2 Pack Drawing or sketch pencils Wood (100B G6)

I just received these pencils; I have not been able to use them in a drawing yet but I have compared them to previous (pre-2016) Lumograph 100s and the Kimberly 9XXB on smooth Bristol board. I will update the review when I've had more experience with these pencils.These pencils are darker than the 100s. I would say: 100B 2B = 100 4B, 100B 4B = 100 6B, 100B 6B = 100 7B, and 100B 8B is slightly darker than the 100 8B. The biggest, and best, difference is that these pencils are matte with no graphite shine! The old 8B and 7B had some carbon content; the problem was that they could not get as dark as the 9XXB and could not fill in the paper as well. The new 100B 8B is every bit as dark as the 9XXB and fills in the paper just as well. Next to each other, the new 8B and the 9XXB are virtually indistinguishable. The 8B might be even a little darker!The 100B lead seems slightly smoother than the old 8B and 7B, which can feel waxy and sticky when any pressure is used. The 100Bs feel closer to the smoothness of the 9XXB. Overall, I felt more in control and able to lay the values more uniformly.I'm very excited and pleased with this purchase. I believe it will extend the range of tones, contrasts, and textures I will be able to produce. The thinner barrel means that the 100B 8B will replace the 9XXB in my tool box since it does not require a larger sharpener.

The 8B pencil is amazing for getting very dark values. I used it in this drawing for all of my dark values. It's important to layer with a harder pencil first other wise it will be very grainy. The pencils don't go on smoothly and you have to push harder than if using regular graphite. I wish I could just buy a pack of the 8b I would probably use it in all of my graphite drawings. The carbon does cut down on shine but they're not completely shine free. I do enjoy using these pencils though.

As other reviewers have stated, this is an overall excellent pencil, with a high proportion of carbon in the core for a very dark output, especially in the softer grades. It is worth noting that apparently the 7B and HB pencils are no longer available. I received a set of six with 1 8B, 1 6B, 2 4B's and 2 2B's. The accompanying Staedtler literature only lists the 2B, 4B, 6B and 8B grades as being available. After some initial disappointment, after using these pencils only briefly, I can see why Staedtler has streamlined this line. The 2B, now the hardest in the set, while still having a fairly dark output, actually does have some sheen if you lay it down heavily (to a lesser extent so does the 4B). So I don't think I will use it much, let alone an HB. And there is not really a very big gap between the 8B and the 6B, so the 7B is not really a necessity. All in all, a great set. I think my biggest use will probably be the 6B and 8B for creating deeper blacks without the brilliant graphite sheen of graphite artist's pencils like Faber-Castell 9000's or Staedtler's own Mars Lumographs. Just don't be too disappointed if you don't get the set of 6 different grades shown in the illustration!

I've been very impressed with these pencils. I wanted pencils that would be get nice and dark, and I was not disappointed! I'm attaching the first drawing I ever used them on, so you can see for yourself. The pencils have a matte finish, rather than being all shiny (but you can achieve the a glossy effect with some light erasing, if you want). I'd recommend these to any artist for sure!

I really don’t understand what the negative reviews are about. The people reviewing seem to understand art and artist materials. I can only assume they got something wrong or different due to a mistake in packaging.These are not going to be charcoal pencils. Or conte. They’re more of a blend of carbon and graphite. But they won’t have the shine of a lead pencil and they are much blacker, which is not necessarily the same as darker. Basically graphite is gray and no matter how deep the value goes it’s still going to be gray. These are black. They are flat and then go on a little bit rough as would be expected by the carbon. But still more smoothly than civilian pencils.If you didn’t get the complete sets simply exchange it. Amazon is good about that. But these things are great for sketching on their own or adding shadows to a graphite drawing. They do have a little bit tooth to him which is good so they can grab the texture of your paper. Are use some very rough paper for my samples here so you can see how are you can get. You can always smudge it down smooth but I always prefer the texture of a rough paper. I rarely use blenders as I would rather blend with value and maintain my texture.The last picture shows some graphite squares for comparison and I tried to get an angle where the graphite catches the glare but the black pencils do not.

I already had all 24 grades of the Mars Lumograph, as well as the Mars Lumograph black in 4 grades. So naturally when I saw this set, offering another 2 grades of the Mars Lumograph black I excitedly ordered one right away. However, what I received was completely disappointing. The set I recieved was 6 pencils in the same 4 grades I already had, not the 6 grades listed here. The design on the front of the tin showed only 4 grades and didn't even match the one pictured here, which also indicates 6 different grades. (In the description of this item it falsely states there are 8 pencils). I filed a return thinking maybe it was just a mistake, that the wrong, similar looking item was accidentally shipped. But when the replacement came it was the exact same, incorrect set I'd received the first time, so I sent it back, again, this time seeking a refund.I really like Staedtler's Mars Lumograph pencils, they're great and I'd recommend them to anyone. The product I received is a great quality product, but it wasn't the one shown and described here. It's really disappointing because I would absolutely love to have the set being advertised here.

