Are Blackwing pencils worth the money?

Does the Palomino Blackwing truly live up to its hype? Known as the 'world's best pencil', the Palomino Blackwing is legendary among pencil enthusiasts. Used by the likes of John Steinbeck, Walt Disney and Chuck Jones, it's place in the zeitgeist is unrivaled among all the other writing utensils. But is it worth it?

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[flfb]

A girl I dated once got me a Blackwing for my birthday - it was a limited edition one that's a beautiful mint colour with gold spiderwebbing out. It's inspired by Kintsugi. I love it so much.

[MichaelBrown]

Yeah…Kim Jung Gi really hit me hard. I heard the news when they announced it on socials, and it was devastating. He’s truly one of the greats, and such a huge inspiration to not only myself, but artists around the world.

[arthas]

did not wake up this morning thinking I'd watch a pencil get sexualized

[katarinamor]

If you're wondering if it's the fame or the quality of the pencil what makes it so appealing: I live in Eastern Europe, and when a friend of mine traveled to US a few years ago and brought me a Blackwing pearl as a gift, I'd never heard of the brand and had no idea how famous and expensive the pencil was. I thought the desing was kinda cool but not irresistably so. What I fell in love with was the quality of the graphite and how smoothly it glided along the paper, something I've never experienced with my Derwent or Faber-Castell pencils. Now I'm a big fan of the pencil, and, yes, it's the quality that is the key for me. That said, I recently found an obscure local brand with great quality and not nearly as expensive as Blackwing, so I'll just keep trying new brands to see what I like, it's part of the fun.:)

[ashram]

I used to think gear doesn’t matter, then I bought some cheap oil pastels. The pastels are very waxy and don’t blend well. So I bought another oil pastel set that had good reviews, and my artwork is much better with those. I understand not wanting to spend a ton of money on art supplies, but sometimes it’s warranted… I still have those cheap oil pastels and I don’t know what to do with them.

[fatsamurai]

Loving the style and vibe of this video. Always stoked to see new uploads from ya but this is 👌

[esperdragan]

Short answer: No. Long answer: The story attached makes the pencil somewhat valuable, kind of like the reason people like Rolexes, just you can get the same or much better experience for a lesser price.

[afterimage]

I've never used this pencil, but I've considered it. When I heard the news about Kim Jung ji it definitely saddened me further. A huge inspiration, much like you. After I started drawing in pen (inspired by you) I've never really been able to go back to the pencil. I can doodle on math homework, but whenever I draw in pencil it's usually in a colored pencil. Pen is definitely my favorite. hope to see more vids by you.

[JBINTHAHOUSEJB]

This video is so greatly edited. I loved the shots, colours, narrative!

[fauxshowyo]

i recently got a blackwing on impulse since i passed by some at my main art store, as i mainly like ink and digital. but gotta say, it really really does feel better. even better than the Tombow pencils which i mainly used whenever i needed pencils. in fact this is the first time i'm actively using a pencil now since, just because it feels and looks so good. can't believe how expensive they are there though - i assume you mean $8 singapore but damn that's still crazy. In Japan for example they're under 300 yen lol

[theego]

Weird coincidence, I just went out to purchase a Blackwing like 10 mins ago.

[gabeitch]

With photography gear obviously matters. But you can still take good photos with a bad camera. Doesn’t change the fact that having more expensive equipment effects your photography.

[kikolektrique]

when i heard his death, i felt nothing but pain. He was such a great inspiration, i still use his mannequin and mannequin techniques each and every time i draw.

[SolitaireZeta]

If you buy them in 12 packs, Blackwings are, individually, about the same price range as most other artist quality pencils (about $2.25 to $2.50 a pencil, ) maybe a smidge more. Most artist quality pencils tend to range from about $1.50 to $2.85 a pencil, depending on the brand.

The most expensive artist quality pencils out there, that are still somewhat affordable, are Caran D'ache Grafwoods, which are about $3.75 a pencil.

[vb]

What? He died?!?! I was looking for his sketchbooks just a few days ago. One of the most inspiring artists I have seen...

[geroni]

For some reason this video didn't get recommended to me at all even though I've watched nearly all of your videos. Its wonderfully edited, paced and scripted, and I wish the algorithm could recognize that

[josiah-qc]

Awesome video man you never disappoint

[choidh]

love this new style of video, love the gear beauty shots, nice one!!!

[electro_]

For the first half of the video I wasn't convinced that it was worth it, if I'm honest. And then you started talking about how it made you want to draw more specifically because this is an incredible pencil, and it's thrown me for a loop. It's making me think about how much/little we value our experiences with certain type of gears and a bunch of other stuff I can't really formulate at the moment.
This is a phenomenal video, the editing is incredible and the narrating is extraordinary.
Gear matters.
Gear matters.
Gear matters.

[ogmoiz]

Definitely your best video yet! The editing, storytelling and whole message is on point.