1. What is the pencil they’ll have to pry out of your cold, dead hands?

My Prismacolors . The new ones, the vintage ones and all the ones in between. Prismas make me happy. Sure, they break easily and shatter often. Sometimes. The core aren’t always centered but oh. The colors are so good. And when they work, they are the yardstick by which I measure the quality of all other colored pencils.

There are other pencils you would have to fight me for as well like my NoBlots, my Pantone Colored pencils and my collection of vintage red/blue pencils.

2. What’s your guilty pleasure pencil?

I have so many guilty pleasure pencils I can fill multiple cigar boxes with them. I love custom stamped pencils — especially if they have pithy messages on them. I love tourism pencils that are from specific places (often found in museum gift shops and such). I love advertising pencils, bullet pencils, vintage pencils and pencils from other countries. In general, I think my graphite pencil collection is 100% a guilty pleasure.

3. What’s the pencil you wish existed?

Good mechanical colored pencils. I want a creamy, saturated pigment core with a maximum diameter of 0.8mm that doesn’t break easily. I love having a colored mechanical pencil for travel and outdoor drawing adventures.

4. What pencil would you give to a new enthusiast?

For graphite pencils, any modern Japanese pencil from Tombow Mono or Uni-Mitsubishi Hi-Uni. They feel beautiful in the hand and write beautifully. Pencils do not have to be scratchy, gritty objects that people remember from grade school.

For colored pencils, I would recommend the Caran d’Ache Bi-Color in red and blue. Its creamy and luscious and its water soluble too. Its a great gateway into bi-color pencils AND colored pencils.

5. What pencil do you want to get along with but it just never clicked?

I know lots of people love the Uni Kuru Toga pencils. I appreciate the idea of a self-rotating mechanical pencil but I must be too fidgety because I don’t get the experience. I am not yucking someone else’s yum but this pencil is more technology than I need in a pencil.

6. What pencil do you keep only because it’s pretty?

I have some fancy designed pencils from Louise Fili. They are not the best tools but OOOH! the packaging and lettering is fantastic!

7. What pencil did you buy because everyone else did?

Not to parrot Tina but I also found the Irojiten colored pencils a bit overrated. I knew I wasn’t going to love them going into the purchase because I had heard they were harder cores, the pencils are all white except the end caps which are dipped to indicate the color which is a pet peeve of mine. Colored pencils benefit from being colored from top to bottom. It makes them easier to identify quickly.

8. What pencil is over your head or just baffles you?

Pretty much any pencil, particularly mechanical pencils, that have the gel grip section really makes me wonder. I wonder why pencils more often feature this grippy grip section than pens. And I also wonder why do we need this?

9. What pencil surprised you?

Magic pencils! I bought my first on a whim and fell in love with them. I prefer the classic red-yellow-blue Magic pencils over any of the other color combinations. The shades in the Koh-i-noor Magic pencils is the perfect shades of color and blend to create really uniquely. Thanks, Milton Glaser, for the inspiration too!

10. What pencil do you love in theory but not in practice?

Please don’t hate me, Tina! I want to love the Caran d’Ache Luminance colored pencils but I find the cores a bit too big. They feel like a jumbo pencil in my tiny little hands. They also don’t fit in my regular pencil sharpeners and they are SOOOOO expensive. I have a few and they are fantastic cores but I just don’t reach for them very often. The best way to try these is to visit a local art supply shop like Dick Blick and buy just a couple to try rather than buying a large box set.

11. What’s your favorite vintage pencil? And 12. What’s the pencil that got away?

The last two question, for me, are really the same question for me. Sanford NoBlots are my favorite vintage pencil and the ones that got away. I got my first (and last) full box of Sanford NoBlots on Amazon for about $15 about 15 years ago. It was 100% an accident. At the time I didn’t really know anything about NoBlots but they looked cool and $15 for 12 pencils was a steal no matter what they were. Well, by the time I figured out that I had the amazing indelible “ink” pencils, the dealer who was selling them on Amazon was sold out. Had I known what they were, I would have bought every box that was still available.

