Walk into any UK art shop and two hexagonal pencils sit side by side on the rack: the blue-lacquered Staedtler Mars Lumograph 100 and the dark green Faber-Castell Castell 9000. Both are German, both have been made for the best part of a century — the 9000 has been in production since 1905 — and both cost about the same. For most British art students, foundation-year sketchers and anyone furnishing a first proper drawing kit, the real decision is between these two and almost nothing else.
Most comparisons online wave their hands at "feel" and leave it there. Because we stock both ranges, we can settle the part that actually matters with numbers: Staedtler makes the Lumograph in 24 grades, 12B to 10H. Faber-Castell makes the 9000 in 16, 8B to 6H. That single fact decides more of this argument than any amount of talk about smoothness, so we'll start there and work outwards.
The short answer
Buy the Lumograph if you draw tonally — portraits, dark masses, full-range value studies. The extra soft grades (9B through 12B) and the slightly darker, waxier laydown give you blacks the 9000 simply can't reach off the shelf.
Buy the Castell 9000 if you work tight and technical — line work, hatching, detail, anything where a point that holds is worth more than a deep black. Its lead is firmer for a given grade and keeps an edge longer.
Neither is "better". They're tuned differently, and the right one depends on how you draw, not on which brand a YouTuber prefers.
In a hurry? For tonal drawing and deep darks, the Staedtler Lumograph →. For crisp technical line work, the Faber-Castell 9000 →.
Grade range: where the duel is actually decided
This is the difference nobody quantifies, and it's the most consequential one. Both lines use the standard European grade scale (B for black/soft, H for hard, with F and HB in the middle), but they don't span the same distance along it.
| Pencil | Softest | Hardest | Degrees | Range character |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Staedtler Mars Lumograph 100 | 12B | 10H | 24 | Unusually deep at both ends |
| Faber-Castell Castell 9000 | 8B | 6H | 16 | Generous middle, shorter tails |
| Derwent Graphic (the British third option) | 9B | 9H | 20 | Wide range, lower price |
For most drawing the difference is academic — the action happens between about 2H and 6B, and both pencils cover that comfortably. But if you push into really dark territory, the Lumograph's 9B, 10B, 11B and 12B are four grades of black the Castell 9000 doesn't offer. The 9000 caps out at 8B. (If sheer darkness is what you're after, see the darkest pencils you can actually buy across every brand.) Likewise, draughtsmen who want a very hard, light point get 7H to 10H from Staedtler that Faber-Castell doesn't make in this line.
So: if your work lives in the extremes, the Lumograph wins on availability alone, before feel even enters the conversation.
Smoother, or harder-wearing?
Both pencils use bonded ("break-resistant") leads — Staedtler and Faber-Castell each fuse the graphite core to the wood along its length so it survives knocks and sharpening, and both sharpen to a clean point without crumbling. The difference is in how the core behaves once it's on the paper.
- Lumograph — smoother. The laydown is a touch waxier and glides more, which is why it blends and layers so willingly. The trade-off is that a fine point softens and rounds off a little faster, so you sharpen more often when doing detail.
- Castell 9000 — harder-wearing. The lead feels firmer and slightly drier for the same nominal grade. It holds a sharp point longer and gives a crisper line, which is exactly what you want for hatching and technical work. The cost is that it doesn't glide or blend quite as luxuriously.
A note on honesty: "smoother" and "harder-wearing" here are the long-standing consensus among artists and our own bench impression, not a lab measurement. The grade-range figures above are hard catalogue data; the feel notes are qualitative. We'd rather flag that than dress an opinion up as a spec.
Do the grades match between them?
Roughly, but not exactly — and this trips people up. A grade label is a manufacturer's claim, not an industry-calibrated standard, so a "4B" from one maker isn't guaranteed to match a "4B" from another. Most artists find the Lumograph reads a touch softer and darker than the Castell 9000 at the same label, with the difference most obvious once you get into the soft grades. It's a tendency, not a fixed offset — treat it as a rule of thumb, not a conversion chart.
The practical upshot: don't mix the two brands inside a single tonal drawing and expect a seamless value ramp. Pick one line for a piece, learn where its grades fall, and stay in that system. If you already own one set and are topping up, buy more of the same — not the other brand at "the same grade".
Which is better value?
