I wanted to compare different brands so I could decided which one was best for my needs, I thought Conte à Paris was going to be my favourite. I used Faber Castell pencils as a base comparison.

The Faber Castell Pitt was the smoothest, not far off the pencils. But I feel the grades are marked wrong. The 3B seems more like a 2B and the 6B seems more like a 4B. The 9B is very close to the 6B I don't see a need for it.

The Caran D'Ache Grafstone felt the nicest to work with, but it had the thinnest stick compared to the rest. The grades compared to the Castell 9000 are darker but you can see the difference in the three.

The Conte was very soft, almost like a coloured or pastel pencil. The 2B, 4B, and 6B all look the same. Conte provided the darkest shades, even compared to the Pitt 9B.

The Derwent Graphitone are watersoluble. They went down smooth just like the Castell 9000 and Pitt, but they all look like they are the same grade. Perhaps when you use water with them you see more of a difference between them.

I was expecting the Conte to be my favourite but it turned out not to be. All the graphite sticks turned out darker than the 9000 pencils.
I think my selection would be the Caran D'Ache Grafstone along with the Pitt HB as it seems a step lighter than the Grafstone HB.

What's you weapon of choice? Do you use graphite sticks when urban sketching?

Comparing different brands of graphite stick for urban drawing