Review on 🎨 Water-soluble Graphite Tin, Grey - Art Graf 20g by Linda Diaz

This thing is damn cool. I don't even know where to start - okay, the glass is really good for starters. It's small, light, the only extra weight is the graphite inside. It measures just under 2 inches in diameter and just over half an inch thick. It fits easily in a pocket or purse and takes up little space unlike a watercolor kit. I use the top of the can to pour the graphite and the bottom where the graphite sits is covered in plastic that has a "stand" for the graphite and a sort of mini moat around that stand, so the graphite doesn't sit in the water and get wet. It's pretty cool and a subtle touch of ingenuity in the design. As for the actual graphite; You can take it out of the can and use it as a graphite block, but it tends to crumble a bit. I chipped the edges on mine a bit when I took it out to see the plastic underneath. It's also quite thick, about 1/8 inch below the half inch mark. There is a lot of graphite in it and it is very easy to pick up with a brush. It doesn't look like it because it absorbs water from the brush and dries instantly, but believe me it's already on your brush. It dries fairly quickly to a glossy graphite finish. It has a graininess that I like that mimics the texture of dry graphite running across paper. This is by far the most accurate water-soluble representation of graphite I've tried. I've tried Daniel Smith's Graphite (which is much thinner and smoother, doesn't mimic the texture of graphite as much as I'd like, but is a great solution if you want a smooth graphite finish) and have my own tried out. Homemade graphite paint that dries to a matte grainy finish. It can be wiped off to a certain extent after it has dried completely. Although it seems to dry faster than watercolor paint, only the top coat stays dry. It takes about five minutes for the paper to dry completely and allow for a bit of erasing. You also need to let the layers dry for a few more minutes even if they appear dry, otherwise you could accidentally reactivate the still-damp base and peel off the layers completely. After the third drawing, I learned how to dry them well. After drying, it can also be smudged like a regular pencil, but there is a slight inconsistency when trying to draw on it with graphite pencils. The lead in pencils (I've tried 3H, HB, 3B, 6B, and 8B from various manufacturers) is much shinier than the glossy finish you get from this graphite, so you'll either have to skip drawing or use a pencil. Blend the stump to fade out the shine or spray a matte top coat/fixer to make it even. From the three (6x9) drawings I've used so far, I've barely made a noticeable dent in the small washer. It will certainly take some time before it decreases. I added my third painting where I learned to let the layers dry and where I avoided the pencil to avoid that fickle sheen. So this is pure Artgraf graphite that has been painted with a water brush and lightly erased with an eraser for highlights. I definitely love how it can pass for a graphite drawing even though it's a painting.