decorating your body with a quote by an author, become your own author. Your pencil tattoo can be drawing, scribbling, writing something, or simply existing on your body. It can be long and sharp, to signify mental readiness, or worn down to the nub, to indicate a hard-working nature.

Pencils symbolize possibility. They display an affinity for language, and they hint at the many pages of your future that have yet to be written. The pencil is the tattoo of the lifelong learner, the educator, the mentor.