Reddit reviews Generals Charcoal Drawing Set, White/Black, Set of 4 Pencils and 1 Eraser - 321742
We found 2 Reddit comments about Generals Charcoal Drawing Set, White/Black, Set of 4 Pencils and 1 Eraser - 321742. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
General's Charcoal Drawing Kit comes with 5 non-toxic, latex-free pieces, including three charcoal pencils (6B, 4B, 2B), one white charcoal pencil and one kneaded eraser. Eraser is perfect for fine work and for removing charcoal from areas. White pencil is ideal for highlights and works well as a wash-out pencil for marking on fabrics.An economical choice for art studentsProudly made in the U.S.A.Eraser is PVC freeGreat for sketching, shading and blending
International shipping rates is why.
I mean, I was in New Zealand a few months ago, and I saw General's Pencils sets in a major bookstore chain there. Take one item which is listed at 13.99 NZD, or about 9 bucks USD. The same item in the US is under 5.00 on Amazon, and not much more in a retail location. So I certainly wasn't going to buy any of those there...but, European art supplies were much cheaper there than what I was used to paying in the US. I splurged on Staedtler pencils and French gouache while I was there, lol.
I have used Japanese forwarding services, they do the job well. But...using Tenso's calculator for shipping+handling on the item (finding out the exact weight per box), and the listed price on Amazon JP....technically the Amazon US seller is cheaper (about 8 bucks and free shipping, vs 10-11 depending on exchange fluctuations. Some banks in the US charge foreign transaction fees, too.). Markups at JetPens aren't too much worse (1.05/pencil, so 12.60 for 12 of them). Kinokuniya, a Japanese bookstore may sell these, and I remember a slightly similar pencil (9800) being about 1.00 a pencil.
Don't use a pencil sharpener. Use a razor blade or very sharp knife to remove the wood and shape the charcoal down a bit, and finish it off with some fine sandpaper. Like this, though I've never known anyone to wear safety goggles while sharpening a pencil.
Doing it by hand like this lets you get a long, tapered tip, which is really useful for putting in big areas of tone, and if you turn the pencil as you work the point stays pointy while you work.
Also, $5 a pencil for charcoal pencils is ridiculous, unless you're living way out in the wilds. Charcoal is cheap. You can get a set of Generals Charcoal Pencils with a kneaded eraser for well under $10.