Mad Charcoal Set Review: Premium Charcoal Kit at a Surprisingly Low Price

Introduction

Charcoal kits from professional artists are usually expensive, and they usually come with compromises. The Mad Charcoal set, created by portrait artist Josh Hernandez, manages to be neither. It arrives in packaging that genuinely feels premium, contains a full toolkit for charcoal work, and is priced so low that it was initially hard to believe the listed price was correct.

The set was created by Josh Hernandez, an artist raised in Los Angeles and now based in Phoenix, Arizona, whose charcoal portraits and religious imagery are striking enough that watching his process is half the appeal. He has a habit of throwing charcoal dust onto canvas and pulling masterpieces out of the dust with a kneaded eraser, and this kit is clearly built around that way of working. He also asked for an honest verdict on his own product, so this review reflects exactly that.

What’s Inside the Mad Charcoal Set

The box itself is the first surprise. It compares favourably to the premium packaging of high-end pencil ranges, with a clean interior, a QR code linking to the Mad Charcoal website, and every item seated in protective rubber foam inlay. It looks and feels like a product costing considerably more.

The contents cover everything needed for charcoal work:

• A kneaded eraser, essential for lifting highlights the way Hernandez does
• Three blocks of compressed charcoal
• Large chunks of Mad willow charcoal, far bigger than the thin strips found in typical sketch sets
• A tray of charcoal powder with a spatula tool and replaceable pads
• Three woodless charcoal pencils with the Mad logo
• A paper blending stump
• A pencil extender for using pencils down to the last stub

Every item in the box can also be purchased individually from the Mad Charcoal website, and the brand also sells a Mad Charcoal Sketch Pad, which pairs naturally with this kit.

Charcoal Quality and Application

Cheaper charcoal sets are typically filled with binders such as gum arabic, wax, or clay, which means scratchy application and dull values. Testing this set against charcoal from brands including Caran d’Ache, Derwent, and Conté showed none of those problems. There were no scratchy bits of clay, no snagging on paper, and no dead grey tones.

The compressed charcoal blocks lay down buttery smooth, deeply dark values, and are precise enough for fine detail work such as wisps of hair in a portrait. Blending on vellum surfaces is effortless, and layering the powder builds up beautifully when darker values are needed.

The willow chunks deserve a special mention. Most sketch sets include a few thin willow strips; these are large, satisfying pieces that produce gorgeous dark values with light pressure and go even darker when pushed. The woodless pencils sharpen easily, have a protective film on the outside so hands stay clean, and respond predictably to pressure changes.

Working With the Powder, Willow, and Pencils

The charcoal powder tray, used with the spatula and its pads, is the most distinctive part of the set. It lets you cover large areas quickly and lift or move charcoal across the surface without ever touching the paper with your fingers, which matters when working on high-grade cotton or artist papers where skin oils can create uneven patches.

For anyone unfamiliar with the technique, it works much like pan pastels: pick up powder with the pad, apply and manipulate on the paper, then build layers until the value is right. Combined with the kneaded eraser for lifting highlights, this is the same subtractive approach Hernandez uses in his own studio work, and it makes the kit feel genuinely designed around a real professional process rather than assembled from generic components.

Testing on Different Papers

Testing covered Strathmore 300 series Bristol vellum, Strathmore grey toned paper, and Canson Pastelmat. On vellum and mixed media style surfaces, the charcoal blends beautifully and manipulation is easy. On Pastelmat, the sanded surface grips the charcoal firmly, which makes moving and lifting the material noticeably harder, so highlights are more difficult to pull out.

A demonstration piece, a recognisable high-contrast portrait-style image with dramatic lightning highlights, was completed on Canson Pastelmat. Even on a surface less suited to manipulation, the set performed well, and the values achievable across the full range of tools are consistently rich and deep. Vellum or the Mad Charcoal Sketch Pad would be the recommended pairing for most artists.

Learning From the Artist

Beyond the physical kit, buying into the Mad Charcoal brand opens the door to Josh Hernandez’s own teaching. His website offers a fast portrait gesture drawing course with lifetime access for a one-time purchase, plus a more affordable Mad Pastel Palette mini course at $49, also with lifetime access. For artists at any level who want to learn his exact process for creating powerful, professional charcoal art, the courses are a genuinely affordable opportunity to learn from a master of the medium.

Things to Consider Before Buying

Honesty was a requirement here, so it is worth noting the one shortfall. The set would benefit from a white charcoal pencil or a compressed white charcoal block for adding bright accents. It is a minor gap, since highlights can be pulled out with the kneaded eraser, but beginners in particular might appreciate having one white charcoal option included. That is the only fault, and even that is a suggestion rather than a complaint.

Buying Advice

For a new artist just starting out, or a professional looking to get into charcoal, this kit is close to ideal. It is priced so that almost anyone can enter the medium, the quality matches or beats far more expensive sets, and the packaging, presentation, and feel all read as premium. The unbeatable price point combined with lifetime-access courses from the artist himself makes the overall package remarkable value.

Conclusion

The Mad Charcoal set is a premium product at an inexpensive price, with smooth, deep, scratch-free charcoal across every component, packaging that rivals the best in the industry, and a clear connection to the working process of a genuinely talented portrait artist. Add a white charcoal pencil separately if highlights matter to your work, and this set is hard to fault.