Faber-Castell Pitt Graphite Matte Pencil Set, Metal Tin of 8 Graphite Pencils and Sketching Accessories (HB, 2B, 4B, 6B, 8B, 10B, 12B, 14B), Pencil Sharpener, Eraser and Blending Stump

It doesnt shine at all like any regular graphite pencils! This is great for when you need to photograph your work. Love the variety of shades and hardness of graphite as well. The set is a great starter set, and youre given everything you need, like a blending stump, sharpener, and eraser with the pencils. Would recommend for any artist.

Overall quite liked everything here, the graphite is amazing, not quite the charcoal esque matte i was hoping for but thats just me having unreasonably high expectations, i personally didn’t feel much of a difference in use to normal graphite, but the matte definitely comes across, especially in a lit room. For sketch book use probably overkill and unnecessary, but if you are doing something with the idea of putting it on a wall the difference is worth this set, the darks come across so much better from this set then a standard b6. To be completely honest id buy it against just for another 16b pencil, it feels like graphite and gives a color closer to charcoal, its such a game changer for fast dark colors without needing to rely on outside mediums like charcoal, and is much cleaner and more consistent than charcoal. All in all a good set, no real downsides, but not quite a necessity imo.

I stumbled upon these Faber-Castell Pitt matte graphite pencils ("FCP") by accident and took a chance buying them. I'm glad I did. I typically use only Tombow MONO graphite pencils (which, I think are the best). As others have mentioned in other reviews, these FCPs do impart a wonderful, deep, dark black-ness (if you need it). And since they're matte, they add an interesting effect to a graphite drawing. I wouldn't draw using only FCPs (tho, not saying you couldn't or that they wouldn't be appropriate for that) but would def combine with with regular graphite pencil. The leads seem strong (they don't seem susceptible to easy breakage); they sharpen nicely; they do leave obvious ghosting when erased (so apply carefully); but they apply smoothly/nicely (no "crumbs" or specks) and they smudge/shade fairly well (but not as well as regular graphite but that could be a benefit as the FCPs aren't as messy as soft/dark regular graphite). I would recommend these as a supplemental addition to anyone's graphite palette, especially when in need of adding bold dark/black elements to a drawing. NEW UPDATE: To add to my earlier review, I've had a chance to use these pencils steadily for a couple of months. I still like them. But be warned that these particular pencils flake quite a bit after being applied. All graphite pencils have a tendency to flake off of a drawing a little bit over a long period of time (if not sprayed with a fixative). But these seem highly susceptible to flaking over a short period of time. Just be prepared to either: (i) use a workable fixative as you progress on your drawing; or (ii) if waiting to use a fixative until the drawing is finished, be prepared to go back over/re-do areas of your drawing if you're wanting to have the strong black tone that these pencils can provide. Cheers!

I watched a lot of reviews on these in the past. Had been wanting to get some to try. Had hoped they really were as good as most said they were, and they are! LOVE these pencils. Especially on grey tone paper, the depth of shading is amazing!

Love this brand for professional finished artwork. Bought a set as a gift and one for myself.

I heard about these new graphite pencils on YouTube that do not shine as you deepen the darkness of shadows on your sketches. So far they are working as advertised and I am just getting acquainted with them. Must say that so far I am enjoying using them.

These worked as I expected and as people described. They enable me to produce deep black shading -- not quite as well as charcoal, but I got good results. Not as smooth as normal graphite, but darker in the occlusion shadow areas where you need it.

They seem to smear more because they are soft. I love them