[2][3][4][5][6] The series follows the endless struggle between creator and creation as pencil-drawn stick figures and doodles come to life and grapple against the torment of their animator's pencil and his arsenal of other drawing implements.

The cartoon can be recognized by its trademark ruled paper backdrop, traditional frame-by-frame animation technique,[3] inclusion of pencils and other drawing material, energetic music, classic cartoonish sound effects, simplistic character designs, and a mix of slapstick, situational comedy, meta, and doodle-based humor.

Bollinger worked alone and was responsible for every aspect of creating the cartoon, including writing, drawing, animating, sound designing, composing, and voice acting, a trend that would more or less continue for the first few dozen Pencilmation episodes.

The recognizable style of pencils drawing dialogue-absent doodles coming to life on a ruled paper background was dropped in favor of more traditional methods and having Hank speak.

From Pencilmation #37 onward, a trend began that saw Bollinger delegating more and more responsibilities to other creatives, whether it be with the writing, animation, sound designing, composing, or voice acting.

By this period, Pencilmation had become a well-oiled machine, each intricate process handled by several hands, the animation style becoming much more extravagant and sophisticated.

Today, Pencilmation is still helmed by Bollinger and employs a global, remote team of hundreds of artists, writers, and production staff.