First Impressions - Palomino Blackwing

It's good to know I'm not the only pencil fanatic!

Here are two wonderful first impressions of the new Palomino Blackwing pencils by two great artist friends.  Be careful graphite artists....the Blackwings are addictive. 

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Stranded at home while my car is in the shop this morning, I opened the package that came in yesterday. I saved it for this morning, knowing that I'd be cranky.

My roommate was unsympathetic. She knows I went to Goodwill yesterday to find a raincoat and paid $10 for it. So she pokes at me for spending twice that on a dozen Palomino Blackwing pencils.

"It's a pencil." she says, after I let her pick one up.

Granted, she hasn't finished her coffee yet. And she was waiting with irritation for her laptop to come up so she could read the news. But she accused me of 'fondling' my new pencils and said it was 'disturbing'.

I poked at the pencil, discovered that the eraser can be removed. Sharpened it. And picked up a rough sketch of a fallen sycamore on the lake shore that I had started a few days ago. I filled in an area blocked off in the shape of a pine tree, using my new pencil. It took me about 2 minutes to achieve a lovely, dark pseudo-realism.

I held it up and she blinked. "Wow. Cool. It builds up shadows fast, doesn't it?" She said. Sipping her hot coffee with a slurp. Then she turned to her e-news. "But it's still just a pencil."

Sigh.

Planning to go to DC this afternoon, if my car gets done, and I'm taking pad and Palominos with me.

Here's my opinion after a weekend of experiments: As dark as Ebony drawing pencils, but with thinner and dryer lead. Sketches lightly, with good control and produces dark lines quickly and easily with less shine than 4-5B lead. Not as covering as higher 8-9B leads, but much nicer for sketching.

Karen J. Newhouse
CapallGlas Studio
http://www.capallglas.com/

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Karen - LOL! That's a cute write up of the pencils.

I got mine as well. They are not just a pencil. No, no no...They are magical pencils, that take you to places that only your imagination can conjure up. They are special pencils.

I quickly got the box open, grabbed a pencil & sharpened the wood off.  I just couldn't make myself to cut the lead yet. I went to work & just wrote with it. Wonderful, exquisite, smooth, dark.

Toby Levin
moleskin sketching artist
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Toby - I think you might have said it all when you called the Blackwing a magical pencil. On different paper surfaces, it becomes a whole different experience!

Karen is such a creative writer as well as an excellent artist.  I can't wait to see what she creates using the Blackwings on gesso panels! 

Here are a couple of sketches using the Blackwing on Bristol Board Vellum. The Vellum has a rougher texture and the graphite slides on creating a beautiful texture and with a few layers, a rich black. I'm loving this pencil more and more....

The Palomino Blackwing

I received my box of Palomino Blackwings in mail today.  That was quick delivery and wow...what a nice packaging!

I would love to hear from all my graphite artist friends who have purchased the Palomino Blackwing pencils.  I'd like to know what you think of them....both the good and the bad.

Be sure to give it a good work out!  If you remember reading my assessment of the  pencil, I initially did not give it very high marks.  But since then, I've given it a full workout on a couple of drawings, and it has proven to be an excellent tool for building beautiful mid-value graphite tones.

In the drawing "Agnew Meadows", I used the Blackwing in the darker trees in the foreground.  By applying initial graphite layers by the Blackwing and then applying 2B over this, I created a beautiful rich dark tone.  In the past, I frequently would end up with an uneven tone with spots of the "dreaded" graphite shine.  But the Blackwing seems to have a nice matte finish providing a wonderful base.

As with any technique, your approach, type of paper or unique style may provide different results.  I'd love to hear what you think of these unique pencils!!

Diane

Featured Artist

I am a featured artist on pencils.com.  To read the entire article visit:

www.pencils.com/blog/Diane-wright-queen-landscape-pencil-art

Agnew Meadows

This has been a whole new approach to drawing...working in the darker tones and leading the viewer through the scene by the lighting.  Let me know what you think of this composition and style.

