Cretacolor pencils product test

I bought some new pencils manufactured by Cretacolor for sketching.

I did a quick drawing to test then.

Waiting at Helsinki airport - by Benoit Philippe

The Monolith Graphite pencil

The Monolith Graphite is a woodless pencil. The pencil is a pure graphite lead covered with a thin lacquer coating. The feeling is strange at first as the pencil is colder than a wooden one but the lacquer coating is really smooth and comfortable.

I chose a 9B as I wanted to be able to get very dark marks. It is easy to get a good spectrum of tones from very dark to very light, just by varying the pressure of the lead on the paper. Because there is no wood, you can achieve a broad stroke with the side of the lead or fine lines with the point.

These graphite pencils can be sharpened with a regular sharpener and are available in six grades: HB, 2B, 4B, 6B, 8B, 9B.


AquaMonolith pencils

These aquarelle pencils are made out of a water-soluble lead protected with a thin coating of lacquer.

The diameter of the lead is 7 mm is and as there is no wood, it is easy to obtain broad strokes by inclining the pencil when working.

The AquaMonolith pencils can be sharpened with standard sharpeners.

I bought the following colours:

Ivory Black – Number 252 50

Dark grey - Number 252 35

Blue Grey – Number 252 37

and the Light Grey – Number 252 32

The verdict

These pencils are heavier than wood pencils. This is an advantage when it comes to balance and precision but could be more tiring over a long drawing session. The possibility to have fine lines with the point and broad strokes with the side of the cone is a definite plus.

The quality of the graphite and water soluble graphite is very good and these pencils offer a great range of tone and texture (from rough to subtle washes when brushed over with water).

Overall, these pencils are great products worth adding to your sketching kit.

Cretacolor Pencils Sketching Art material