Are These $25 Pencils Worth It? - Palomino Blackwing 602 Review

Hello, my name is Daniel Villa and in this video, I am going to unbox and review the legendary Palomino Blackwing 602 Pencil.
As an artist, I am always looking for the perfect pencil that will bring a piece of art to the next level. When I realized that the Blackwing was being sold locally I bought a box for myself as soon as I was able to. However, is this $25 dollar box of pencils really worth the money? Let's find out!

About Blackwing:

Blackwing’s roots go back to the 1930’s when the 602 model was first introduced by the Eberhard Faber Pencil Company. Over the years, the pencil with the unique rectangular eraser became synonymous with quality. Then, in 1998, after several corporate acquisitions, it was discontinued, but not forgotten. In fact, fans began paying as much as $40 on eBay for a single Blackwing pencil.

Artists soon noticed that Palomino’s range of premium pencils compared favorably to the Blackwing 602. They began asking Palomino to consider reviving the Blackwing brand, complete with its defining rectangular eraser. Palomino founder Charles Berolzheimer, whose family’s roots in the pencil industry date back to the mid 19th century, used the company’s unique supply relationships to re-introduce Blackwing pencils in 2010 featuring California Genuine Incense-cedar and premium Japanese graphite. The pencil has drawn rave reviews from users and national media attention.

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Music:
iMovie licensed soundtracks
Adobe Premiere rush Soundtracks

[abigailhumes]

Eraser - not only detachable, but also replaceable. You can get boxes of erasers! As an older lady, I have pain issues in my hands. This lovely soft-touch pencil enables me to get more shades without so much pressure, and without switching pencils. Another aspect of the 602 is that it is noticeably SMOOTH when sketching. Thank you for reviewing it. Writers would appreciate this, too.

[AncientNovelist]

Hi Daniel, You chose a fascinating pencil for your video. Your major complaint was the lack of value (darkness) control. Yes, absolutely true. But if you read the history of this pencil, you'll understand why. The original Eberhard Faber Blackwing 602 was the favorite *writing* instrument of great writers. It was not much used in the art world. What the Blackwing 602 delivers is a dark line with relatively low softness, meaning it does not smudge as easily as other pencils of the same darkness value. More importantly, the clay, wax, and graphite (constituents of the core "lead") are engineered in such a way as to give unparalleled smoothness. "Twice the speed at half the pressure" may sound like an advertising gimmick, but I tested the claim in my 2015 book on graphite pencils - and found the claim holds up. I measured 24 quantifiable qualities of 374 major pencils in 2014-2015, including both the current Palomino Blackwing 602, the other pencils in the Palomino Blackwing line, the Palomino branded pencils themselves, and of course the major players, such as the Caran d'Ache Grafwood, Faber-Castell Castell 9000, Mitsubishi Hi-Uni, Derwent, Staedtler Mars Lumograph, General's Kimberly, and so on, that you will already be familiar with through your artwork. I also got my hands on the truly legendary Eberhard Faber Blackwing 602, which surpasses the Palomino iteration in important ways. Since you don't like the lack of control with the Blackwing 602, I can tell you you'll probably adore the Blackwing Pearl and the Blackwing Matte. The Palomino Blackwing 602 has a pressure sensitivity of P15, which is silly sensitive. Basically, it's impossible to get a light line with the 602. The Pearl, on the other hand, even though it is darker (D13 for the Pearl v. D11 for the 602), has P9, which I have found is just about perfect for artwork. You don't want, say, a P5, because at such low sensitivity you'd have to press hard into the paper to get a darker line. You want intermediate P, and that is exactly what you get with both the Pearl and the Matte (D13 P9 and D15 P10 respectively). One word of caution: If you decide to purchase my book - the only book of its kind ever published on graphite pencils - be advised that the P values are pressure *insensitivity*, not sensitivity. Basically, you take the 20-point P scale in the book and flip it upside down to get the new P sensitivity values. I am in the midst of measuring 26 quantifiable characteristics of 1100+ pencils for my new book on graphite, to be published in 2022 or 2023. I don't use Blackwings in my art. I use sets built around the five major characteristics I seek to make my art the best it can be: Darkness (D), Softness (S), Smoothness (L), Pressure sensitivity (P), and Grayness Uniformity (U), which I called "Blackness Range" (R) in 2015. I have since revealed new quantities called Degree to Value Felicity (F) and Value Range (R) which better break down the quantity formerly measured by Uniformity. For my art, I try to find the "sweet spot" for D, S, L, P, and U, with emphasis on D and P. So I choose pencils having D values D4, D8, D12, D16, and D20, which all have medium P values of 9 to 12. I call these five pencils my "five-dimensional" pencils, because they are optimized for the five major qualities. The "Perfect P11" set is currently Castell 9000 F, Dixon Ticonderoga B (not the ubiquitous Ticonderoga #2, which is an HB), Castell 9000 3B, Castell 9000 8B, and Mitsubishi Hi-Uni 6B, which have D4, D8, D12, D16, and D20 respectively and *all* of them have pressure sensitivity P11. I use the Ticonderoga B, not the Castell 9000 B (both D8), because the Ticonderoga has P11, while the Castell 9000 B has P15 - which you know now from your own experience is not useful for artwork. Your Blackwing 602 has D11, S6, L12, P15, U42 compared to Castell 9000 HB with D5, S3, L8, P8, U13 and Ticonderoga #2 at D4, S4, L8, P15, U18. The legendary (and unreasonably expensive!) Eberhard Faber Blackwing 602 has D13, S13, L14, P16, U34. The smoothest art pencils, by far, are the Caran d'Ache Grafwood, with average lissance (smoothness) L15.6 across the entire set, compared to Faber-Castell Castell 9000 at average L9.1, Blick Studio at L8.5, General's Kimberly L8.6, Koh-I-Noor Progresso (woodless) 14.3, Mitsubishi Hi-Uni L10.8, and Staedtler Mars Lumograph 9.7. You don't see Derwent in the list. That's because the D values are all over the map; for instance in Derwent Graphic 3H, 2H, H, F, and HB, I found D3, D7, D4, D4, and D8 respectively. That's piss-poor quality control, and on top of that, Derwent Graphic are some of the scratchiest pencils I found. I have yet to find a scratchy Faber-Castell, and I've tested literally hundreds of their pencils. Cheers! Pearson 2021.

