The Lumographs run a bit darker and softer making them the ideal mid-tone pencil, and the lighter grades feel smoother than the equivalent grades in the 9000s due to the slightly higher graphite ratio. With its rich and dark lead, it's easy to create bold and dramatic lines, making it an essential tool for artists, designers, and anyone who loves to draw. If they aren’t, you’ll encounter that gritty, ‘scratchy’ feeling (and sometimes even a squeaky noise) when you hit a lump of clay and your pencil doesn’t make a good mark.

Despite being most functional looking all the pencils, the Mars Lumograph would probably still top the charts as the professional artists’ choice. You can read more on the pencil grading system here, but to summarise briefly: pencils are graded on a scale that runs from the hardest grades which have a lot of clay in them and which make a very light mark, to the softest grades which have the least clay and mark very darkly. Staedtler are an interesting company and are actually a non-profit corporation set up in 1835 to fund German universities. In the 1960s they patented their famous ‘SV’ bonding in which the entire length of the lead is glued to the wooden casing instead of simply spot-gluing it in places.The pencils are fairly expensive here if bought individually and are better value when purchased in a tin, where because because the range of grades (only 3H to 6B) is so small you receive several duplicates. For instance, grades 3H to 6H or higher would be usually considered more suitable for graphic or technical/industrial design than for sketching. I’m not necessarily saying that the 9000s are superior to the other pencils I’ve awarded top marks to, but for the type of drawing that I do (light, quite detailed portraits) they suit my style better than a darker, softer range.

CRETACOLOR, as the only Austrian manufacturer of arts supplies, is able to work with centuries of experience and tradition and stands for high quality products. They are extremely large in diameter and feel very chunky in the hand, which some people will like and others will not. The Grafwoods aren’t the most elegant pencils individually, but the ability to identify the grade I wanted so quickly was a revelation and I wish all ranges could have some kind of colour coding. Before we begin the individual reviews, here’s a comparison of the grading values for all the brands I’m looking at. They are the lightest of all the pencil ranges I’m reviewing here and the harder grades make a very fine mark, but I don’t find them scratchy or the graphite overly shiny.No problem, as long as you have not blotted your ink then we would be happy to refund you the full amount. The pencils are very dark: almost as dark as the Tombows and with an even more limited range of grades.