The Blackwing 602 pencil .. Returns! UDPATED Dec 2015

THE BLACKWING PENCILS.... SHARPENER .. AND ERASERS.. .Now for sale at Stuart Ng Books. Try them in store... or order them online:
http://stuartngbooks.com/palomino-blackwing-602-pencil-box-of-12-en.html

Here's the original post for 2011

It's that time of year when gift item catalogs are showing up in the mail... and this page caught my eye:

In case you've never heard of it, one of the most beloved instruments in the artist community is the legendary BLACKWING 602 Faber Pencil... "Blackwing" sounds like a super hero, and in many ways it was... and is. It's the stuff of myth and magic, and if you read this blog, you know I love a good story.

This one has a happy ending... after many years of no Blackwings... it has been resurrected and is now commercially available again. Has anyone tried the new "Palomino" Blackwings???

Jenny Lerew's terrific blog "the Blackwing Diaries" is named after this pencil. Here's a link to her post on the famous blackwing:

http://blackwingdiaries.blogspot.com/2005/11/why-my-blog-is-titled-as-it-is.html

More history of the blackwing here:

http://blackwingpages.wordpress.com/

http://www.pencilpages.com/articles/blackwing.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackwing_602

And two reviews of the new version:

http://boingboing.net/2011/06/17/the-new-palomino-bla.html

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2011/09/back-in-blackwing.html

Got an artist on your holiday shopping list? A box of Blackwings pairs well with a Stuart Ng Books Gift Certificate.