Graphite pencils are mixed with a binder of clay, and different grades of softness and darkness are created by the varying the graphite and clay ratio. Staedtler are an interesting company and are actually a non-profit corporation set up in 1835 to fund German universities. In many respects then the ‘best’ pencil for you will be very personal to the type of work you want to do.

For instance, grades 3H to 6H or higher would be usually considered more suitable for graphic or technical/industrial design than for sketching. It turns out I couldn’t have been more wrong: the Koh-i-Noor Hardtmuth company was founded back in 1790 and its Austrian founder Joseph Hardtmuth played an important role in the development of the modern pencil made from graphite and clay. This will be a plus for some, but if you want a good blending pencil then the Grafwood really wouldn’t be for you. We also take huge pride in how you receive the goods, making sure they were received securely and without any damage. Cass Art, Cass Art London and the Cass Art logo are trade marks and trade names of Art-Line Limited.Conté à Paris is another illustrious pencil company and its founder Nicolas-Jacques Conté made a huge historical contribution to the development of the modern pencil when he patented his graphite and clay kiln-fired pencil in 1795.

So, whether you're doing fine detailed illustrations or adding shading and texture to your drawing, we have the right pencil for you! Despite being most functional looking all the pencils, the Mars Lumograph would probably still top the charts as the professional artists’ choice.

Before we begin the individual reviews, here’s a comparison of the grading values for all the brands I’m looking at. My favourite fact about them is that their colour scheme was chosen by Count Alexander von Faber-Castell to match his military uniform! For example, they mention it's a very nice pencil, perfect for fine dark tones, and an absolute joy to draw with. Japanese wood-casing pencils tend to run very dark and soft and the Monos are indeed extremely dark – they only go up to a 6B grade, but the Mono 6B is even blacker than a 9B from the Staedtler or Derwent ranges.

Another observation I made was that despite the softer ‘B’ grades being blacker than almost any of the pencils I’ve reviewed here, their leads were super strong, gave off no graphite dust at all and would hardly smudge even when I tried. From 4H to 9B, each pencil has been varnished with the tone of that grade, making it easy to spot in your pencil pouch. If you love shading, the hexagonal Lyra Art Design pencil is for you: the perfect way to get to the heart of your drawing and unleash unexpected creativity. With Derwent Graphic pencils, you’ve got a wide choice of degrees from the popular HB pencil to the fine and crisp 9H and soft and smudgy 9B.They seemed consistently well mixed with excellent bonding and drew with a slightly coarse texture, but felt silky and a pleasure to apply. Faber-Castell's Pitt Graphic range provides all creative artists with an extensive range of pencils and crayons in different grades of hardness for sketching, graphic design and shading work. With such a wide tonal range you are really covered whether you like to draw more lightly or more darkly. Grafwoods have one brilliant innovation which is that the casings are colour coded, so you can identify the grade of the pencil visually without reading the written grade indicator. All in all I didn’t feel that the Grafwoods were for me, but I’d advise you to try them for yourself and make your own mind up.

Because they are so soft the leads wear down quickly giving off a lot of graphite dust and they need sharpening a lot.curtisward brings you a hand-picked selection of quality art and craft materials from leading manufacturers. It is beloved by many designers, draughtsmen and animators but is equally acclaimed for fine art sketching. The pencils run only up to an 8B grade and I find this a little frustrating considering how light the range is in general: it means that I have to supplement my range with a Staedtler pencil if I want to draw very dark shadows.