I have professed my love for Blackwing pencils many times prior, but since this week is going to the birds (in anticipation of our soon to launch Rare Bird Font Foundry!) I think they deserve another mention. I love these pencils not only for their aesthetics but for their performance. If you like to sketch on the fly and don’t want to cart around a whole pack of ‘B’ pencils with you, then a simple Blackwing could do you good. They do come in 7 degrees of hardness from 2H-2B, I like to stick around the 4B grade, it’s soft, but not too soft (Michelle drew these beauties, the sweet peas with a 4B). I also will use a harder lead for everyday writing. Blackwing also has a storied history where the likes of Hemingway, Steinbeck, Capote, Nabokov have been spotted with a Blackwing in hand. I don’t know about you, but a good pen or pencil makes a huge difference in my wanting to even start a project. Luckily, I always have a box of Blackwings around, there is nothing quite like a freshly sharpened pencil to get me in the right frame of mind to get down to business. And I can’t mention their pencils without mentioning their erasers, which are completely replaceable. What the what? What kind of genius design is that? Not only are they rectangle allowing for a more fluid and sweeping motion, you can choose your desired color? This little detail is just gold. For those that are in the social media loop they also make a pretty great photo prop. What is not to like about these beauties?
//RESOURCES//
Blackwing pencils Black | White | Gray
Tristan B. is the co-creator of the world’s best + easiest product photography editing tool-Foto Rx | Shopkeeper’s Helper and one of the writer’s of this delightful blog.
