Today’s advent calendar item was non-watercolor: the Kokuyo Enpitsu mechanical pencil, which is notable for having really thick lead: 1.3mm. This is nearly twice as thick as the typical 0.7mm lead.
I got this because I like thick lead. I usually favor 0.7mm lead over 0.5mm, because I don’t like breakage and prefer a less-fine line, especially for loose sketching. I enjoyed this pencil which fills the gap between a sharp pencil and a lead holder (which I also enjoy using as a pencil).
The lead that comes with it is 2B, which is on the soft / dark side. It’s good for sketching and blending but not good for archival sketches or for under watercolor, because it smears a lot. On the other hand, it doesn’t emboss the paper the way hard pencils can. Still, I think I’d prefer a balanced HB lead (which is also available in this size).