Palomino Blackwing Pearl

Woodcase pencils rarely get more legendary than the Blackwing 602. Despite having developed a cult following for how well the pencil performed, the Blackwing brand was finally discontinued by Faber-Castel in 1998 after a specialized machine used in its manufacture was broken (more on that later). Fast forward to 2010, where the Blackwing brand was resurrected by the Cal Cedar Pencil Company. Many comparisons were made between the original Blackwing 602 and the newly released Palomino Blackwing 602. Some complained the newly-spawned reincarnation wasn't good enough, while others were glad to have options without resorting to insane Ebay prices for the originals. Regardless of how one feels about it, the Blackwing 602 is back and, presumably, here to stay.

After the re-release of the Blackwing 602, two other versions of the pencil were introduced under the Blackwing brand. One of those versions is the Blackwing Pearl, and thanks to Brad over at Pen Addict, I have been lucky enough to have an example to play with. Enough about the history, let's get down to the nitty gritty.

Let's start by talking about the most obvious features of the pencil, the eraser. Ironically, the most distinct design element of the entire Blackwing line was also the cause of its original demise. From what I understand, the originally manufacturer of the Blackwing 602, Eberhard Faber was purchased by Faber-Castel in the mid 90's. Production of the 602 required a specialized machine to manufacture the unique ferrules and that machine was now broken. Faber-Castel didn't wish to repair or replace the specialized machine because they felt the market for the Blackwing 602 wasn't strong enough to justify spending the capital to repair/replace the machinery. Fortunately, there were enough parts already on hand to continue making the 602 until 1998, when it was officially discontinued. Lovers of the Blackwing 602 began to hoard any existing examples and it wasn't unheard of for single pencils to sell for over $20 on sites like Ebay. When Cal Cedar stepped up and purchased the trademark for the Blackwing, they also tooled up to make the iconic ferrule assembly a reality once again. It must have been a great expense to do so, as they could have reintroduced the Blackwing line with a regular ferrule and eraser and saved on manufacturing costs. But, I would guess, someone at Cal Cedar "gets it" and knows that a faithful recreation will endure over a rebranding of a classic. Remember Crystal Pepsi?

So at this point, we now have three options for the Blackwing brand and I am going to talk specifially about the Blackwing Pearl. The Blackwing Pearl is described on the Pencils.com website as featuring "...a pearl white finish, black imprint and eraser, and a balanced and smooth graphite core that is softer than the graphite found in the Palomino Blackwing 602, but firmer than the graphite found in the Palomino Blackwing." Now, only being familiar with the Blackwing 602 until this point, I was unsure what to think about this new addition to the Blackwing brand. The Blackwing 602 is designed to hold a point for a long time and to provide a smooth writing experience, while the Blackwing (no 602, just Blackwing) is designed for artists and musicians with a softer lead. The Blackwing Pearl is supposed to fall in between these other two versions, but I found myself questioning why? The other two versions of the Blackwing have very targeted user groups mentioned in the descriptions of the pencils, but the Pearl does not. So why even bother? I have a theory.

I was looking the Pencils.com website and noticed that they are introducing other non-pencil items under the Blackwing umbrella. These include luxury journals, sketchbooks, and folios. Because the Pearl is mostly differentiated by it's pearl white finish, and not by its graphitic (is that even a word?) performance, I would bet the push is to establish a "luxury" version of the blackwing to appeal to those not interested in the matte black or grey colorways of the Blackwing and Blackwing 602, but wish to still be in the Blackwing owners club. Or, they just want a way to visually separate the three versions of the pencil. Arguments could be made on both sides, I am sure.

 As compelled by my artistic background, I did a quick sketch test to evaluate the graphite in the Pearl. I found that the pencil took a nice point very easily and didn't seem to dull down very quickly. This was nice. The cedar in the pencil is very aromatic when sharpened and brings back instant nostalgia when inhaled. Although not apparent in the above photo, the lead isn't really that dark. I attempted to get a very saturated black, but the lead didn't want to cooperate. While it went down on the paper very smooth, it wouldn't cover completely, even after several passes. Controlling the density in a gradation was difficult, like with a very hard composition of graphite, all the while being very, smudgy. You can usually take a soft graphite and blend it out with your finger for midtone coverage, but the lead in the Pearl almost seemed waxy and didn't want to work that way. It erases very easily, even with the supplied eraser. I wasn't impressed with the eraser, but they apparently make several versions and colors (black, white, pink, green, blue, and orange!) that tend to work better, so that isn't so much an issue. But, don't expect to make really dark, heavy marks and expect the stock black eraser to last very long. Normal writing and line-making gets erased just fine, with no extraordinary effort.

So, in summary, the Blackwing pearl is stuck in between it's two siblings, not quite an artist, but not quite a writer. Don't misunderstand my criticisms, the Pearl is a very capable pencil. The fit and finish of it's manufacturing is perfect. Everything looks as it should and it performs just as well as any other premium woodcase pencil. I just don't know quite what to do with it as I don't feel I fit into it's targeted audience, whatever that may be. I do know, that I now really would like to try out one (or both) of the other models in the Blackwing line. Because, if they look and feel, and perform as they say, I should be very satisfied. Color me curious.


