General's Layout Pencil, Extra Black Graphite, Box of 1 Dozen (555)

I was looking for a very dark lead to use for pupils, and other small areas where needed for portrait drawing. I’m a professional artist, but I’ve been doing my work on the computer for the last 10 years. I recently decided to start drawing the old fashioned way again, and thought I’d check out what’s new as far as what, and how art supplies have changed; only to find the old stanbyes are still around with a few pretty impressive new additions. As far as the dark black pencils: I chose three different brands to compare and purchase based on Amazon reviews. General’s Layout Pencil Extra Black Graphite, Hi-Uni 10B, and Prismacolor Ebony.1) My favorite: ‘General’s Layout Pencil, Extra Black Graphite’. It is dark, not too soft, but soft enough to shade with, and hard enough to keep a point for those tiny areas I want to give depth to. This is one of the best pencils I’ve found for drawing. It’s smooth, It sharpens perfectly without breaking, and all of the pencils in the box appear to be excellent quality. Of the three I tried General is closer to a mat finish than the other two. I’m very impressed with the quality, texture and color.2) Hi-Uni 10B: This pencil is velvety, very smooth and even, in fact the entire set is fabulous. It may be as dark as the General, but it does have a shinier finish when pressing to get the darkest shade I’m looking for.2) Prismacolor Color Ebony: I didn’t care for this pencil for using it to deepen the dark areas I need. It’s dark, but it is lighter than the other two, and it has a silver cast to it, and shiny. I’ve never been a big fan of Prisma, preferring Derwent for the smother less waxy finish.I hope this helps for those of you who use a dark black lead.

General's Layout Extra Black Layout Pencil #555 is an all time top rated artist pencil.Comes pre-sharpened. Produces a very wide range of values and has excellent point retention.Lovely, reliable pencil that matches it's reputation.Growing weary of Amazon's white plastic bag packaging.Could care less if it is "Lighter Than Our Smallest Box"I do not like receiving distressed merchandise which obviously left the Amazon warehouse in new condition. The dozen pencils come packaged in a box which is intended to hold the unused pencils until they are needed. My box arrived crushed but intact- a bit worse for the trip.

I love these for sketching. I have to keep many on hand when my children take off with the one I'm currently using. Makes nice dark lines to add rich tones to my drawings.

My kid is visually impaired, these are their favorite pencils, they make a nice thick visible line and you do not have to press too hard

This is just a high quality pencil for sketching and signing fine art on art papers.

I first found out about this pencil via a website that I am using to learn to draw, thevirtualinstructor.com. I was wondering how the instructor kept making all these great lines and shades with one pencil. I had to watch the videos multiple times to figure out what he was using. I must say, I am not a professional artist by any stretch of the imagination, but these pencils have made it a lot easier for me to get into drawing and see great results without using many different pencils. You can achieve light or heavy lines, rich blacks, great shading, and all with just one pencil. This is the one!I would highly recommend these to anyone that loves to draw and is looking for a versatile, durable pencil.

Don't expect these to be as dark as charcoal. They are about 85% black.

I've been a finish carpenter for over 40 years, and I use soft lead pencils which will leave a legible mark, yet not leave an indentation in the wood. This is especially true on vertical grain fir, which has the hard spring grain and the soft summer grain. When that gets a mark across the grain, it is very difficult to get out. I've tried a lot of pencils; I used to get Ticonderoga number 1 soft, but they are not the same anymore. The worst part is with sharpening; I sharpen my pencils to a chisel point, not a round point, and this has to be done with a very sharp knife. With most pencils, the graphite cracks and pulls out of the wood, which takes more time and wastes more pencil. Not the case with these Generals. Also, they are still fashioned from cedar, which makes sharpening easier and more controllable, unlike Chinese pencils which are made of just about anything they can get their hands on. I've used these for three years, and will continue to do so