STAEDTLER 100-8B Mars Lumograph Graphite Pencils for Drawing and Sketching - 8B, Black, (Box of 12)

These pencils (F grade) are as smooth as silk but leave a clearly-legible line with a slightly metallic sheen. More importantly, they take and hold a good point so they’re ideal for sustained writing. I have little artistic ability but I’m confident anyone using them creatively would be delighted with them.They’re an absolute steal at the current price of £12.20 for a box of 12. These will be top of my list for future purchases of pencils (of any grade). I can recommend them unreservedly for writing, sketching, drafting or any other purpose you can think of.Just buy them; you’ll have no regrets.

I don't really know why but I love the F grade lumograph pencils (and also the Tradition version). I use them for writing rather than drawing and they keep their point longer than HB pencils. I spend a lot of time as a software engineer writing up notes in my engineering log books. You might ask why I don't just use something like OneNote but to be honest I enjoy some old school engineering where I can flip back through my thoughts and review decisions that I have made.

Good quality pencils. Not the cheapest but better than others.

First of all THESE PENCILS ARE NOT TOYS - they are much too expensive too soft and WAY too black to be left in the hands of a child. I got the 8B because someone at my Life Drawing class showed me one. This soft pencil is wonderful to use - it is intensely black not grey like normal graphite. It is very tough, one can use a light touch or a really heavy push without breaking the point and the strip sharpens easily and takes a long time to wear down but being so thick it will shade full 5mm lines if held at a low angle. I have hated graphite pencil for drawing most of my life -ever since I saw sanguine crayon and silverpoint and brush drawings, but these Pencils, however they are made, are a joy to use. They are also very difficult to smudge, though the side of the hand tends to pick up some black it is not as much as a 6B graphite would give and washes off very easily. If the lines are light they can be rubbed out with a putty rubber but heavy lines leave a ghost on paper...They seem to be slightly soluble in water and White spirit but I have not experimented much with this. I would not use them with watercolour or colour pencil unless you want black lines around everything - I am told they are much used by animators and can see why they would be. I do not know why Amazon classes these pencils as toys, they are a perfect professional Tool.

Hexagonal shape stops hand from slipping which can happen with round shape pencils. Consistent quality of graphite. The 2B allows a good variety of mid and dark tones to be built up when sketching.

Ladies and gentlemen, Staedtler quality.Does it get any better than this?

I didn't know about Amazon selling the above house pencils which I have been using for decades. So it was a pleasant surprise to discover it. It save me the trip to the art shop.

Can't give a rating for sheerness, since I've no idea what it means. Softness is a silly category in this context. These pencils are graded F, which is somewhere between HB and H. As far as I know, there's no internationally agreed standard from one manufacturer to another on grading, so one HB pencil may be harder - or softer - than one made by another company.Anyhow, as far as these go, they are perfectly between the HB and H grades produced by Staedler. As usual, they are high quality pencils with a consistent lead, no unwanted grains or unexpected powdery sections; just the same from start to finish. They sharpen well and feel comfortable in use.As with their leadholders, Steadler's wooden pencils, are, in my opinion, the best you can get, and they are the only thing I'd consider for drawing.