One of my favorite pastimes is sketching. I haven’t been able to sketch things from my imagination yet, but I am sometimes able to sketch objects in front of me. It’s so fun to mimic the image I see in real life as I draw it on paper. It’s like I’m sharing my perspective of something with the world. I haven’t been able to sketch in a long time.
Then Bert got in these amazing, new (to me) Palomino Blackwing pencils at the store. I’ve always enjoyed using pencils of all types, and am always curious to try more. So, I immediately bought a box of the Blackwing pencils along with a box of the Blackwing Pearl pencils, and a special Palomino sketch book. I was instantly inspired. You could even say I was “drawn” to draw something in this new sketchbook!
I had spent some time sharpening the pencil with the special Palomino 2-stage Pencil Sharpener to get the perfect, sharpened point on the graphite. Then I tested both, the Blackwing and the Blackwing Pearl to get a feel for what it would be like to draw with them. The Blackwing (as pictured above) is versatile. It’s great for a comfortably smooth everyday writing, yet its softness, similar to a 2B hardness, is great for drawing and shading accordingly. The Pearl is a slightly harder lead, but that doesn’t detract from its usefulness. Both are great writers and glide along the paper effortlessly.
The eraser took more getting used to. It’s a thinner, more flat eraser that adorns the top of the pencil. There are two things that are most exciting about this eraser: the first being how easy it is to replace the eraser once it’s worn. Normally on pencils, both mechanical and wooden, you have to really dig for the remnants of the eraser that once was. On the Blackwing, there’s a ledge on both sides that serves as a holder of the eraser that you can easily pull out to replace with a fresh new one. As you can see in the pictures, the second great advantage of having this flat eraser is that you can easily erase details in a drawing without worrying about messing up the overall image. I’ve found my new “go-to” pencil, and I hope you all enjoy it as well!
Adam
You can pick up yours here: http://www.bertramsinkwell.com/ecommerce/wood-pencils/palomino.html
