I'm aware that there are some who claim to be knowledgeable about art supplies that these aren't the highest quality, or that the selection is inadequate. I imagine that these are the same people who go to a fast-food restaurant and complain that they don't serve a good Chateaubriand.

This is clearly a student/starter set and I don't think the makers intend this to be a comprehensive set. It's offered at a very attractive price point and is a good entree into using higher-quality art supplies. You get a selection of pencils and charcoals, along with specialized erasers and sharpeners. You get several variations on each medium, ostensibly to provide an affordable way to find the one--or at least something closer to--you'll prefer to use. This set is about exploring your options. You will notice immediately that these are far superior to using office supplies for drawing. They will also help you find a style.

Right now, I'm exploring my artistic tastes and talents and this set is part of the equipment I've acquired to do so. So, from a novice point of view, this set is great.

-This is a professional grade, 18-piece drawing set that is even great for beginners.
-This set contains eight pencils, three charcoal pencils, one sketch stick, two charcoal sticks, two sharpeners, and two kneaded erasers.
-Don't be confused about the gradients on the pencils or charcoals; "B" stands for "black" or "soft"; "H" stands for "hard"; "F" is an intermediate between HB and H. There are 12 pencils; 8B-6B-4B-2B-HB-F-H-2H-Charcoal 2B-Charcoal 4B-Charcoal 6B-Sketch Stick 6B.
-If you're unused to using a kneaded eraser, it's flexible and easy to manipulate to include negative space in your drawings, in addition to simply removing mistakes. It doesn't leave behind mess like a normal eraser and can be used again and again.
-The case of this particular set is ideal. I haven't run into any trouble with broken leads inside the pencils due to poor handling.
-The case is reusable, if you wish to store the items there.
-The sharpener is decent but as with any sharpener, over time and use you will either need to replace the blade or the sharpener.

I enjoy pushing my values, contrast, adding texture and negative space in my drawings, this is an excellent set at a very good price. I like portraits and detail and have enjoyed using this set. I've been able to achieve the results I'm looking for.
If you're a beginning artist and want to get started, there's nothing better or cheaper than a pencil, piece of paper, and an eraser. This set is ideal.

Firstly, a few weeks ago I had to get art supplies for my class, and I had to get them the very next day meaning I had to go to the store to get these. You know how things are in the store... EXPENSIVE! I had to buy a lot of these things separately and it cost me like 20 dollars more...

This set has everything for any type of artist, especially beginning. The pencils are the exact ones you need for sketching and shading. Charcoal is another thing on it's own, but you get a lot of charcoal here too. Charcoal is good for shading or if you really want to make some nice, eye popping art. But beware, especially those who have never used charcoal or are buying this for a child, CHARCOAL IS REALLY MESSY! And it gets on everything. Other than that, everything is great.

I like that it comes with two different erasers. After using the kneaded eraser, I'd never go back to a regular eraser. The white eraser works really well though. But a kneaded eraser... NO MESS! And it acts like playdoh! I feel like instead of the white eraser, they should have included some blending stumps/tortillons. You can use your finger for blending, but for better blending without the mess, those stumps/tortillons are fantastic.

The sharpeners seem to be really cheap... I do not plan to use them.

The all black pencil, I have no idea what that is. I assumed it was charcoal, but it seems to be too smooth to be charcoal. I'm assuming it's a 6B graphite stick with no wood (it says 6B on it). Mine actually came broken in half... though I'm not sure if its suppose to come like it. It doesn't look so in the picture. Oh well, I can just sharpen it and use it as well. The set says there is one sketch pencil so, I'm guessing this is it. It's basically the same thing as the 6B pencil in this set. The black coating seems to be paint. I just tested it and some paint came off, and some graphite came off too. I was checking to see if the outer part was wood, and it's not. Also if you are one of those that like to get close to the tip of the pencil, you are going to get dirty with this sketch pencil. The whole sharpened area is graphite, so you will be messy before you even shade... which isn't exactly a good thing. It was a good idea, but for sketching, 6B is too extreme I feel. It's soft, but even the slightest amount of pressure, it gets REALLY dark, thus why it's better for shading. A 2B, or even 3B is better for sketching IMO. I personally use 4B as as well.

But yeah, this set is definitely fantastic for your drawing needs. It doesn't have extra pencils you don't need like those other sets that have a bunch of H pencils you'll never use. The higher in H you get, the harder the lead gets. You always want B for drawing/shading/sketching. The higher the B, the softer, darker it gets.

This set has F (I actually don't know anything about F leads, but this acts like the pencil you use for school, which is a 2HB), HB, H, 2H, 2B, 4B, 6B, 8B. The charcoal pencils are 2B, 4B, and 6B as well. The sticks are medium, compressed charcoal. Once you play with charcoal... you won't stop for another hour LOL!

The plastic covering it comes with also acts like a plastic kit. So you can carry it around with that handle and keep everything in place (except the kneaded eraser if you use it... that will most likely turn into a ball).

edit : Wow so I wasn't the only one that had their sketch pencil arrive in half. Some other person had all their pencils arrive in halves as well! I find that interesting, because it doesn't seem broke... it seems like they were cut perfectly in half. Maybe something wrong with the machines, who knows.

Also yeah, the sharpeners suck. And the wood seems to be cheap wood. So both of those combined is BAD. As far as the graphite and charcoal, they are good, but if not sharpened properly, that's when this things get bad ratings. Get a better sharpener, then these are good to go.

I always like doing oil painting but recently wanted to dabble in sketching for fun. Art material can cost a fortune and I wasn't sure if I should pay big price for a professional sketching set and then realize I just want to stick to oil and canvas, it surely would be a waste of money. Therefore I decided to buy this set and give it a try. Actually I am impressed & quite happy, it is great for beginners and the price is astonishingly reasonable.
If you really want to try and find out as a beginner if sketching is fun for you, surely go ahead and buy this set, you won't regret.

I took an art class this past semester, and had purchased the Kimberly Graphite Drawing Kit for it. My reasoning for making that purchase was because it was almost the cheapest one at michaels, and happened to be the same set I had purchased for a high school art class 15 years ago and had seemed fine. Then, I misplaced it. I came to look up the price on amazon and this set popped up on my screen for the same price (less than 10 dollars).

I think the cheapest I've ever seen 4 woodless graphite pencils alone sold for was six dollars, so for the price this kit is great. I subsequently found the other graphite pencils the day after these arrived in the mail but i've stuck with the ones from this set. With only these things in mind I would have given this set 5 stars. The coloured pencils are ok, maybe slightly harder than your typical crayola coloured pencil. Yet, the watercolour pencils leave much to be desired.

After purchasing this set I was so excited about the watercolour pencils (which I hadn't ever used/seen used before) that I looked up some videos on youtube. The first thing I did when this came in the mail was to pull out the watercolour pencils and try them out and unfortunately the pigment just didn't want to cooperate. I was not using watercolour paper, but even so, I was unable to get the pigment to spread out in a way that looked like paint any more-so than one could adding water to a graphite pencil sketch.

For the price though, I really do recommend this set (unless you are only looking for cheap watercolour pencils)