 PS-(A great deal of information about the Blackwing brand can be found in a Wikipedia article here).

How A Sheaffer Jr. Warms My Heart

 It's an odd title for a post, I know, but let me explain. The Sheaffer Jr. mechanical pencil pictured in the photo above once resided in the desk of a man I love and respect very much- my grandfather, John.

 It feels weird to refer to "Grandpa" as my grandfather because it seems too formal. The photo on the left is exactly as I remember him (minus the fish, those were only around for special occasions). This may as well have been his retirement uniform, as he wore something similar every day. During his working years, he was a fireman and carpenter as well as a devoted family man. He retired before I was born and spent his time volunteering for the local fire department, gardening, and spending time outdoors hunting and fishing. No matter what he was doing he always had a mischievous grin on his face and love in his heart. To say that as a child I was highly energetic would be a gross understatement, but Grandpa John would always let me "help" him with some project he was doing around the house or garden. He was constantly working with his hands, whether it was saving lives as a fireman, working with wood as a carpenter, or growing food for his family in his large garden. One Summer, he taught me how to make my very own "flipper" (slingshot) from a scrub oak branch, some surgical tubing and scrap leather. I still have it and I hope to teach my kids how to do it some day.

While I'm sure he helped other grandkids make their own "flippers", one thing that he and I alone shared was collecting coins. Grandpa started collecting coins in his downtime at the firehouse. They would exchange coins with other firemen all over the world (at least this is how I remember it) as something to do when not out on a call. He had books, and boxes, and containers of coins all stashed away in a big, gray, steel desk at his house. I would pour over his collection every time I went to visit and eventually started a collection of my own. He would bring me coins when they would come to visit and I would run off to put them in a protective sleeve in my room. He would just chuckle because he was just carrying them in his pocket with his keys and I treated them like a precious jewel.

Years went by and I became a teenager and other thoughts filled my head besides coins and "flippers". I would still pull out his collection occasionally when I would go visit, but it happened much less often. As time continued, the inevitable happened, my grandparents both passed away.

Our family still owns my grandparents' home and we spend time there regularly, both to get away for a short time and to feel close to them. One of the many trips to their home, I found myself sitting at my grandpa's desk. It's big and grey with a rubber top for writing. I looked down at the big file drawer on the right side where the coin collection had once resided (it now has been passed to the family). I pulled the handle and the once heavy drawer opened easily and showed me it's emptiness. It made me miss my grandpa terribly. I shut the big file drawer and started looking through the rest of the desk. I pulled open the long, thin center drawer. It was filled with common items one would expect to find in a desk. I found a wooden, triangular ruler, pencil leads in a metal container, scissors, and a staple remover, among many other items. I started setting these more interesting items aside as I went, thinking about my grandpa using them and I felt better.

 I eventually came across this pencil. I didn't notice it as anything special at first, but after reexamination, the variegated green material shown iridescent when the light hit it. It was a Shaeffer Jr. mechanical pencil. I have no idea where my grandpa got this pencil. It was among old, dried-up ballpoints given away by the local lumberyard, not in a special case or spot in a drawer. I would guess that he either found it or it was given to him by someone in passing. It didn't matter to me either way because it was his. This pencil sat next to him as he drew up plans for furniture, did taxes and paid bills. It waited silently as I spent many childhood hours pouring through boxes of coins just inches away. When I held this pencil, I felt like it connected me to Grandpa John, even if just a small, imagined way.

I now keep this pencil in my desk drawer in my office. Anytime I open the drawer where I keep it, I notice it sitting there. Very often, I will stop what I am doing and will hold it in my hands and think about Grandpa and all that he taught me.

I love you Grandpa John. Happy Father's Day.

Scout Books Brand Notebooks- Part 2

Now that I have had the chance to play to play with my Scout Books notebooks, I think it would be a good time to finish my review. The notebooks themselves seem very well made. The paper is thick and smooth. I was finally able to get all the information I was looking for after poking around on their website. Here are the stats straight from the Scout Books website:

Dimensions- 3.5in x 5in (8.9cm x 12.7cm)

Page Count- 32 Pages

Paper- Cover: 100% Recycled Chipboard, 18pt. Kraft, Interior: 100% Recycled Text, 70# White

Printing & Ink- High Quality Offset Printing with Vegetable-Based Inks

Binding- Saddle Stitched (two wire stitches)

Corner Rounding- Two Rounded Corners: .25in Radius

 So, naturally, I broke out the tools I am most comfortable sketching with and went to work. From the top down we have a Sharpie fine point, a Pilot Fineliner, a Pilot Razor Point, and a Papermate medium ballpoint. These are all black and have a good range of size and saturation. I am using the phrase "saturation" to refer how quickly the ink or color can leave the pen and on/into the paper. I would call this a squiggle test. I start out drawing two parallel lines and then filling the space with a graduated squiggly line, heavy overlap on the left to none on the right. The paper took all of the pens well, with no smudging or bleed out. Even the Sharpie looks pretty crisp. The Papermate smudged a little, but this is the fault of the ink and not the notebook. On the backside of the page, some spotting can be seen from start/stop points. Mostly from the Sharpie, but that kind of saturation is typical. I was most pleased with how well the paper took ballpoint pen. Cheaper paper can indent and curl with heavy ballpoint use, but the heavy, 70# paper used in the Scout Books held up like a pro.

