An artist favorite, these pencils are made entirely of graphite and coated in lacquer to keep hands clean.  The solid core gives the artist 5 times more lead than a traditional graphite pencil. They have a solid, weighty feel and glide smoothly across the paper when used on point or on their broad side. They may be used with any traditional hand held or electric sharpener to achieve a fine point. The shavings may also be used to smudge. The dense, artist degree range of Hardmuth graphite lays down value in rich, deep tones to effortlessly define form and spatial relationships.