General Pencil 59P-BP Primo Euro Blend Charcoal Pencils,Multicolor

My charcoal knowledge is very limited, I haven't used a ton of charcoal pencil brands, beyond Prang's Wrap charcoal pencils, Derwent's charcoal pencils, and Generals orange charcoal pencils and these Primo Euro pencils here. Of all of these pencils, the Primo Euro's are my favorite.First time I bought these pencils, I also bought the standard orange ones from Generals. I was blown away by the Primos after being satisfied with the standard charcoal pencils, after wondering "how possible is it that the Primos can surpass the standard pencils?" And these did.These are dark, the Primo HB pencil being darker than the "Dark" charcoal pencil from Derwent, and despite HB pencils being lighter and slightly harder than B and above, the HB pencils went on real smooth in contrast to the much scratchier Derwent pencils. The darker grades go on darker and smoother, but still maintain their shape. In comparison, the standard Generals pencils, albeit smooth, are harder than the Primos, and the Primo HB pencil matching up in darkness to the standard General "6B-extra soft" pencil. Haven't tried the white pencil in a drawing yet, mostly focused on the black pencils.If planning on buying these pencils, you'll be spending a little more than for the orange Generals pencils. Both can give you a satisfactory drawing experience, but I recommend the Primos more if you want a charcoal pencil that is much smoother than the already smooth orange pencils. I'm not sure how the Primo's fare in comparison to the more expensive pencils costing $2.00 and above, but I think these are a good starting point for softer and darker charcoal pencils. Highly recommend these.

Very dark pigment, extremely dark, soft, too soft that the 3b continues to break every time I sharpen it. I haven’t had this set very long and my 3b pencil is so short unfortunately. I haven’t gotten to really put it to use.

You know how charcoal sometimes has hard bits in it that catch while you draw and you can just FEEL it dragging across your paper? Not this one. Buttery smooth all the time, holds points well (I mean, not PERFECT... it is so hard to sharpen charcoal, let's be real...), and the white is hands down the BEST white. I pay $8 just to get this stupid white pencil. (Why not just buy the white by itself, you ask?... Well, good luck finding it without the others for a reasonable price with reasonable shipping. Unless you want to do a $25 JetPens order or you're lucky enough to have an art store in town that stocks them in singles, this is how you do it. But, honestly, in the end, I really like these charcoals better than any others on the market so, after some thinking and a failed experiment with some Derwent charcoals, I decided to keep some blacks on hand just in case.) This is THE BEST white charcoal pencil you will EVER use. In fact, if you disagree with me, please tell me what is better because I will literally have to try it.

It's hard to find a good yet reasonable priced charcoal pencil set, but I did and these are it! They are soft and blend great!

been drawing all my life this brand rock. just don't drop them, or the charcoal in the pencil will break. ( this is with all charcoal pencils)

The charcoal keeps breaking everytime i sharpen the pencil. Something is wrong it the charcoal.

I absolutely love these pencils. You don’t get all the mess and powder you get from the soft sticks. Also the pencils protect your hands from getting all messy too. Unless you are wanting to use the sticks. I don’t know why. Lol.

Smooth blend. Nice blacks. Sharpens well without breaks. Would buy again