Cretacolor 'Monolith', deriving from the Greek for 'stone out of one flush', as objects consisting of one piece are termed 'monolithic', consist of pure graphite lead with a thin laquer coating on the exterior. Monolith pencils can be used to create a precision mark or thicker, expressive marks and can be easily sharpened with a standard pencil sharpener. The pencil is available in a range of hardnesses; HB, 2B, 4B, 6B, 8B and 9B while a water soluble version is also available.