What a set of pencils! I have been drawing with a variety of pencils for a long time now and always had a problem with getting a decent black without turning the image into a virtual mirror. I tried these pencils on a recommendation and they turned out to be the perfect solution, giving a solid black without the dreaded shine. You don't have to press hard either. Thoroughly recommended and very inexpensive.

I had great hopes for these pencils. I like carbon pencils and was hoping that Staedtler had produced a high carbon pencil that was good or perhaps better than the usual kind. Staedtler being a reputable brand producing reasonable quality pencils -or so I thought.The first shock was how hard they were. The 8B is about the same as a Conte Pierre Noir 2B or an ordinary Lumograph 4B and feels gritty so lays down far less smoothly. The other grades are correspondingly hard and difficult to use. This makes them unsuitable to use on quality soft surface drawing paper.On Seawhite Cupcycling Multimedia Cartridge - which happily accepts harder pencils - I managed to get the promised jet black result with a good bit more effort than I would have liked. I then tried to sharpen them and was horrified to find the wood used in the casing was so hard that was extremely difficult to remove. Not only that but the constant bugbear of other carbon pencils - that just when you are achieving a decent length of point the lead flies out of the core and you have to begin again - also applies to these. Losing an inch from the length of the 8B before I could get a point on it is an irritation that I had hoped the harder leads would spare me.This is not the case, alas, for any of them and whatever has been used for the casing behaves most oddly. (I had to succesfully sharpen a couple of other brands of carbon pencil to reassure myself I wasn't losing my marbles.)At this point I decided to stop struggling on and give up on these. Far from being the promised "high quality drawing pencils" these were a complete waste of money and a disappointment. Shame on you Staedtler as these are not what they claim to be.These have hard leads,are hard to use and very, very hard to sharpen. Avoid.

I've just taken up drawing as a hobby (so not a expert or anything!) and having done some internet research wanted to treat myself to some nice new pencils. I want to try hyperrealism, or at least make my drawings look as realistic as possible, so got the 12 set of Faber Castell 9000 - and these so that I can have some really black pencils, and a wider range of values to choose from just as im starting out to see what works for me. First up - the pencils which came in the tin are HB, 2B,4B,6B,7B and 8B,different to the description, but Im happy about that as I didnt want 2 2Bs/4Bs. Ive attached a photo of them tried out against the FC 9000's - you can definitely see a difference. So Im glad I bought these because now I have a much wider range of values to work with as Im just getting into my new hobby. I saw a youtube artist video recommending use of a Faber Castell polychromos black pencil alongside her FC9000's to use for the bits she wanted to be really black. I have a set of FC Classic coloured pencils so tried this out next to them for comparison - its a good idea to use if you only have normal graphite pencils, but I found it to only be about as black (in my untrained eye) as the 6B in this Staedtler Black set, and even that isnt as 'black' as these new pencils, it seems a bit of a warmer black, if that makes sense? So on a positive note, these pencils - all 6-do have blacker values compared to the FC9000's and are worth buying for that reason. On a negative - its only really the 4-8B's that are really what I would have bought if I was buying them individually, because to me, testing them on my cheap paper, the HB, 2B and 4B dont seem much blacker/matter than the FC9000 6,7 & 8Bs (they still contain some graphite I think) - thats why I didnt give 5 stars for value for money, because you can probly buy the 6,7&8B black pencils - the ones that really stand out as being something different to what you get in a normal graphite pencil set - for less than the price of a full box of these. Still glad I bought them though, to experiment with - its always good to have a bigger range of things to work with and try out when youre learning something new. And glad theres no duplicates in the tin like it says on the description.

This review is specifically about Mars Lumograph Black (carbon lead; dark gray casing) and not about the standard Mars Lumograph (graphite lead; blue casing). I will mainly compare them to Conte a Paris “Pierre Noire” which are my favourite brand of pencils.My biggest beef with Pierre Noir is that they’re very dry and powdery, and the lead is very fragile. They’re impossible to sharpen with a regular sharpener, so I usually just use a sharp knife to expose the lead and then sharpen them on a sanding block. These pencils are also very messy, spreading fine black dust everywhere, almost like charcoal.In Mars Lumograph Black, the lead is much more robust, they can be sharpened beautifully with a regular sharpener. The wooden casing is not as well made as Pierre Noire, and one of my pencils is slightly decentered, but I think this is not a huge issue.However, with Pierre Noire you can really get those rich velvety blacks that are so crucial for creating great contrast. Mars Lumograph Black look dark gray in comparison, and they have a bit of that dreaded metallic shine that I absolutely hate about the “regular” graphite pencils. Pierre Noire 2B are much darker than Mars Lumograph Black 4B, and Pierre Noire 3B are darker than Mars Lumograph Black 8B.In short, I can see myself using Mars Lumograph Black in the field where their robustness would be very welcome, but I think Pierre Noire are much better for use in the studio.

Love these pencils. I was nervous to use them as thought they would be difficult to rub out and I draw with an eraser too. They worked brilliantly. Cant believe they are such good value for money. Looking forward to using for more projects