The Blackwing pencils stand out right away, their beautiful design is just stunning. But that's certainly not the only thing that the Blackwing pencils are known for. The Blackwing pencils are known for the quality of the graphite and the inspiration they have given over the years. And that packaging: Super beautiful, right ?! Still a bonus;).
Quite a few legendary Grammy, Emmy and Pulitzer and Academy Award winners have created their work with Blackwing pencils. For example Bugs Bunny from Looney Tunes is drawn with a Blackwing pencil. The pencils have been made since 1930, but the production of the pencils stopped in 1998. There was too little demand for the pencils and when the machine stopped working, the line was discontinued. Soon fans on Ebay paid $ 40 for one pencil. Palomino has reintroduced the pencil to make it available again. The 602 is the original version, but some other types have also been added.
The Blackwing pencils
All pencils are made from California cedar wood, which keeps the pencils with a pleasant fragrance for a long time. The graphite is soft, but also dark and sharp. The graphite is made in Japan, therefore it's softer than normal pencils, but the point remains nice and sharp when used. The Blackwings are longer than normal pencils. Most pencils stop where the gold-colored cap begins. With a longer pencil you can make elegant lines more easily.
Difference between the pencils:
Black pencil - Blackwing Regular
The black pencil is the softest and darkest of the three. This was also one of the pencils that was returned to production. This pencil is comparable to a 4B. By pressing softly you can draw fairly light lines, but by adding more pressure they leave a fairly dark line. This pencil is the best for artwork. The pencil also doesn't crumble when used.
Gray pencil - Blackwing 602
The gray pencil is the hardest of the bunch, and is comparable to a 2B pencil. This pencil is ideal for writing and is the closest to the original Blackwing pencil.
White pencil - Blackwing Pearl
The white pencil is a bit softer than the black Regular pencil and is comparable to a 3B pencil. It is a slightly lighter pencil but still soft and this pencil stays sharp longer than the Regular. So do you want to sharpen less often but want a sharp pencil? Then you probably prefer Pearl. The balance of hardness makes it an ideal pencil for both drawing and writing.
Wooden pencil - Natural
The wooden pencil is comparable to an HB pencil and is the hardest of the collection.
Limited editions: Blackwing Volumes
Palomino Blackwing develops a unique themed limited edition pencil. Thus, they are temporarily available.
Blackwing accessories
In addition to the well-known pencils, Blackwing has also designed a pencil sharpener that you cannot actually see separately from the pencils. With the sharpener you can get very sharp points on your pencils. With sharpener number 1 you sharpen the wood and with number two the graphite. The sharpener is slightly more expensive than regular sharpeners, but remains sharp for a long time due to the spare blades that are supplied with the sharpener.
If you have any questions, please let us know in the comments! <3
You can find all the Blackwing products here.
Love,
Judith