I am working both here as well as on a Watts Atelier online drawing subscription. The atelier seems to recommend a mix of Conte, Wolff Carbon and General’s charcoal pencils. My understanding is that the Conte 1710 and Wolff’s Carbon are essentially proprietary graphite/charcoal blends. I also have Faber-Castell Pitt Graphite Pencils and Staedtler Mars Lumograph Black pencils which are also graphite/carbon blends. I am partial to the Faber-Castill Pitt Graphite Pencils and would like to use them instead of the Conte or Wolff pencils. They feel much smoother to me, and I can also usually get away quite easily with sharpening them in a good quality manual sharpener (KUM “Automatic Long Point” dual slot sharpener) which I do prefer over the Xacto knife/sandpaper block method. They are not as dark as the Wolff and Conte pencils but still seem to me to be plenty dark. There is a very slight hint of the graphite sheen to the laid-down markings but it still does not look obtrusive to me. I am also OK with the Staedtler Mars Lumograph Black pencils but generally prefer the feel of the Faber-Castells. Anybody using these pencils for their assignments? If yes, have you gotten a slap on the wrist from the instructors for deviating from the instructions? What is your experience using them. I will probably go ahead and submit my next couple of assignments this way and see. I am also tinkering with the Wolff’s and Conte(s) in the meantime (the Conte(s) 1710 are simply awful). The Wolff pencils are fairly usable but I still strongly prefer the Faber-Castells. Any input or feedback appreciated. To make sure everyboy understands what I am talking about these are the pencils I am referring to: https://www.fabercastell.com/products/pitt-graphite-matte-pencil?srsltid=AfmBOooBbvr40xVf8TIhlmlv4NXByMy6y8Ljbb4FSOT4b3kAjnfbKn_X