Do you like drawing? I used to draw a lot as a child, but kind of fell off after I got older
I always liked drawing with charcoal. It's nice because you can use white charcoal for highlights.
I never got a chance, I usually used colored pencil or markers, but I would not mind trying to use charcoal!
Did you ever try Prismacolor colored pencils from Berol? They aren't cheap, but they are really the best.