The two are priced within pennies of each other in the UK, whether you buy singles or tins, so value comes down to format and fit rather than headline price. A couple of honest observations:
- Singles are the expensive way to buy either pencil, but they're the right call when you only lean on three or four grades. Most sketchers live on HB, 2B, 4B and 6B and rarely touch the rest of a tin.
- The tin of 12 is the sweet spot for a student building a first range — far cheaper per pencil than buying singles, and a 12-grade spread covers almost everything coursework throws at you.
- If budget is the deciding factor, the British-made Derwent Graphic typically undercuts both Germans while offering a 9B–9H range that out-spans the 9000. It's a little scratchier and less refined, but for learning the grades it's hard to argue with.
Technical work vs tonal drawing
If you only remember one thing, remember this pairing:
| You mostly do… | Reach for | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Portraits, value studies, blending, deep shadow | Lumograph | Darker, smoother laydown; soft grades to 12B; layers and smudges willingly |
| Line work, hatching, architectural / technical detail | Castell 9000 | Firmer core holds a fine point; crisp, controllable line; clean H grades |
| Field sketching / everyday on a budget | Derwent Graphic | Wide range, lower price, good enough for learning and travel |
Plenty of serious draughtspeople keep both on the desk — a 9000 for the drawing-up and detail, a Lumograph for the tonal finish. They're complementary far more than they're rivals, and at these prices owning a few of each is no extravagance.
Where to buy (UK)
We stock both lines as singles from 8B to 6H, plus the boxed sets. The full 12B–10H Lumograph span only comes in the Tin of 24 — worth knowing if it was those deep blacks that sold you. Every link below goes straight to the product page, where the live Amazon price sits.
Staedtler Mars Lumograph 100 — single grades (8B–6H) Check price on Amazon — the tonal drawer's default Faber-Castell Castell 9000 — single grades (8B–6H) Check price on Amazon — the technical drawer's default Staedtler Mars Lumograph 100 — Tin of 12 (6B–4H) Check price on Amazon — the best-value start for most sketchers Staedtler Mars Lumograph 100 — Tin of 24 (12B–10H) Check price on Amazon — the only way to get the full 12B–10H span Faber-Castell Castell 9000 Art Set — Tin of 12 (8B–2H) Check price on Amazon — a complete student range in one tin Derwent Graphic — the budget British alternative Check price on Amazon — wide 9B–9H range, lower priceWhatever pencils you choose, these are the accessories we reach for daily (Amazon UK; as an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases):
- KUM long-point sharpener → — a two-step sharpener for a long, artist's point
- Faber-Castell kneaded eraser → — lifts graphite for highlights without tearing paper
- Staedtler Mars Plastic eraser → — clean, precise erasing for crisp edges
- Blending stumps & tortillons → — for smooth tonal blends and soft gradients
FAQ
- Lumograph vs 9000 — which is better for drawing?
- For tonal drawing — portraits, shading, full value range — the Staedtler Lumograph has the edge thanks to a smoother, darker laydown and soft grades down to 12B. For tight line and technical work the Faber-Castell 9000's firmer point is preferable. Neither is universally better; it depends on whether you value blendable darkness or a crisp, long-holding point.
- Which is smoother and which is harder-wearing?
- The Lumograph is smoother and waxier on the paper, so it blends and layers more easily but needs sharpening a touch more often. The Castell 9000 has a firmer, drier core that holds a fine point longer and gives a crisper line — harder-wearing, slightly less glide.
- Do the grades match between the two brands?
- Roughly, but not exactly. Grade labels aren't an industry-calibrated standard, and the Lumograph tends to run a little softer and darker than the 9000 at the same label. Don't mix the two within one drawing expecting a seamless tonal ramp — pick one line per piece.
- Which is better value?
- They're priced within pennies of each other in the UK, so value comes down to format. The tin of 12 is the sweet spot for students. If price is the deciding factor, the British-made Derwent Graphic usually undercuts both and offers a wider range than the 9000.
- Which suits technical work, and which suits tonal drawing?
- Castell 9000 for technical and detail work — its firm core keeps a sharp, controllable point. Lumograph for tonal and tonal-finish work — its darker, smoother grades and 12B–10H range cover the full value scale. Many artists keep both: a 9000 for drawing-up, a Lumograph for the shading.
Specs verified against our live catalogue on 28/06/2026. Grade ranges reflect the current production pencils. Feel and darkness notes are qualitative artist consensus and our own bench impression, not measured reflectance.