To be honest, this list is only slightly different than my Top 10 Pencils post from a couple years ago. Clearly, my tastes have not changed much.

Okay, now its your turn!

DISCLAIMER: Some items included in this review were provided free of charge by JetPens for the purpose of review. Other items in this post include affiliate links. The Well-Appointed Desk is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon. Please see the About page for more details.

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The most recent limited edition Kurutoga Studio Ghibili Mechanical Pencils ($14 each) were a must-buy for me. I had to choose between the Totoro, Spirited Away and Kiki’s Delivery Service designs but who was I kidding? A pink barrel with Jiji printing on it was always going to be the winner.

Kurutoga pencils are popular for the self-turning lead function. Everytime you lift up the lead rotates slightly. I am a compulsive pencil turner because I did not grow up with this self-turning feature so I am not sure I really notice the advantage of this. Especially with the thin 0.5mm leads, I am not sure how beneficial self-turning mechanical leads are.

As a lefty, I still smear what I draw when I use standard graphite lead. I know there are some less-smeary options available but for this review I used the lead that shipped with the pencil. It was nice and dark and reasonably soft but that, of course, meant it would also be easy to smudge.

There is a teeny tiny eraser under the cap on the end of the pencil but I prefer to use a nice block eraser when I use one but its always nice to have something to use in a pinch.

If you like inner-child-inspiring graphics on your mechanical pencil, I can’t recommend this more highly. I get a wave of delight every time I pull this pencil out of my daily carry case. I know folks love the Kurutoga self-rotating ability but this feature is lost on me. If you prefer a more understated mechanical pencil with the self-rotating option, other 0.5mm (or even 0.3mm) options are available starting at $5.50.

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“Play your notes, to hear the sounds of pencil on paper.” It’s hard to resist an invitation like that! Under the MD Paper Products name, Midori makes understated pens, notebooks, letter-writing paper, planners and other products. It also makes colored and graphite pencils to match that muted esthetic. Today I’m reviewing the colored pencils (6/$12); the graphite pencils are coming up soon. 

Made in Japan, the three colored pencils (two pencils per color in the set) – light gray, light blue, coral – coordinate beautifully with Midori’s delicate palette. The matte-finish, semi-hexagonal barrel is very pleasing (soothing, even) to touch. As with all Midori products, the branding is subtle – “MD Paper Products” in small, black block letters.

My favorite design element is the unpainted – but not unfinished – end. The very slightly convex cut reveals the well-centered cores. Like the rest of the pencil, it’s a sublime yet distinctive touch.

Since I’m somewhat spoiled by top-notch colored pencils, I didn’t have high expectations, but I was pleasantly surprised. Harder than Prismacolor and softer than Faber-Castell Polychromos, the MD pencils have a slightly waxy feel rather than creamy. The swatches show consistent layering in a relatively smooth Stillman & Birn Zeta sketchbook. 

Coral and light blue are not colors I would typically choose to sketch a cow, but what the heck – it’s a good way to stretch my color imagination. Pigments apply well, and the pencils are pleasant to use (and to hold! I love the matte finish). For the sketch, I used a toothier Stillman & Birn Alpha sketchbook, and the pencils are soft enough to show the paper’s texture easily. (I used a graphite pencil for the cow’s details.)

If you’re not into sketching or coloring, these pencils could be also used for highlights or notations that don’t sear the eyeballs. In fact, I would love to see Midori expand the palette just a bit wider. We have plenty of small colored pencil sets in the standard rainbow – how about a set of 12 including more understated hues? Like a pale mint (Ana would surely want one of those), delicate rose and lavender? I’m ready for a unique set like that.

Tina Koyama is an urban sketcher in Seattle. Her blog is Fueled by Clouds & Coffee, and you can follow her on Instagram as Miatagrrl.

DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review were provided free of charge by Gentleman Stationer for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.

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Is it worth it to seek out a vintage Blackwing 602?

