Conte Crayon

Conté

Conté, also called the Conté stick or Conté crayon, is a drawing medium composed of compressed powdered graphite or charcoal mixed with a clay base, square in cross-section. It was invented in 1795 by Nicolas-Jacques Conté, who created the combination of clay and graphite in response to the shortage of graphite caused by the Napoleonic Wars. Conté crayons had the advantage of being cost-effective to produce, and easy to manufacture in controlled grades of hardness.

Crayon

A crayon is a stick of pigmented wax used for writing or drawing. Wax crayons differ from pastels, in which the pigment is mixed with a dry binder such as gum arabic, and from oil pastels, where the binder is a mixture of wax and oil.

conte

Noun

1. An Italian count.

crayon

Noun

1. A stick of colored chalk or wax used for drawing.
2. A colored pencil, a colouring pencil

Verb

1. To draw with a crayon.