The Palomino Blackwing Pencil

A new pencil with a completely different feel

I was selected to test out the new Palomino Blackwing pencil. The original Blackwing 602 was discontinued by Faber Castel and is now being re-introduced by the Palomino producer's Cedar Co of California. 

Part of the test was to compare it to the original Blackwing as well as the Palomino HB pencil.  Since I never even heard of the Blackwing pencil until a month ago, I felt it important for me to find the real thing.  I coughed up the $$ and purchased one from ebay.  It is a pre-1958 vintage Ebarhard Faber Blackwing 602. 

Now on to the comparison of the new Palomino Blackwing to the vintage model as well as to the Palomino HB .

I think the hype regarding the vintage as being the best pencil ever made, is just that...hype.  The wood in the vintage pencil was difficult to sharpen, leaving a rough texture and reminds me of why I have never cared for using wooden pencils.  The new Palomino Blackwing matches the other Palomino's top quality wood and sharpens clean with no splintering.  The new Palomino Blackwing slick design and white eraser is also much improved over the vintage model.

The new Palomino Blackwing is an unusual pencil in that it doesn't feel like graphite.  It has a carbon or clay feel to it and it doesn't leave a super shiney layer. It also compares more closely to a 2B than an HB grade in both softness and tone value.  The CEO of Cedar Co., Charles Berolzheimer, says I'm the first to make this comment. He thinks it could be that since I use a wide variety of graphite leads, I am probably very sensitive to the grades. He may very well be right on this as I use a variety of grades from 4H to 6B.

During my testing and comparison, I didn't care for the new Blackwing.  I have to be honest  and say that I did not give it a good rating when I reported back to Charles.

But I couldn't stop at just a few pencil strokes.  The real test is to see how it lends itself to drawing.

I am pleasantly surprised that the new Palomino Blackwing's "non-graphite" characteristics can create rich black tones that are incredible.  But I will let the drawing speak for the pencil....

Here is my current work in progress using the new Palomino Blackwing for the canopy of dark trees, a 2B .5mm mechanical pencil for the grass, and a 4H chisel point clutch pencil for the background trees (using the Blackwing to layer the darker areas on top of the 4H).  The darks lay down quickly and evenly and create a rich "black". 

My final report to Charles?  This pencil is DEFINTELY a keeper and I am looking forward to pushing my landscapes to a whole new level of rich darks.  Thank you Charles!!

Silver Reflections

As with any new tool, you need to explore just what you can do with it  and new pencils are no different.  So I pushed from the lightest to darkest using only two of the grades, 2B and 2H, of the Palomino Pencils.  The sky is done using a light layer of 2B chamoised smooth, with subtle changes to reflect the clouds hovering on top of the mountain peak.  The distant mountain texture is taking advantage of the 2B graphite grain on the paper  (300 Series Strathmore Bristol Board smooth).  The 2B is continued to be used to create the mid and foreground trees.

The water is created using the 2H.  The harder lead lends itself well to create the glass smooth stillness of the lake.  Using horizontal strokes, the gentle and subtle reflections are drawn in. 

Silver Reflections 

4-1/2 x 7- 3/4

This is from a reference photo taken by my nephew, Kyle Clark, during a recent mountain bike trip to Mt. Shasta in California.

Palomino Pencils

Joey Centanni of Pencils.com requested that I try out some of their premier Palomino pencils. I kind of chuckled because if there is one thing I don't use is wooden pencils. But since they are featuring my artwork on their website, I thought the least I could do is to see if I liked their product.

I am pleasantly surprised and very impressed by the wonderful graphite quality of these pencils! They are encased in high quality cedar wood and the graphite is as smooth as silk.  The lead grades range from 2H, H, HB, B and 2B.  But don't let that fool you!  The 2H is comparable to an HB and the 2B is more like a 4B without the graininess!!

I'm an avid mechanical pencil user so I didn't think it was possible, but the Palomino just might make a convert out of me!  Here is my first drawing using these pencils.....but I guarantee it won't be my last.

Gentle Cascades