Extra soft, extra black graphite pencil. General's Layout pencil is a soft, ebony-black, thick and versatile graphite sketching pencil for artists of all levels. A favorite tool used by animators, illustrators, cartoonists, designers and artists since the 1930's. General's Layout cores are bonded to the wood with the exclusive 'Carbo-Weld' bonding process for added strength and reliability. Use it to draw preliminary sketches, to 'layout' drawings before painting over them, or to add intense blacks and shading to detailed drawings. Handcrafted with responsibly harvested, sustained yield incense cedar wood to ensure smooth sharpening and strength.