Keep Smiling Charcoal Pencil, Hard Medium and Soft

A charcoal pencil is compressed charcoal in a wooden barrel — the depth and bite of charcoal without the dust and the broken sticks. It holds a point, so it will draw a line as readily as it fills a mass, which is the thing a charcoal stick struggles to do.

Charcoal grades run the opposite way to graphite: hard gives a lighter, tighter line, and soft gives a black that sits on the surface and smudges at a touch. Most drawings want more than one — hard for the construction, soft for the darks — and this set covers hard, medium and soft together. Lift it back with a kneaded eraser rather than a plastic one, and fix or frame the finished sheet, because charcoal transfers onto anything it meets.

Having the three grades in one box is what makes charcoal manageable for a beginner: you can build a drawing lightly and commit to the darks only at the end, instead of fighting a single soft stick from the first mark.

• Compressed charcoal in a wooden barrel — holds a point
• Hard, medium and soft grades together
• Lift and lighten with a kneaded eraser
• Fix or frame the finished drawing — charcoal transfers