In my experience with them, I've achieved the best results by layering them as I would colored pencils. It could just be my preference for Faber Castell, but the layers seem to produces a nice richness and depth to the finished work. For paper, I had the best results on Arches Hot Press watercolor paper. When I used paper that was too smooth, I got a lot more shine. Arches had just enough tooth to avoid heavy shine without messing with crisp lines and detail.
Hi Gemma, yes, I am glad you came to your conclusion because that is mine. I bought the full set which included a 14b if I recall correctly. In my opinion, as I photograph my graphite art, having the graphite non-shine, makes a huge difference. I have yet to use fixative on them but hopefully a matt fixative will be available. I think, using conventional graphite might be helpful if drawing glass or even the shiny parts, with non-shine in shadows might be interesting. Thanks for your demonstration and regards, JB
@@RobMillwardPodgekins88 Yes, try it on a separate piece of paper and see if you like it. try with the intensity of the black. It might also depend on the type of paper you use.
Took me a while to get used to them, to be honest. But now I regularly use them for my graphite work. Especially when I'm doing portraits with dramatic lighting and lots of contrast. Put the bigger set in my basket for my next purchase.
The paper you use really affects the performance of the Matt pencils. The more texture the paper has the less shine there will be. If you use it on smooth paper then it will reflect just like lower quality graphite pencils.
I love these matt graphite pencils. I've tried charcoal but hate the mess, and I've tried traditional graphite on and off but struggle with the scratchy feeling on the paper (sensory issues). I received these pencils last Christmas and I love them. They are the perfect middle ground to me. I love coloured pencils and feel these are more similar to those in how they feel to put down on paper. I'm so glad I didn't write off graphite as I often get the urge to work with tonal pieces as a change from colour. I'm still trying out different papers with them. Any suggestions?
