Viarco ArtGrafSoft Carbon Pencil : Pack of 6

As yet not had chance to work. They look and feel good

I've been searching for good carbon pencils for a long time. The Conte Pierre Noir are okay but very messy and hard to sharpen, the Wolff's are rather hard and splintery, as were the Lumograph Black. So in desperation I lashed out on these.They are great. They have a fat core of about 5mm with a thin - 2mm- casing. This makes sharpening them a breeze. The core doesn't suddenly fall out from the casing just as one is getting a good point, which the other brands tend to do which I find both wasteful and infuriating. The core seems far less powdery than others and takes a really good point.Used dry they smoothly lay down an intense non-reflective black without shedding even when applied thickly. I had never tried a soluble carbon pencil before so was amazed at the depth and intensity of black these gave once water was added. As I want these for life class and plein air sketching this will be a great asset and am looking forward to exploring their possibilities. I was especially pleased with how little dust they created. (I have a real talent for getting myself and my work mucky.)I suspect that the thin casing on these may need something rigid to protect them in transit but a strip of cardboard and a couple of rubber bands should do it. I'll post my test doodles to show how well these work. They are honestly the best carbon pencils I've found.

Great for shading.