I have wanted a vintage Blackwing 602 just to try it out, since before this blog was even a twinkle in my eye. At the same time, I’ve never really wanted to spend $100 for an unsharpened vintage pencil. It just seemed silly. So, a couple weeks ago, a friend who was moving house mentioned that he had a big jar of pencils he inherited from his grandparents. I asked if I could see a pic of the jar and if there were any pencils with “a funny looking eraser cap”? He said “YES!” and I asked if he would bring them over so I could look through them. He said he would, if I was interested in them, we could “make a deal.”

So, I bought a large jar of pencils that included one Eberhard Faber Blackwing 602 that had been sharpened once, one unsharpened Microtomic and a box of colored pencils (Tina got the colored pencils) for $30. And I got to keep the vintage jar. Most of the pencils were good mid-century pencils ranging from standard #2/HB to softer and harder pencils used by artists. There were a lot of classic yellow-and-black Staedtler Noris pencils and some US-made Ticonderogas.

But, of course, the true treasure was a chance to handle and use a real vintage Eberhard-Faber Blackwing 602. I immediately put the pencil to the test next to the modern reproduction Blackwing 602 by Palomino ($27 for a box of 12).

The most notable differences in the exterior of the pencils is the color of the grey paint. The vintage Blackwing 602 is a little bit darker. The feel of the modern Blackwing 602 is smoother, glossier and the hex shape is a bit more rounded off, like the paint is so thick that some of the sharper edges of the hex shape are buried under the paint.

Of course, the vintage eraser is all dried out but I can swap it out with a replacement ($3 per set) from Palomino.

Obviously, the printing on the pencils is different. The “Half the pressure…” text is italicized on the vintage pencil while it’s more upright on the modern 602. The modern 602 is missing the beloved “Woodclinched” text completely. Overall, aesthetically, only the most discerning eye would notice a difference.

But how does it write?

I really wanted to know if I could tell the difference between the writing experience between the two pencils. I wrote with one then the other for at last an hour trying to see if I could notice a difference. And honestly, while I think the lead color is a tiny bit lighter in the vintage Blackwing 602, the difference is honestly negligible. If you prefer a little lighter (harder) graphite color, the Palomino Blackwing Natural which features  Extra Firm graphite might be a good alternative. Palomino really did a great job recreating the 602. If you haven’t tried a modern Blackwing, what are you waiting for. Some things are just as good as the “good ol’ days” and the Blacking 602 is one of those things.

The post Pencil Review: Vintage EF Blackwing 602 appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

While three color options might not be enough for most people, for quick sketches, proofreading or grading, this might be a perfect solution.

The mechanism for the Uni Color 3 works the same as other Japanese multi-pens. There are three slides at the top of the pen (one being the clip) that will reveal a tip when pressed down until it clicks. Tapping the slide repeatedly will advance the lead, holding down the slide will allow you to push the lead back up into the housing and clicking on any other slide will cause the revealed tip to spring back into the housing.

Because the leads are 0.5mm, if they are out too far, they will break so be careful not to expose too much lead or press too hard when using them.

I’m happy with the color of the red and blue leads though it is fairly easy to find 0.5mm red or blue leads if I wasn’t. The orange, which is more unusual is a bit lighter in overall pigment density. It would probably work fine for underlining or adding small details in a sketch or drawing but it would not be my go-to color in this set. In fact, I would probably consider swapping it out for a standard graphite lead rather than try to replace the orange lead when it runs out.

I decided to test out the Uni 0.5mm Smudge-Proof Lead in F ($2.95) as an alternative to the orange colored pencil lead. While the smudge-proof lead wrote smoothly, this lefty was able to smudge it a bit when I ran my thumb over the scribble swatch. The Rhodia paper is very smooth and may be more likely to smudge than toothier stocks.

In the erasing test on both Rhodia paper and on Col-o-ring paper, using a foam eraser, the color came up pretty well. I’d say the eraser, used with average pressure (I didn’t tear up the paper trying to remove the color), lifted 85-90% of the color on the Rhodia paper and about 75% of the color on Col-o-ring paper.

