Guide To Finding The Darkest Pencil Graphite

[@ramongibbs8692]

Carbon pencils are dark like charcoal with less flaking and the "B" stands for BLACK not bold just as the "H" stands for HARD as indicated on most pencil packaging and manufactures' description.

[@veystone2580]

Blick has the 14B on those Pitt Graphite Matt pencils. 😉

[@vimeto21]

Yeah. My set came with a 14b and I bought a whole bunch open stock.

[@OShackHennessy]

Does anyone make a black dark enough to match my soul?

[@chriss4432]

Kimberly 9xxb 😅

[@GordieGii]

I recently saw a video on the Faber Castell, Pitt Graphite Matt, 11 pencil set, which included a 14B.

[@GordieGii]

Here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/lWayfWZ7ap6hjpo

[@unsharpen]

Oh thanks!

[@mtbiker64]

Good topic, excellent video. Thanks Unsharpen. You should consider doing a video on the darkest Sharpie-type marker. The black Sharpie is not really black. They are more of a dark warm gray with a purplish hue. They look black in isolation, but when you put them next something that is really black, it is immediately noticeable. You can see it in your video. There are other markers on the market that are much blacker.

[@unsharpen]

Good idea. Where should I start? Which is the darkest you've tested?

[@mtbiker64]

@@unsharpen The Staples branded Duramark Permanent markers, chisel tip black are the one I use. They are quite black, and are inexpensive as well.

[@Muscles_McGee]

I cancelled my order for 12 matte Blackwings and the sharpener saving $60 because of this video and your website review. Got the Mitsu HiUni 10B instead for $20. BIG Thx

[@unsharpen]

Personally I think you made a good call but I do own more than a few blackwings. I don’t recommend their metal sharpener.

[@KasimAljabri]

Thank you it’s really helpful video to give to me the perfect answer 👍

[@unsharpen]

Happy to hear it helped

[@endezeichengrimm]

2B or not 2B.

[@chriss4432]

The answer is 4B it's always been 4B 😅

[@2Good2B4Gotten4Real]

😂😂😂

[@hangallcabal]

very helpful, found my chosen pencil for dark & they now have a 14 B:)

[@bbdoook]

I always use a 4B pencil when I'm writing, it feels smooth it's not super black but looks good enough for me.

[@erandiesquivel1861]

When I was in primary I used to do it, but I hated when I made a mistake and I had to erase it.

[@markusdosti2782]

Thanks for the video! And very nice quality. Can I ask which camera and lens do you use for the recording ?

[@unsharpen]

iPhone 12. No extras

[@boldschool6308]

Unsharpen turned Sharpen today

[@hakanlundberg]

If you go for pastel pencils, you can get both blacker and darker than charcoal pencils. Although, to my experience of the pencils I have tried, the Koh-I-Noor Gioconda Charcoal EXTRA no 2 is the darkest of the pastel- and charcoalish pencils. At least among those that are usable because they can be sharpened without crumbling into pieces. And with the charcoal papers I use. But I bet some manufacturers are putting other black pigments than burned wood into their charcoal pencils to get an advantage regarding blackness and darkness. Then black oil or wax based pencils seem to be able to get even further to the extreme on the Munsell/CIE/NCS charts. But a few black soft pastel crayons-one from Sennelier and one from Schmincke if I recall correctly-can drag you even further down into the abyss If you know what you’re doing (or as me… experimented wildly without having a clue where I was going). After my experiment with fixatives and layering on an already black paper, they come to appear blacker than India ink or the blackest industrial paint I had access too. Although I had no means to scientifically measure how little light that was actually reflected. And as usual I have no idea where I put the experiment.

[@unsharpen]

Good information. I'd recommend a blog or your own KZbin channel, but I understand the challenge in having great findings and no place to share them!

[@dianeibsen5994]

Can you use a regular eraser with these pastel's?

[@hakanlundberg]

@@dianeibsen5994 I find pastel pencils are somewhat like charcoal pencils when it comes to erasing. On the paper I usually use for charcoal drawings, Fabriano Ingres, the marks never comes off completely. I use a kneaded eraser to first lift of as much as possible (I also do this when erasing dark graphite pencil shadings). Then an eraser that’s close to the American Pink Pearl, but there are other alternatives. I don’t use the usual white rectangular shaped erasers (that I use for lead pencils) because I find they smear these types of pencils. The ability to erase also differs between pastel pencil brands a bit. But they never erase as good as graphite on paper suitable for graphite. After I have fixated a drawing, I can sometimes use a knife to get the paper white back for small details. Like the light reflection in an eye. But be careful, you may push black pencil dust into the scratched paper instead. Dry pastel crayons aren’t really supposed to be erased (and you use a suitable paper like an Ingres laid paper. But you can try to scratch them of carefully from the paper. If you use pastel pencils or harder dry pastel crayons to begin your drawing, you can use softer ones on top. The pastel pencils aren’t much more expensive that lead pencils. So I would suggest buying one or a few from different brands and try on different papers and with different erasers to investigate for yourself. There are a few reviews of all these pencils and crayons here in YT, although I myself don’t always agree with the conclusions. Pastel pencils, just like charcoal pencils, are sometimes hard to sharpen. And for some brands a usual sharpener won’t work. So you need one or those knives where you can break a piece of the blade of to advance a new sharp edge as the blade gets dull (not sure what they are called in English). There must be demonstrations here on KZbin on how to do it. The (black) pastel and charcoal pencils I currently use (together with Grumbacher vine and Daler-Rowney willow charcoal) on Fabriano Ingres paper (I think Strathmore 500-series charcoal paper comes close), and get for the students of drawing classes I teach are: Stabilo CarbOthello pastel pencil, Black (there are two different blacks, one is rather dark green, so don’t get that one if you want a more “pure” black) Derwent charcoal pencil, Dark Koh-I-Noor Gioconda charcoal pencil EXTRA, No 2 (there’s one that isn’t “extra” that I don’t use) Conté a Paris Pierre Noir, a few different hardnesses Caran d’Ache pastel pencil, Black But I haven’t evaluated all there is. E.g. US brands aren’t readily available where I live. And others may suit you better.

[@dianeibsen5994]

Thank you so much for this wonderful review, and for the visual examples. You mentioned lead at the beginning of the video. And I'm wondering are there still LED pencils being made? Isn't that dangerous? Aren't are they all graphite now? I'm unclear. You didn't mention about erase ability of the darker shade and wonder about this? Also is there a place you can go and try out these 10 b 12b pensils? And where can you buy pencils like the 10 and 12bs? Looking for the least expensive, darkest pensils. Yes, nails on on a chalkboard with charcoal eeww!

[@greekveteran2715]

Graphite lead doesn't mean it has any lead in it. It's a name that has been carried from the very long past. All graphite pencils are a mix made of clay and carbon. The softer the material, the less clay and more carbon it has. For a good pencil,either choose a Mitsubishi Uni Star in "B" hardness.Faber Castell and Staedtler,also make good pencils,that you can find in any stationary shop.

[@dianeibsen5994]

@@greekveteran2715 ok. Thank you! ✏️😊

[@adriantapia5407]

the staedtler lumograph black 8B claps fc pitt

[@kamenriderblade2099]

Staedtler Mars Lumograph 11B / 12B getting no love or representation =( Sadly, nobody makes 11H / 12H pencils either, but 11B / 12B exist F & HB are my preferred grades for normal daily writing. Any #H or #F grades IMO should be left for Gray-Scale art.

[@empire4760]

there is 14B BTW

[@unsharpen]

Nice. Who makes it?

[@empire4760]

@@unsharpen faber castell