The General's 2H pencil was created for laying down crisp lines in a design NOT for laying in color and blending it out. You would use their HB,2B, 4B and 6B pencils for blocking in color, drawing, etc.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR COMPARISON! I'm just learning how to draw and don't know much about pencils, your video helped so much! I don't know what I would do without people like you that share your knowledge with people like me! I've had health issues for years & last 2 years have been really hard physically...cant do much. Had been trying to find something productive I could do...you can only watch so much tv! I tried reading...enjoyed it but it didn't let me use my creative side. I came across a video on KZfaq one day about drawing...that's all it took, I'm hooked! lol Its only been about a month, but it has made such a difference in my life. I feel I have purpose again, so thank you & all the other wonderful, generous people on KZfaq for sharing your talent! GOD BLESS!

Thanks for putting this demo together, a huge help and nicely done 👍

Here in the USofA Generals pencils are a real bargain. Whereas, Derwent pencils are "Exotic" and imported so they cost more.... My personal two cents: if you live in UK/Europe stick with the Derwent and only buy what they cannot supplement for your needs. If your in North America use the same logic with Generals brand. Both brands are fantastic, art grade materials (Graphite and Charcoal pencils that is) that in a Maesters hands will surely create beauty~

Thank you for this review. It was really helpful.

Thanks so much for the review. I’ll definitely give this a try. I haven’t seen the General brand in our art stores but we have Derwent here. It’s my first time ever using charcoal pencils. I wanted to do some sketching while I was outside. I only had my sketchbook with me and one graphite pencil, so I bought a box of Monte Marte colored charcoal pencils (earthy colors). I tried sharpening one with a regular sharpener (since that’s what I had with me at the time) and it took two tries with the point breaking off before I decided that it wouldn’t work. So I took them home and went at it with a craft knife. It was going well with the blacks, white and sepia, but when I got to the sanguine it was too soft (and crumbly). I went through half the pencil and it just kept crumbling no mater how carefully I sharpened. I was able to get 2 or 3mm of exposed lead and no point at all (I wasn’t even trying to make a sharp point; just enough exposed lead to be useable). I hoped it was just that one pencil but I got the same results with the other one. Should I have just saved the shavings and used it in powdered form? Tsk, tsk. So disappointed. I’m definitely not getting that brand again.

Really good demo and comparison! TY

for the limited time I've used the Derwent charcoal pencils, I've found that while sharpening (with a razor) they tend to brake, very, very easily, especially the Dark ones, Medium and Light are better but still tend to brake, you also have to be quite careful while getting a sharp tip using sand paper. I haven't got much of a alternative here in Croatia, so I stick to them, but sharpening is a real pain and quite frustrating, since you are losing quite a bit of the pencil when it brakes. that being said, when they aren't braking, they are pretty nice to use!

General's charcoal pencils DO have hard spots, but for the most part they are significantly less common than in the Derwent pencils. Additionally, when you hit a hard spot with the General's, you don't always need a sandpaper block. Get some cold-pressed watercolor paper and give it a quick swipe and you're good to go again.

I had no idea that General makes a 2H of their charcoal pencils, I'll look into their full range since I like their 2B pencil- Thank you! :D

The Conte HB and 2B charcoal pencils are great for softer lighter shades but the General has a nice white along with Derwent. I love the tinted charcoal pencils but still the combination of about 4 Contes.

I love your videos! I find them very helpful. I must add that I have gone through several charcoal brands and I find that the Caran D'Ache soft charcoal is the best for me. They have recently re-branded it though and I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on the two, as I feel the newer version is too waxy and just doesn't seem to perform as well.

Just a note to all - the general's charcoal pencil company also offers HB and 2B hardnesses (if Mr. Morgan had these hardnesses I believe one of them would have been more like the Derwent soft ). The 2H extra hard is difficult to find here in my part of the states (Ca) and I don't see them listed as a pencil that General's offers on their web site. Maybe they are discontinued? There have been times that I needed them. Mostly I use the HB and 2B. General's charcoal also comes in a "Peel and Sketch" range of hardnesses; soft, medium, and hard. These are good for larger wide area sketching without the need of a sharpener (although I have used a sanding block for getting a sharp point). Available as well is a hand size charcoal "Chunk". One other item - General's also offers a white charcoal pencil. This white charcoal pencil has a very intense white that is bright and crisp.

Hi, good video. Even though it depends on skills intead of tools, many good charcoal artists such as Baugh and Xiaonan are using Generals

This is very informative for me, thanks

The trick with graphite is to use carbon for the darks to avoid shine. Also building up layers gradually rather than pressing in also avoids shine. I have the Derwent charcoal but the Generals also look interesting, thanks Jason. 🙂

Very useful review, thanks

Wondering now why I have always been so stuck on graphite. Gotta try working with charcoal.