I also did a quick little still life of a bottle of Robert Oster ink sitting in a Monarca wooden bottle holder on a Col-o-ring card to see how the leads perform on toothier paper.

I am a fan of this pencil concept. When on the road, I prefer not having to sharpen my pencils and having three colors all in one tool is great for when you’re traveling, in a coffeeshop or library or in a meeting so this pencil solves some problems I didn’t know I had.

Tools:

• Paper: Rhodia Uni-Blank No. 16 with 6mm guide sheet and
• Col-o-Ring Ink Testing Book ($10)
• Pens: Uni-Color-3-Erasable-Multi-Mechanical-Pencil ($8.25)

The post Pencil Review: Uni 3-Color Erasable Mechanical Pencil appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

At this point, you may be asking yourself, what book were you reading that was so engrossing that you forgot to write a blog post? It was The Cartographers by Peng Shepard. It’s a lovely story about maps and the people who archive, research and collect them. I won’t give away any of the details but if you like libraries, maps and a little bit of magic, you’ll like this book.

That said, let’s talk about some delicious pencils while you wait for your copy of The Cartographers to arrive.

I’m hard pressed to think of a single Midori MD product that I haven’t liked and this set of Midori MD Color Pencils ($12) is no exception. The set includes two each of an orange, cyan blue and medium grey colored pencil. When I initially acquired these, I thought the grey pencils were graphite pencils but they are not. I am happy about this because, as a lefty, graphite often smudges but most colored pencils do not.

The exterior paint, rounded hex shape and slightly rounded ends make these looks and feel like premium Japanese pencils. They sharpened easily to fairly long points with my Dahle 133 Hand Crank Pencil Sharpener (approx. $19).

First, I tested these on the Leuchtturm1917 120gsm paper notebook. The blue and orange colors showed well and felt creamy and smooth on this lightly textured paper. The grey felt a little light on the ivory paper but not much so as to be unusable. I am just unlikely to reach for the grey on ivory paper for anything other than sketching and adding shadow to other elements. The orange and blue hold their own and felt surprisingly lovely on this relatively smooth paper.

The color erased mostly for a pencil that does not appear to be listed as erasable but not completely. The color did not smudge at all. My efforts to do too much blending of the colors was not particularly successful.

I decided to see how the pencils worked on toothier Col-o-ring OVERSIZE paper. The pencils are a bit harder than other art pencils (Prismacolor Premiers, etc) so there was more white from the paper showing through since the pencils were not soft enough to sort of melt into the paper texture.

Alternately, this means the pencils are a bit firmer, maintain their point longer and can be sharpened to a longer, finer point for detail work.

Overall, if you are looking for some pencils to annotate notes, I really like these. Do I wish they offered more colors? Emphatically, YES. Am I happy with this teeny mini set? Yes.

DISCLAIMER: Some items in this review include affiliate links. The Well-Appointed Desk is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon. Please see the About page for more details.

The post Pencil Review: Midori MD Color Pencils appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

Whenever I see colored leads for mechanical pencils, I have a two-fold reaction: The first is to feel tingly with anticipation as I always do about any colored pencil I haven’t (yet) tried. This feeling is almost immediately followed by skepticism, which is an annoying but realistic buzz-kill. I’ve tried many colored mechanical pencil leads with woefully pale hues; I have concluded that it must be much more difficult to make a good colored pencil lead when it’s not surrounded by wood. Yet hope springs eternal: I couldn’t resist trying Uni EMOTT Color Mechanical Pencils (set of 4/$13.50). The sets are available in three color palettes; I chose Tropical. Each set includes eight 0.9mm refill leads.

I also picked up a pack of refill leads in each of the other two color palettes – Nostalgic and Refresh (8 pieces/$2.95) – because I needed to see all the colors, of course. The refill packs include two leads each of four colors.