So, the next obvious test for me was to draw something in it and see how it performs. This was a quick 10 minute sketch (or less, I didn't time it) like something I would do while waiting around. I started with a quick ballpoint outline and eventually used the Razor Point to thicken linework and add other details. Some people tend to move more quickly while drawing, as I do, while some are more deliberate, very slowly and carefully moving the pen over the page. I tend to be pretty light with my pen pressure while using felt tip pens so as to not over saturate the paper or damage the delicate tips on the pens. Why am I telling you this?

This is why. Even though my initial tests showed very little saturation or bleed through, when I actually sat down to draw, I got a different result. Only a couple of these spots actually made it through to the next page, but it did happen. I figure it was when I was thinking about what to do next with the sketch and paused with the tip of the Razor on the page. This may be a very short pause, but enough to let the ink saturate through the page. Not a big deal for me, but some may not care for it.

Pros-
These small notebooks are very well made and are a very good value (3 for $10 with free shipping!). Heavy, bright paper takes ink well and resists curling.
Plain overall appearance makes customizing easy.

Cons-
Doesn't play well with felt tips or Sharpies if you are heavy handed.
Small size isn't ideal for sketching anything but a doodle.

UPDATE- Apparently, I am blind because I didn't notice the Mega DIY notebooks on the Scout Books website. They are a much larger 5x7 inch and have 48 pages each. I will have to pick up some of these for a future review. They look great!

Scout Books Brand Notebooks- Part 1

I've been shopping around trying to find a pocket notebook that fits my needs. Something that isn't too small, expensive, and most important of all, has blank pages. I don't believe I use notebooks like most people use notebooks. Being a designer, I draw on everything, all the time. And, if there is a chance that I create something cool, I don't want a grid/lines/dots to spoil my sketch (I may want to Instagram that stuff, lines are for suckas!). That is mostly so I can scan the artwork and either use it as an underlay for a larger or more detailed drawing. This disqualifies most "standard" types of notebooks for me so I tend to purchase "sketchbooks". Most of these are expensive, have bindings that don't let the (note)book lay flat, and just the thought of tearing a page out to scan just makes me want to cry. This is where notebooks like the ones from Scout Books come into play.

Scout Books is based out of Portland,Oregon and makes these pocket notebooks from 100% recycled materials. This is most obvious in the cardstock used for the covers, you can see flecks and fibers of the paper that hint at a previous life. I obviously chose the blank version, or sketch keeper, but they have a very large assortment of versions to choose from. They even have books printed with short stories so you can read on the go, or send them out with your kids without fear of them being lost or destroyed. Very cool stuff. They even collaborate with designers to create special editions. When you get a chance, be sure to poke around a bit to see what's new.

Each notebook has 32 pages, which seemed kind of random to me until I found out that in the publishing world, 16 pages are called "signatures" and books are built using these units, so these are 2 signatures thick, I think. (Thanks Jake Parker) They also contain 100% awesome, which I'm pretty sure isn't regulated by the FDA, so take that at face value. The notebooks come packaged in groups of three with a paper band holding them together. They also are all shrink wrapped when they arrive, but it looked weird in photos so I removed it. The paper is nice and thick, but I will get into that later, but I was impressed.

I know some of you are thinking to yourselves, "Hey, these sound just like Field Notes, something is fishy here!" I originally thought that too, but there are noticeable differences. First, the branding is different. Scout Books puts their branding on the back and a blank box on the front, while Field Notes places theirs on the front. Second, Scout Books notebooks are 3.5" x 5" while Field Notes are 3.5" x 5.5", respectively. Third, Scout Books notebooks are 32 pages thick while Field Notes are 48 pages thick. 16 page groupings remember? The paper in the Scout Books notebook is noticeably thicker. I am not sure what the difference in poundage is, but it seems significant. And lastly, the Scout Books are bound with two staples while the Field Notes use 3 staples. One thing they do share is that they both are made in the USA.



I plan on putting these through their paces to see how they perform and will post part 2 when that's done. As a side note, that Field Notes "National Crop" edition notebook is currently being used, as is the rest of the set, for mundane lists and doodles. My apologies to those who may suffer significant mental anguish at the thought of this act of heresy.

To be continued... Part 2 here

Classic Superman

Since I just purchased a new scanner, I thought I would post a doodle from when I was on the phone  the other day. Hopefully, posts will become more frequent and of higher quality.