[rosemarypaul]

I fell in love with the Blackwing when I went to college. Then I couldn't get them anymore and I was heartbroken. Now, I buy them through a dealer (sounds like drugs, huh?) and I buy the Pearls as they are firmest. I also have the Palomino sharpener and while I always liked that I could replace the eraser when to wore down to nothing, I could also buy matching colors of eraser packs. Currently, I have white pearls with blue erasers, and the mattes with white erasers. If you want to clearly erasing the lines of these pencils, buy a foam eraser and there isn't any ghost of a line left behind.
Just remember that there are different weights to the pencils, as I said the pearls are the firmest.

[sallyfinch]

Nice evaluation, and you are from Stockton?! I live nearby, just up the hill. Good job!

[MDPurple]

Here in Sweden i have to pay almost 45 dollars to get a pack of 12. Still worth the money imo.

[artistbonzie]

nice review now i want to get myself some :)

[sclogse]

Their 602 was an upgrade as I recall, and of course a video comparing it to the other company's original (Weber) would be great. Except that would cost you big.

[vexedvixen]

Hi Dan, nice video. Excellent music choice! What's the name of the song? I love it! Thanks! 😀

[cwzjkcu]

I think I'm still using my first Blackwing and I got it like 6 years ago or something crazy like that. I draw and write with it daily or a few times a week. I have like three unsharpened ones that have been waiting to be used and my first one is still going lol.

[izzman]

Great video. I've been using the Palomino Pearl for over six years. Love it! It's a very smooth pencil. This is just me I only use a proper sharpener (Kum Masterpiece pencil sharpener) $25 Amazon.

[AzazelsWings]

Lol... when you scribbled and there was lead on the page I blew at the screen... then thought ooooh... great review, drew me in for sure haha

[rileyrileyrileyriley]

Hey Daniel, how did you end up becoming a retailer? I'm looking to buy a lot of these wholesale. Please let me know, and thanks for the review!

[cdpond]

They're expensive, but I like what I get for the expenditure. I prefer the silver/grey version over the black. Slightly harder lead. The blacks are really, really soft. And the white is hardest of all. So it really depends upon your preferences and needs, but silver seems to be the sweetspot for me when I'm just writing. For drawing, I prefer the black. For watercolour sketches, prior to painting, I prefer the white. Great pencils though.

[radellaf]

If you like BWs, I'd recommend trying a smattering of Tombow and Mitsubishi pencils. Not just the Mono 100 and Hi-Uni flagships, either. I've come to prefer the modest 8900 (B) to any of the BWs.

[loopofconsciousness]

I LOVE Blackwing pencils!! Except for the fact that my new box- I can’t remove the erasers

[Lilsilent]

How cool ! I also live in Stockton Ca 😂

[jasperscott]

My experience with it was different.Very soft lead, dark mark lay down just as spread soft butter with a knife.Good drawing pencil.A once in a lifetime purchase, Titanium #2 HB is good enough for me 🤠

[phillipstroll]

Isn't this pencil just a 3b / 4b pencil?

[jamesaritchie]

I have full sets of General's, Staedtler, Faber-Castell, and Derwent pencils. I have a large mish-mash of Caran d'Ache, Mitsubishi, and Tombow pencils. I also, thanks to well-meaning friends and family, have five brands of made in China art pencils. I like all of them, including the Chinese brands, better than I like the Palomino 602.

The Palomino Blackwing 602 isn't a bad pencil, but I see nothing special about it. Even much of its glory is stolen directly from the Ticonderoga.

Anyway, you can have it.

[X-Prime]

Yes, they are. I have several boxes.