Time for a brief history lesson.
For more than 50 years, Blackwings were the revered pencil for almost all creative professionals. If you were a screenwriter, designer, artist, architect, playwright, animator, musician, etc., you used a Blackwing.
The graphite glided across your paper silky and smooth, the iconic square ferrule at the end kept the pencil from rolling off your work desk, and the erasers could be adjusted and replaced for as long as there was still graphite and wood left on your pencil.
In short, they were a tool built with thought and attention that nurtured the creative spirit of its users at the time.
One of the infamous Blackwing 602 pencils, with it's original packaging.
"Half the Pressure, Twice the Speed" was its recognizable tagline.
Cost cutting disrupted the production of Blackwings, and long story short, by the late 90s the cult pencil was discontinued.
It was a tragedy that set heavy on the community of creative professionals. People began scrambling to find any supplies of Blackwing pencils that survived the discontinuation. Those in possession were selling a single Blackwing pencil online for $40, sometimes more, and people were buying it.
It wasn’t until 2010 that Blackwing devotees’ prayers were answered: Blackwings were going to be manufactured again.
The company that began the reproduction, Palomino, has given incredible attention to the original design, and produced a line of pencils worthy of the Blackwing name.
Along with their limited edition releases of Blackwing Volumes that honor people and things in culture four times a year, the modern Blackwing line offers 3 core pencil types of varying graphite – soft, firm, and the balanced Pearl.
The 3 CoreBlackwing Pencils - soft, the balanced Pearl, and firm
For the first time since Blackwing production began again in 2010, a new style is being added to the core line of pencils. Just announced by Blackwing, we can look forward to seeing this new pencil in their collection:
The newly revealed Blackwing Natural is a beautiful addition to the Blackwing core product line. Featuring an exposed Incense-cedar barrel, it has a subtle touch of a clear matte finish and uses the ever-popular extra-firm graphite.
Blackwing’s color of choice for The Natural’s eraser was this beautiful subdued grey, that pairs seamlessly with the soft wood grain color of the body.
This means that Blackwing’s Core Three will now be The Core Four. A huge change in the world of pencils.
The Paper Seahorse will be one of the first to receive a shipment of Blackwing Naturals. We already have Blackwing Naturals available for pre-order, so get your order in now and be one of the first to get your hands on this amazing pencil.
The Blackwing Natural is available for pre-order for just $24.95. You can see more details about these pencils and place and order by clicking here.