Shading is where cheap pencils fall apart. A soft grade that lays down rich, even tone on the first pass, without grain showing through or that tell-tale silver shine in the darks, is worth far more than a 72-pencil tin of grades you will never touch. We list every grade across more than two dozen brands, so this is the short, honest list of the soft pencils we actually reach for when drawing and shading, plus exactly how to get smooth darks out of them.
Which grades are best for shading?
A graphite pencil is graphite powder bound with clay and fired — the recipe Nicolas-Jacques Conté patented in 1795 and that every modern maker still uses. More clay makes a harder, lighter, “H” pencil; more graphite makes a softer, darker, “B” pencil (B for black, H for hard, F for fine point, HB in the middle). For shading you want grades that release a lot of graphite quickly and pack the paper’s tooth with even tone.
The practical map most artists settle on:
- 2B–4B — mid-tones and the bulk of your shading. Dark enough to build quickly, firm enough to stay controllable and not smear the moment you touch it. This is where most tonal work lives.
- 6B–8B — rich darks and shadow cores. Buttery, fast and intensely dark. The everyday “dark” range.
- 9B–12B — final accents only. The very softest grades are for the last, deepest notes — pupils, the deepest folds, the underside of a jaw — not for laying broad tone.
The single most common beginner mistake is jumping straight to a 9B for everything. A very soft core actually makes smooth tone harder, not easier: it skids over the tooth of the paper and clumps, and it shines under any pressure. Build with a mid-soft grade, save the softest for the end.
One caveat that matters: grade letters are not standardised between brands. A Japanese 6B (Mitsubishi, Tombow) is markedly darker and softer than a European 6B (Faber-Castell, Staedtler). So “6B” tells you a pencil’s place within its own range, not its absolute darkness. We measured this across brands — see The Darkest Pencils You Can Actually Buy for the cross-brand darkness comparison before you assume two “8B”s are the same.
The five soft pencils we recommend for shading
Ranked by how we actually use them for tonal work. Every link below goes to the product page on this site, where the current UK price and buy link live.
1. Mitsubishi Hi-uni — the smoothest soft graphite there is
If you only take one recommendation, take this one. Hi-uni’s soft grades are the creamiest, most even-laying graphite we stock — they glide and deposit tone with almost no scratch and very little crumb, which is exactly what you want for blending and gradients. The range runs the full 10B–10H, so you can shade an entire piece without leaving the brand. For shading we live on the 6B (workhorse darks) and 8B (shadow cores), with a 10B kept sharp for final accents.
Check price — Hi-uni 6B Check price — Hi-uni 8B Check price — Hi-uni 10B
2. Staedtler Mars Lumograph 100 — the firmest, cleanest darks
The European studio benchmark. The Lumograph core is firmer and less crumbly than the Japanese softs, so it holds a point longer, sheds less loose dust and gives clean, controlled darks — ideal if you hatch and cross-hatch rather than smudge-blend. Staedtler extended the line some years ago and it now reaches a true 12B at the soft end. On this site the singles run to 8B; the deepest 9B–12B grades come in the 24-pencil tin (noted because it’s easy to miss).
Check price — Lumograph 8B Check price — Lumograph 6B Check price — Lumograph Tin of 24 (12B–10H)
3. Faber-Castell 9000 — the dependable mid-tone workhorse
The pencil most of us learned to shade with, and still a quiet recommendation. The 9000 is a touch drier and harder than the Japanese softs, which makes its 6B and 8B excellent for controlled mid-tone build-up and hatching — tone goes down predictably and is easy to keep even. Its softest single grade is 8B, so reach for Hi-uni or a Lumograph 12B if you need to go deeper. Honest value for the quality.
4. Cretacolor Cleos 9B — a firm, economical true dark
Austrian-made and the value pick. Cleos runs harder and slightly more scratchy grade-for-grade than the premium names, which has a real upside: the 9B gives you a genuinely deep grade that smears less than an equally dark Japanese soft, and it costs less per pencil. A sensible choice if you like a firmer feel under the hand or you go through softs quickly.
5. Caran d’Ache Grafwood 775 — the premium, low-smudge option
Swiss, hexagonal, and the most consistent core on this list. Grafwood’s soft grades are firm and exceptionally clean — they resist smudging better than almost any other soft pencil we stock, which makes them a favourite for finished, controlled tonal drawing. Its softest grade is 9B; pair it with the 8B and 6B for a smooth descent into the darks. The premium you pay buys uniformity grade-to-grade.
Check price — Grafwood 6B Check price — Grafwood 8B Check price — Grafwood 9B
At a glance
| Pencil | Soft range | Feel | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mitsubishi Hi-uni | to 10B | Creamy, very smooth | Smooth blending & gradients |
| Staedtler Lumograph 100 | to 12B (tin) | Firm, clean | Hatching & controlled darks |
| Faber-Castell 9000 | to 8B | Dry, firm | Mid-tone build-up |
| Cretacolor Cleos | to 9B | Firm, slightly scratchy | Economical deep darks |
| Caran d’Ache Grafwood 775 | to 9B | Firm, very consistent | Low-smudge finished work |
Feel notes are from our own bench use; how a grade reads to you depends on paper, pressure and hand. Treat them as a starting point, not gospel.
Which grades give smooth, even tone?
Smoothness is technique as much as pencil. The reliable method is to build tone in light layers, working from your lighter grade up to your darker one — not to press a single dark grade hard and hope. A practical sequence for a smooth shadow:
- Lay a base of even tone with a 2B or 4B on the side of the lead (or a chisel/wedge point), light pressure, overlapping passes.
