Vishal: I think the thing that makes it for me is the variety of texture and sort of micro textures that you get within it. I actually do a lot of structured lettering, so for a change I tried the graffiti style of writing for this particular piece. So there’s about five or six different timbers that go into these and the wood that goes into the Nataraj Pencils has changed probably two or three times in the last 60 years.

Hindustan Pencils is a market leader with a 45% market share and is the largest manufacturer in India, making over 8.Vishal: And yes, you can go in and you can use a blade and a craft knife and whittle away a point or whittle away an entire exposed lead. I don’t even remember, but it’s maybe a dollar or so for a box of 20 of these which comes with the sharpener and an eraser. Vishal: Right, because the quality of the metal in those blades is not as good as that of a an actual sharpener that you spend money on.

So ever since then there has been an entire cavalcade of local trees that they have found to be good for pencils. Vishal: It’s fantastic to know that these are still wood, they’re not some space age or cheap composite material that you would expect them to be by now. And pencil enthusiasts feel that the Apsara Platinum Extra Dark is probably somewhere between a B and a 2B as far as actual grade is concerned.You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice. We would love to send you the best offers relevant for your child from time to time and so we have added these details to your FirstCry. These assessments are conducted by Inkarto, a trusted quality assurance partner, ensuring that each item meets or exceeds industry benchmarks. But, yeah, say for hair, I start off with a lock like that, then I’ll sketch until the highlight and then it’s just a matter of working it over time. Well, it’s a nice pencil, I’ve also tried using the Lyra and Kohinoor pencils recently which I kind of prefer over these.

It’s perfect for pocket carry and mimics the pencils- the inside of mine is yellow and the outside is black.Samir: Which is why I assume and again while Vishal is drawing maybe he doesn’t think about this but as he’s drawing he’s probably rotating it a little. New: A brand-new, unused, unopened and undamaged item in original retail packaging (where packaging . Watch to find out what we think about this ubiquitous pencil with it’s distinctive black and silver colours.