I have Derwent and Conté charcoal pencils, but was meaning to try General's Primo Euro charcoal. Normally use vine charcoal (W&N or Coates) or Nitram, though. I wonder if you have tried Graydon Parrish's recommendation for a surface for charcoal drawing? He uses Arches 140lb hot-press watercolour paper, which he then covers with a couple of layers of a mixture of Golden Acrylic's fine pumice gel, Golden acrylic matt medium, and a few drops of fluid acrylic colour (eg titanium buff, but you could use a quite different base colour). He says this is an excellent support for charcoal and white chalk (and I would presume, Sanguine) drawings. On the shininess of graphite, I long ago adopted JD Hillberry's advice to mix graphite, carbon pencil and charcoal pencil, as you wish to get successively darker. Works very well.

Thank you for this video

good video,thanks jason

Thank you so much it was superb clear ♥️ different between 2 different brands of charcoal pencils ✌️ it's was very useful for me🥰 thanks again. From Sri Lanka 🇱🇰♥️

I have to buy charcoals and I’m uncertain between Derwent, Lyra and cretacolor. Thanks for review

Found video interesting and informative....

Thank you for the comparison. I live in North America so I should love the Gens but I don't. I want to be buried with my Derwents. ♥ I am looking forward to your erasers and sharpeners reviews. Cheers!

you explain very well

I prefer Generals ironically. I use Derwent every now and then but their pencils are grainy and the "Dark" isn't black enough for black tones like Generals are

Very interesting! I've been trying to use my art supplies again after a break of several months. This comparison will help me very much. I'm looking forward to your future videos that you mentioned. Will you also talk about fixatives? THANKS!

Wow, I really like the General's based on your review. Hard pencils, whether graphite or charcoal, are supposed to be hard so they only put down light amounts of color I thought. I love using hard pencils for my initial sketches but am just getting back into charcoal after years so this was super helpful in helping me make a decision as to which pencils I am going to get. Thanks for posting! BTW, what part of the UK are you from? You have a beautiful accent!

I have. A derwent dark. But i just am not able.to.sharp it .. how do u sharp them ... And we have only faber castell and derwent available .. i am planning to get faber castell instead

Should buy using the general's 2b for the Derwent light equivalancy. I wish I could find a 2h. . .hardest I can find is an hb.

Good video. Does anyone know what the white pencil in the Derwent set is actually made from? Is it chalk? Cheers.

What's the best paper for charcoal

Nice video. In my opinion Cretacolor charcoal pencils are better than Derwent if you like smoothness. The soft one's marking is very manageable and can get particularly dark, even though the tip is pretty easy to break when you sharpen it.

I want to get my charcoal artist friend a gift but I specialize in alcohol marker, so this helped a lot, thank you❤️

General vs Cretacolor Nero vs Derwent vs Conte a Parris vs Caran d'ace side by side please...

I really like the Derwent charcoal pencils BUT I can not sharpen them . They brake. I think because they are UK made and don't fit into US sharpeners. I live in US. Any suggestions for a sharpener?

Where did u buy your general's pencil

I only really use white charcoal pencils. Black ones are a pain in the butt for me

I much prefer Generals (I am in UK) and I also like faber castell charcoal.

Perfect ;)

I prefer generals but derwent is easier to find in most shops

Guys is white charcoal the same as tinted white charcoal?

give Wolff's Carbon Pencils a try. I've only heard great things about them. I just received a set of 4 in the mail. Looking forward to using them. Btw I am really enjoying the Generals 4B. I didn't care for the Derwent hard as I had harder time with it staying on the paper when blending with art sponges. Rice paper stumps helped but switching to the Generals made the biggest difference. I had a very hard time at first sharpening the Generals while no problems sharpening the Derwent. Nevertheless I found M&R brass sharpeners with replacement blades. These are extra sharp and allowed me to easily sharpen the Generals. I tried many other sharpeners but only ended up being frustrated with the Generals. Thank goodness the M&R saved the day because that Generals 4B is awesome.

could you please tell me what the best paper for charcoal ?

My only problem with the pencils is that they break....the only solution is to use a xacto knife to sharpen.

So Generals are the best ?

Waste of time by Jason Morgan to demonstrate various shading and tones.Anyone can learn and produce artwork of value.One could open the Derwent Charcoal Box and play with wet brush on an ink drawn art work,creat washes,flicking the brush, and create splatters.Have wrapped my sticks in aluminum paper for cleaner fingers.

Generals have way way too much filler in their H and HB ..

Sorry I swear he said chongcoal

Good luck trying to sharpen Extra Soft General Charcoal Pencil. 4 out of 5 times, you will lose an entire pencil. If you are successful with, it will but a small stub. Very infuriating. Tried everything apart from conventional pencil sharpener. Will try that next. The lead is very but very brittle. Ridiculously so. Sneeze on it - and it will break. Let alone trying to sharpen surgically with a scalpel. Shame because the effects would have been perfect.

Faber Castell wins

I hate charcoal. Its so nasry and dirty feel. Graphite is clean.

This video puts me to sleep

He lost me when he used charcoal on bristol ,how is that a good comparison when charcoal paper is what a charcoal artist would use? I really wish people would stop making these useless comparison video .