- Cross the direction of your strokes on the next layer — one pass diagonal, the next circular — so no single stroke pattern dominates.
- Deepen the darkest areas with 6B–8B, still in layers.
- Place the very darkest accents last with your softest grade, on a sharp point, in small areas only.
Many passes at low pressure beat one heavy pass every time: they fill the paper’s tooth evenly and they don’t glaze the graphite into shine. Keep a long, shallow point or use the pencil on its side to cover ground without scoring lines into the paper.
How do I avoid shine and grain in dark areas?
These are the two faults that wreck dark passages, and they have opposite causes.
Shine (graphite sheen)
Graphite is a layered mineral — the same stuff as pencil “lead” is a dry lubricant precisely because its flakes lie flat and slide. Press soft graphite hard, or over-burnish it, and you compact those flakes into a flat, mirror-like surface that reflects light as a silvery sheen, worst in your darkest areas. To keep darks matt and deep:
- Build darks in layers, not in one heavy press. Pressure is what creates the sheen, not darkness.
- Reserve the softest grade (9B–12B) for final accents. Used over large areas it shines almost immediately.
- Accept the ceiling. Past a certain point graphite cannot go darker, only shinier. If you need a deeper black, change medium (charcoal, or a black colour pencil for accents) rather than pressing harder.
- A light mist of matt workable fixative knocks back existing sheen and lets you layer again on top.
- A paper with a little tooth holds graphite without forcing it flat — very smooth papers shine sooner.
Grain (paper tooth showing through)
The opposite problem: white specks break up your tone because graphite hasn’t filled the valleys in the paper. Fixes:
- Use a softer grade — it deposits more graphite per pass and packs the tooth.
- Layer in changing directions and add passes rather than pressure.
- Blend into the tooth with a tortillon, paper stump or a piece of chamois to push graphite down into the valleys.
- Lightly fill with a harder grade (HB–2H) over a soft base — it fills tooth without adding much darkness or shine.
- For genuinely glass-smooth tone, switch to a smoother paper (hot-pressed or Bristol). The trade-off is it holds fewer layers before it shines.
Which soft pencils smudge least?
All soft graphite smudges — that is the cost of laying tone easily — but the core recipe changes how much loose dust a pencil sheds. Firmer, cleaner-binding cores travel less. In our experience, grade for grade:
- Caran d’Ache Grafwood 775 and Staedtler Mars Lumograph 100 are the cleanest — firm cores, little crumb, the easiest soft pencils to keep tidy.
- Mitsubishi Hi-uni is remarkably smooth and clean — far less smeary than most student soft pencils despite how dark it goes.
- Cretacolor Cleos is harder for its grade, so it smears least of all — the trade is you work a little harder for the darkest darks.
And regardless of pencil, four habits cut smudging more than any product choice:
- Work top to bottom and (if right-handed) left to right, so your hand never drags over finished tone.
- Keep a slip-sheet of glassine or smooth paper under your drawing hand.
- Spray light coats of workable fixative between layers.
- Save the very softest grades for the final stage.
Best pencil set for a full tonal range?
A focused cluster — HB, 2B, 4B, 6B, 8B — covers the great majority of shading and costs far less than a big tin. Buy those as singles first. If you want one boxed set that spans the whole range cleanly:
- Most complete and smoothest: the Mitsubishi Hi-uni Art Set of 22 (10B–10H) — the full Hi-uni range, the best all-round shading graphite we stock.
- Deepest single-grade darks, firm and clean: the Staedtler Lumograph Tin of 24 (12B–10H) — the only practical way to get that 12B here.
- Premium European feel, low smudge: the Caran d’Ache Grafwood 775 Tin of 15 (9B–4H).
Browse the full range any time in the graphite pencils catalogue or by maker in all brands.
FAQ
What pencils are used for shading and sketching?
Soft grades from about 2B to 8B for shading, plus an HB for light construction lines. For sketching and shading from one pencil, a 2B or 4B is the most versatile single choice. Our picks above — Hi-uni, Lumograph, 9000, Cleos and Grafwood — are the lines we recommend across that range.
Is a 6B or an 8B better for shading?
Both, for different jobs. A 6B is the better all-day shading grade — dark, fast, but still controllable. An 8B is for your shadow cores and deepest darks. If you can only buy one, buy the 6B.
Why do my dark areas look silver instead of black?
That is graphite sheen, caused by pressing or burnishing soft graphite until its flakes compact into a reflective surface. Build darks in light layers instead of one hard pass, keep the softest grades for final accents only, and if you need a deeper black than graphite can give, switch to charcoal rather than pressing harder. A light matt fixative also reduces the shine.
Which soft pencil smudges the least?
Among the soft grades we stock, Caran d’Ache Grafwood 775 and Staedtler Mars Lumograph 100 are the cleanest, with Mitsubishi Hi-uni close behind despite how dark it goes. Cretacolor Cleos smears least of all because it is harder for its grade. Technique — a slip-sheet, working away from your hand, and fixative between layers — matters more than the brand.
Do I need a 9B or 12B?
Only for final accents, and only if you genuinely run out of darkness at 8B. Most shading never needs anything softer than 8B. If you do want the extreme darks, a Lumograph 12B (in the Tin of 24) or a Hi-uni 10B is the place to go — used sparingly, on a sharp point.
Does the same grade mean the same darkness across brands?
No. Grade letters place a pencil within its own maker’s range, not on a universal scale. Japanese lines (Hi-uni, Mono 100) run darker and softer than European ones (9000, Lumograph) at the same grade. See our cross-brand darkness comparison before assuming two grades match.