10 Best Drawing Pencils 2020
Thinking of creating awesome pieces of art? Want to invest your time into sketching or illustrating and create incredible drawings? Well, you’re going to need the best drawing pencils for that. And our excellent guide is full of just that.
Picking high quality pencils is the most important part of an artist’s journey. All the pro artists who draw and sketch never compromise on a good quality set of drawing pencils as they are the foundation upon which your skills are going to build. So, take a good look at our guide and get the drawing pencils perfect for your creative needs.
Consider This
Just like all other art equipment, drawing pencils come in different variations and picking the best can be confusing. Here are some tips on how to select the perfect pencils.
- Color and Non-Color. – Drawing pencils come in two variations, color and non-color. The colored sets come with a wide range of coloring pencils to create full multicolor drawings. On the other hand, non-color drawing pencils come with pencils with different shades of black.
- Opt for Quality over Price. – The best sketching pencils usually cost a bit more, but they also last longer and provide you with better results than the cheaper ones.
- Heavyweight Paper. – Even though drawing pencils play a crucial role in the outcome of your final drawing, the paper is just as important. Make sure you get heavy paper which will support the strokes from the graphite pencils and won’t tear easily.
Top 10 Drawing Pencils Table
Picture | Name | Type | Price | Rating (1-5) |
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | 1. Tombow MONO Drawing Pencil | Non-color | $ | 4.8 |
![]() | 2. Derwent Colored Pencils | Coloring | $$$$ | 4.8 |
![]() | 3. Castle Art Supplies Graphite Drawing Pencils | Non-color | $$$ | 4.7 |
![]() | 4. Pro Art 18-Piece Sketch/Draw Pencil Set | Non-color | $ | 4.7 |
![]() | 5. Artist's Choice 120-Pack Colored Pencils | Coloring | $ | 4.6 |
![]() | 6. Staedtler Lumograph Graphite Drawing and Sketching Pencils | Non-color | $ | 4.6 |
![]() | 7. Ohuhu 72-color Colored Pencil | Coloring | $$ | 4.6 |
![]() | 8. Royal & Langnickel Essentials Sketching Pencil | Non-color | $$ | 4.5 |
![]() | 9. Prismacolor Ebony Graphite Drawing Pencils | Non-color | $ | 4.4 |
![]() | 10. Colore 26 Piece Drawing Pencils Set | Non-color | $ | 4.2 |
Types of Drawing Pencils and Which One to Use
Graphite drawing pencils come in different variations to give artists greater control over their creations. Here’s how you too can choose the best drawing pencils for your work:
- Graphite pencils have 22 grades: 9H, 8H, 7H, 6H, 5H, 4H, 3H, 2H, H, HB, F, B, 2B, 3B, 4B, 5B, 6B, 7B, 8B, 9B. These grades represent the hardness of the pencils where 9H is the hardest and 9B is the softest.
- The harder the pencil is, the more precise and lighter strokes it will make. This makes it perfect for drawing in fine details. Harder pencils are also easier to erase.
- The softer the pencil is, the more broader and darker its strokes will be. This gives the drawing more depth and texture. Softer pencils also leave more smudges when erased.
Top 3 Best Drawing Pencils Reviews
1. Tombow MONO Drawing Pencil

Tombow has been making high quality pencil sets for at least a hundred years and has lots of experience how to make the best drawing pencils. This set contains twelve black graphite pencils, each having different shades.
The pencils themselves are made of high quality graphite. The lead in the pencils is perfectly centered and doesn’t break easily. The density of the lead is perfect, with each shade of pencil giving accurate results. The graphite also erases easily which makes it easier to get your desired level of shading.
This high-quality construction make the Tombow MONO drawing pencil set one of the best sketching and drawing pencils for creative work for both beginners and pros alike and great for any creative work.
2. Derwent Colored Pencils

Derwent colored pencils are an extremely unique kind of drawing pencils perfect for creating everything from delightful cartoons to dazzling illustrations. The colors from these pencils are incredibly vivid and downright amazing to see, making your drawings pop-up and shine.
These pencils are made from ink tease blocks which is what makes them different. Because in addition to being used as normal drawing pencils, you can also dab them in water to produce a watercolor like effect, giving you diverse outlooks and styles in your drawings. More than that, you can also draw ‘in layers’ on the sketched lines or colored areas giving it further color which makes the pictures even brighter.
There is one minor disadvantage of these watercolor/drawing pencils. Although you can create watercolor like effects, you do not have any way to alter the results once the ‘ink’ dries. Depending on the techniques you use to draw, this can be either good or bad. For this reason, it’s better to create outlines with graphite pencils first or to work in small sections. Other than this, these unique drawing pencils are perfect for creating art and a great gift item for any aspiring sketcher or artist.
3. Castle Art Supplies Graphite Drawing Pencils

Castle Art has created the ultimate drawing pencil set an artist can ask for, putting in so many goodies for sketching and drawing that you won’t know where to start.
First, you get your set of graphite pencils of different grades, giving you flexibility over the shades you can produce. Next you have fours pastel pencils, three charcoal pencils and a soft graphite pencil. All these things will give you control and allow you to create drawings exactly like those in your imagination. In addition, you also get accessories like an art knife, graphite, willow and charcoal drawing sticks, erasers and much more to make the process smoother.
All these things are enclosed in a compact and handy travel case so you can easily take your equipment with you wherever you go. The wide variety of tools at your disposal will making sketching, drawing, blending, erasing, sharping and everything else related to drawing much easier allowing your creativity to flow on paper.
This makes Castle Art’s drawing set is the perfect set of tools for any aspiring animator, cartoonist or illustrator and highly recommended for your drawing needs.