
In addition to their classic pencils, they create notebooks, pencil cases and sharpeners to complement their writing tools. The high-quality Japanese graphite they use tends to be darker and smoother than other graphite, so their pencils are bold and never scratchy.Īs if those weren’t enough reasons to love Blackwing pencils, they donate a portion of all their sales to help fund arts education. The replacement erasers also come in different colors, so you can have fun customizing your pencils!īlackwings are longer than a typical pencil, making them particularly comfortable for drawing with, and they come in four different grades of lead (more on this below). Second, they’re rectangular, so they have small corners that are useful for erasing little details. The erasers are one of the most beloved aspects of these pencils, for two reasons: first, they’re replaceable and extendable, so unlike the erasers on typical wooden pencils, they won’t wear down long before the lead. Blackwing Pearl pencils come in a 12-pack gift box that. The unique rectangular black eraser can be extended as it wears down from use, and also pops out completely from the pencil body for replacement. With their sleek black finish, these pencils have a decidedly retro look. Why Blackwing?īlackwing pencils are prized for their high-quality graphite that rarely breaks, incense-cedar wood that sharpens easily, and distinctive flat ferrule and rectangular eraser. Each pencil features a classic pearl white finish, iconic square Blackwing ferrule and white eraser. Blackwing pencils are ideal for illustrators and writers who prefer a soft, dark line. In this guide, we explain some of the reasons that Blackwing pencils are so beloved, the differences between their four classic pencil types, and the story of their limited edition pencils. In addition to recreating the famous Blackwing 602, they created pencils with a range of harder and softer leads, suitable for artists, writers, musicians, and pencil fans of all stripes. Animators, cartoonists and writers swore by this pencil, said to write with “Half the Pressure, Twice the Speed.” When it was discontinued in 1998, disconsolate fans took to eBay to buy up all the Blackwings they could find, until 2010, when the Blackwing brand was revived by the Palomino pencil company. The pencil itself is available in three degrees of hardness: HB (Palomino Blackwing 602), 2–4B (Palomino Blackwing Pearl) and 4–6B (Palomino Blackwing).Blackwing pencils have had something of a cult following ever since Eberhard Faber produced the original Blackwing 602 pencil in the 1930’s. And because the white eraser does obliterate lines and drawings so much better, we just offer the white one as a replacement. The ferrule doesn’t hold the eraser tightly enough, so at times it slips when erasing. Besides its growing fan community, there is one deficiency, we don’t care to hide: the construction and quality of the eraser. The verdict returned was positive: The 602 is a formidable tool for writing and drawing and passed our little test with bravado. While the erudite (and not so erudite) inhabitants of the internet are disputing the acceptability of the reissue, we decided to form our own judgement and distributed the pencil in our offices. The Blackwing went from a pencil to an icon. Their superior quality and distinct look made them the pencil of choice for Pulitzer, Grammy, and Academy award-winning creators from Chuck Jones to John Steinbeck and Stephen Sondheim throughout the 20th century. So another American firm decided to reissue the Blackwing. Blackwing 602 pencils were first introduced in the 1930s. Just a short time after the production stop the remaining stock was in high demand. When the American producer shut down the production of the Blackwing 602 in 1998, no one suspected that it had attracted a community of genuine pencil enthusiasts. The pencil was manufactured by the Eberhard Faber Pencil Company from 1934 to 1988, by the Faber-Castell pencil company from 1988 to 1994 and by Sanford, based in Oak Brook, Illinois, from 1994 to 1998. The Blackwing 602 is noted for its soft, dark graphite, unique flat square ferrule, and replaceable eraser.
