Faber-Castell Pitt Graphite Matte Review: Do These Pencils Really Kill Graphite Shine?

Introduction

Graphite shine has quietly ruined more realistic drawings than almost any other supply problem. You spend hours building smooth values, then tilt the page toward the light and watch the whole thing turn into a mirror. That is exactly the problem the Faber-Castell Pitt Graphite Matte pencil set claims to solve, marketed as the world’s first extremely matte, ultra-matte graphite with reduced light reflections and maximum depth.

Those are bold claims, so the obvious question is whether they hold up in real drawing conditions. After swatching every grade, testing blending and erasing, and completing a full portrait, the short answer is mostly yes, with one small caveat worth knowing about before you buy.

What’s in the 11-Piece Set

The set reviewed here is the 11-piece version. Inside you get eight pencils, a chunky blending stump, a small sharpener, and an eraser. The grade range is unusually deep: HB sits at the light end, and the darkest pencil is a 14B, which goes well beyond the 8B that most artists consider the realistic ceiling for standard graphite.

That extended dark range matters for portraits and any subject that needs genuinely deep values without switching to charcoal. Even at HB, the graphite laid down visibly leans matte rather than glossy, which shows up immediately when you press lightly for the palest values.

Blending and Erasing Performance

Blending is where most graphite sets live or die, and these pencils handled it well. Layers went down smoothly and blended out without fight, which matters because graphite artists tend to use many different techniques in a single piece. The included blending stump works, though it felt quite hard straight out of the box and was slightly risky on paper surface. Lightly rubbing it on a sandpaper block softened it up nicely; a tissue remains the better tool for larger areas like skin.

Erasing was a genuine highlight. Even a deliberately dark swatch erased almost completely, which is great news if you pull out highlights and fine texture with a stick eraser, or lift soft skin highlights with a kneaded eraser. The graphite also laid down with no gritty scratchy bits, so there was no risk of sharp particles tearing into the paper mid-shade.

Putting Them to the Test: A Full Portrait

To judge the pencils properly, they were used for a complete graphite portrait of two young children on Fabriano Artistico hot pressed watercolor paper. Watercolor paper is a solid pairing for graphite and charcoal because it takes many layers, holds plenty of pigment, and lets values read richer and darker.

Two things stood out during the drawing. First, the pencils held their point remarkably well. Soft grades like 6B and 8B usually wear down fast and demand constant sharpening, but these leads are firm and needed far less attention. Second, the feel is closer to a colored pencil than a traditional graphite or charcoal pencil: firm, slightly waxy-oily and smooth, reminiscent of Faber-Castell Polychromos rather than anything chalky. For anyone who enjoys colored pencil work, this makes the transition genuinely pleasant.

The Shine Test: Matte or Marketing?

The whole reason this set exists is shine, so the final portrait was tilted in every direction under strong light. The result is genuinely impressive. The drawing reads as very, very matte overall, with only a faint shimmer remaining in the darkest areas where the 14B was used. It is not completely zero-shine, but the improvement is dramatic.

A direct side-by-side against regular graphite pencils made the difference obvious. Under the brightest available light, conventional graphite reflected heavily and aggressively. The matte set still carried a subtle sheen, but it was nowhere near the same level. If graphite shine is the reason you abandoned the medium, these pencils are a legitimate reason to come back.

Buying Advice

This set makes sense for realistic portrait artists, anyone who builds drawings in many layers, and anyone who lifts highlights with erasers, since erase-ability is excellent. It also suits artists who dislike gritty, scratchy graphite, because these leads go down remarkably smooth. The firm, colored-pencil-like feel means colored pencil artists will feel at home faster than traditional graphite users.

One small note: expect to prep the included blending stump on a sandpaper block before it blends comfortably, and keep a tissue on hand for larger areas. That is a minor inconvenience in an otherwise very strong set.

Conclusion

The Faber-Castell Pitt Graphite Matte set largely delivers on its bold claims. The matte laydown is real, the dark 14B extends your value range, points hold well, blending and erasing behave, and the shine reduction compared to regular graphite is massive. A faint shimmer survives in the darkest passages, but for anyone who quit graphite because of glare, this is the most convincing fix to come along in years and an easy recommendation.