I'm still fairly inexperienced with art supplies and was curious what kind of pencils y'all like? And what is it about that brand that keeps you with that same tin?

I have found that I like the Uni for line work with its darker lead and the Faber for shading and detail because of how well the lead moves with blending tools.

I can't tell the difference between pencils, I stick to 2H-2B though. Isn't it much more to do with the paper you use?

>>7602019 (OP)
I reckon y’all ought to use one of them there 4B graphite thingmabobs. We’s just some simple country folk who just need one good aller round pencil that does the job lickety split

>>7602019 (OP)
Faber Castell, Staedtler, Uni, General's
All of these are great, just be consistent and try not to use different brands for different grades of pencil.

>>7602019 (OP)
I don't draw trad much, but honestly I just use Steadtler Mars Lumographs for all my graphite stuff. It helps that the art supply place near me has trillions of them in bulk so I can get a full set for like 7 dollars. They're decent.

>>7602019 (OP)
you realistically don't need a whole set of 12 to get all the values you want
i go 2h, 2b, 4b, 6b

>>7602019 (OP)
How are you supposed to sharpen these?

I only use mechanical pencils. But I used Prismacolor Turquoise in the past.

i primarily use woodless graphite pencils because you can get very wide flat areas with them. the exact brand doesn't really matter as much as having a good range of hardnesses

>>7602019 (OP)
You are already fine. I use the Faber Castell 9000, but I wish I could try the Mitsubishi Hi-uni as in my country I can't find them, and are too expensive to import.

>>7602019 (OP)
For me, it's a clutch pencil and a kneaded eraser. Let me guess, you need more?

>>7602567
What's that dildo in the middle?

>>7602019 (OP)
>>7603825
I forgot to mention that I use a box cutter to sharpen my pencils from 3B and softer grades.

I expose up to 3cm of wood, and up to 1cm of lead.

I have gone full chink since trying Marie's pencils.
I heartily recommend everyone to try them, a pack of 12 cost as little as a single FC 9000

>>7603841
let me guess, you won't post work

>>7602567
Are those two 5.6mm?

>>7602277
This is a lie, you can make do with 2b, 4b and 6b but YOU NEED one really dark ass pencil like a pigma or a 12b pencil

People never fucking say this and it pisses me off, in al these demos people are using either charcoal or a 12b, or a pigma to get the darkest darks then they say jewish shit like "teehee you just need a 2b pencil :)" the your drawing never looks like the demo then you buy the course and the jew tells you he is using a matte pencil or charcoal, but by that time he already got your shekels. So juat trust me and buy at least one really dark pencil

>>7602019 (OP)
My tierlist:
> 1: Tombow Mono 100
> 2: Mitsubishi UNI and Tombo mono regular
>3: Staedtler
>4: Faber Castell
>5: Derwent

That said they are all good. Faber Castells are good technically, they never have stone and are extremely consistent, but they just don't feel good to use. The graphite feels "too compressed", idk how to describe it. Staedtler are my most used because they are cheap here in Germany and they are just really good. Only thing I dislike are the softer grades like from 7B. They mix in charcoal or something to get them really dark and reduce shine but I hate working with them. The Japanese premium pencils are just on another level. Everything in comparison feels like dogshit and it is hard to go back. Honorable mention is the Conte woodless pencil. They are the darkest pencils I own and are incredibly soft. The number 1 for blocking in large, dark areas, nothing compares to them.

>>7607422
Pic of the Conte woodless pencils. Anyone who does graphite illustration should buy them. They are so much better than the other brands that it doesn't even feel like the same tool. They apply so much graphite and get so dark that you won't even bother with powder or other tricks. They have an easily peelable plastic layer outside, so after you peel some off, you can easily sharpen them in a regular sharpener. Faber Castell and Koh Inoor is complete trash in comparison.

>>7602376
Are you asking how you're supposed to sharpen... pencils?

>>7604067
Care to break down how you do it? I fail everytime I try.

>>7602019 (OP)
Honestly, I like Blackwings the best. I just wish they were a bit longer and a bit cheaper, but overall they give me the best experience. There's some pencils that can beat them in one specific stat, but if you go stat for stat they have the highest average among them. They make a nice line that's reasonably dark, the lead glides across the paper smoothly, they're comfortable in your hand, erase well, have a nice built in eraser, and a fancy mechanism that lets you swap out the eraser once it's used up. I have my large eraser, but unless I'm clearing a large area being able to spot check things with the other end of my pencil is great. Eventually, I would like to get into an electric eraser which will make that a moot point, but for the time being it's superb. It also flows really smoothly across the page.

I will say it's one of those experiences where you won't really notice/appreciate it until you start using it then try to switch back to something else, but the difference is there. The only other pencil I've found that produces a better line and flows even more smoothly across the page is the Prismacolor 935 which is what Loomis used to use (at least for the examples in his books) The only problem with that one is it doesn't erase very well and the lines will be a lot more visible than something like a Blackwing or a Faber-Castell. I have that same art set with the Knight on the front and I will say the the lead feels like it has a lot more friction when drawing and is noticeably less comfortable to hold in one's hand, but once you get going you hardly notice it. I think it's just easier to tell when you're comparing pencils side by side.

Honestly, though, as much as I love the blackwing I'd probably recommend getting Faber-Castell if for no other reason than you can get a dozen for $13 whereas the Blackwing are $32 for a dozen.

>>7607505
Follow up:

If you can afford the Blackwings, go for it, but especially at the beginning I think it's more worth it to save your money. If I could find a good eraser for the Prismacolors I would honestly switch to them as they're $24 for a dozen and they only thing they lack on is erasability or I'd put it above the Blackwing. That being said, I haven't tried some of the Japanese brands that may be better. So far, the only one I've tried is Marie's Artist Medium Soft charcoal pencil and while they felt amazing and I loved the lines and how easily it glides you can't sharpen them in a pencil sharpener (though it says you're supposed to be able to on the box, I found they just kept breaking) and trying to whittle it just lead to the pencil being destroyed. When I could get some semblance of a tip it was so small I could only use it for 2-3 minutes at a time before it needed to be sharpened again which just wasn't feasible as I was blasting through an entire pencil before I'd even finished a single sketch. If I could ever figure out how to do that or find a sharpener that works with it I might switch to charcoal but so far it's not feasible for me, unfortunately.

>>7602019 (OP)
all 2B pencils are the same