Faber-Castel FC127036 Creative Studio Oil Pastel Crayons (36 Pack), Assorted

I don't know why in the world I waited so long to buy some good drawing pencils! I have been sketching with whatever mechanical pencil I had in my bag for years with very little preference, but the way that my sketches have improved with these pencils has been dramatic! Now I feel comfortable creating full pieces of art in shades of grey, whereas before I would sketch lightly and then use other media to finish the piece. After ten years of sketching with, in retrospect, a highly inferior product, I feel confident that these are just what I needed to take the next step toward improvement. These are very high quality. They arrive sharpened, which is nice, since I'm used to colored pencils that arrive in dozens and take hours to sharpen. They sharpen well with a standard or high quality sharpener, and the graphite (even on the softer pencils) is strong enough to not crack in the barrel (a problem I had with some student grade pencils in high school art class). The case is nice, too, and has a soft matte-like finish to the touch. I imagine it will dent and prove less than perfect if thrust into a backpack pocket full of other materials, but if kept in between notebooks, it probably has a long life ahead of it. I bought a set for my best friend, and she is in love, too. This would make a great gift for any artist in your life, and is a good investment for your own arsenal of supplies if you are an artists as well.

I love Faber Castel’s drawing pencils. The B’s are sensually soft lead and glide smoothly over any paper. The H pencils are tough and lay down a light easily erased line. My favorite drawing pencils. Love the tin-keeps pencils protected and organized. Great for travel or plein air sketching.

This pack has the ones that go up to 5 H and I love this for drawing because you can get a delicate grey from the upper H pencils First let me say that this brand is one of the best made around. Even the higher H pencils aren’t scratchy and won’t ruin your paper! How lovely is that? I used to use a different brand but they started sending their business to mexico and their pencils are worthless. This brand is worth the $$ you will spend so don’t fret about if you are making a bad decision....you aren’t! The wood doesn’t split or crack and stays firm around the pencil point. I carve off wood until some of my pencil tips are almost 2 or more inches, the use fine sandpaper to give me sharp points for the best of details. You can see these in one of my above drawings

I love these pencils, they came sharpened so I immediately tried them out. The container has a thin profile and came with slots to keep the pencils organized, which I love because art tools are hard to avoid looking messy, but the pencil case helps me cleans up at least this one clutter. The pencils range from 5H to 5B, which is a good range, but I'd love it if it can add a 6B - the 5B came within this set is not as dark as I prefer it to be in order to create a good contast in graphite drawings. The pencils are nice and sharp but my sharpeners could not deliver the same result as when they came in, I use a KUM automatic long point, which doesn't work well for these, and the Staedtler Manual Pencil Sharpener can make it sharp but makes a very short tip area. Wonder if their own sharpener would do the job.

Really great pencils if you want a very high quality graphite pencil set that doesn't strain your budget. I like the much wider range of hard (H#) pencils in this set. Perfect for a botanical art student like me.

Me encantan los lápices son geniales por toda la gama de los duros como 3H, los intermedios F,H y B , los mas suaves B5 Realmente los recomiendo son los mejores

I bought these for a beginning drawing class, and so far, so good. The case is so convenient, and I like having a variety of "hardness" to choose from. The only drawback for me personally is that I like softer lead pencils for drawing (who knew?), and there are more harder lead pencils that I will probably never use. I would love to have a 6B, but the softest is a 5B. However, the product is great--that's more of a personal preference--but if you need softer lead, you might want to take that into consideration. Happy Drawing!

I plan to continue buying these throughout the years I'll be sketching. Not only are they easy to sharpen and have strong graphite in them so they don't break easily, they're perfect for sketching or for completing a full piece. They range from 5H to 5B with every hard and softness between. They're fantastic quality as well. Also, the tin case they come in is durable and is stored easily in my art container. I paid 15 dollars and change for these and I find that to be a fantastic price. You won't be disappointed with this set.