First, I must say something about the design. With a white matte plastic barrel in a unique rounded-square shape, the EMOTT pencil is slender and lightweight. Pressing the white-capped colored segment extends the lead. Removing the cap reveals an eraser, which is also square like the barrel. After so many engineer-y or utilitarian mechanical pencils, it is a refreshing delight to see this distinctive design. And – be still, my heart – it’s lefty-oriented!

The EMOTT set comes with a small stand that holds four mechanical pencils and a refill vial. When each is replaced in its slot, the pencil is secured with a satisfying click (though they do wobble a bit after securing). 

So tickled was I with the design that I was almost afraid to use the leads for fear my bubble would be burst. With some trepidation, I pulled out a scrap sheet of Strathmore Bristol (a smooth drawing paper) to make some test swatches. To my surprise, the hues are vibrant and distinct – among the best I’ve seen in a non-woodcased colored pencil.

The second surprise came with erasing. I tested the EMOTT’s eraser against my standby favorite, the Tombow Mono Zero retractable eraser. The EMOTT eraser did as well or even slightly better, even where the color was heavily applied. Interestingly, when I tried the EMOTT eraser on other colored pencils, its performance was only average. It seems like the eraser was especially formulated to work well with EMOTT leads.

EMOTT leads smudge a little, especially on slightly toothy paper (swatches below were made on Col-o-Ring “Oversize” paper). 

Satisfied that the colors wouldn’t break my heart, I looked out my studio window on a wet, dreary day and made a sketch that was a lot brighter than what I saw (made in Col-o-Ring “Oversize” book). Coloring with mechanical pencils feels different from coloring with woodcased pencils, but the 0.9mm leads are solid under my heavy hand, even with substantial pressure. They are not going to snap as so many thinner leads do, at least in my hand.

Hard yet with decent pigment, EMOTT colored leads are excellent for writing as well as sketching. Even if you don’t have coloring in mind, these would be a fun checking or editing pencil, especially since it erases well. 

Tina Koyama is an urban sketcher in Seattle. Her blog is Fueled by Clouds & Coffee, and you can follow her on Instagram as Miatagrrl.

DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review were provided free of charge by JetPens for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.

The post Colored Pencil Review: Uni EMOTT Color Mechanical Pencils appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

Back in the day, graphic designers and printers used “non-photo blue” pencils. Certain shades of blue that could not be detected by camera film (or copy machines), so rough drawing lines or notations could be left on the art and would not appear in the final form. Modern scanners can see that blue, so non-photo blue pencils are not effective in the same way anymore. However, image-editing software can be used to manipulate the contrast or hue of the blue so that it can be made invisible digitally. Non-photo blue pencils still have life – but in a different way. (I’m not digitally geeky enough to explain further than that – heck, I still use Photoshop Elements to edit my images! – so I hope Ana will correct me as needed.)

Editor’s Note: You can scan an image that has non-photo blue pencil along with black pen and ink using the RGB mode. Then open the image in an image editing application like Photoshop and go to the “channels” palette. The blue channel will show your black lines and not your pencil marks but the red and green channel will not. You can select that channel,  make a layer, and fill with that data only. For a visual demo, check out this video.

I’ve never worked in graphic design or printing, and I don’t use sophisticated image-editing apps, so I had no practical use for non-photo blue pencils. Coincidentally, two people I am currently studying with both recommend the non-photo blue pencil, so I was tickled that this old-school tool has yet more life – this time in an analog way.

My first influence is cartoonist Lynda Barry, whose how-to books I have been voraciously devouring of late. (I don’t think cartooning is my bag, but I have been wanting to develop my imaginary drawing skills, and I love her approach to teaching.) She specifically recommends the Staedtler non-photo blue pencil.

The second influence is an instructor at Gage Academy, Kathleen Moore, whose subject area is about as different from Barry’s as you can get: drawing and painting nature. I’ve taken several classes from her, and in the current one using colored pencils, she, too, recommends a non-photo blue pencil.

Both artists use a blue pencil for lightly sketching the initial line drawing before inking (in Barry’s case) or using colored pencils (in Moore’s case). Their reasons are similar: While not invisible to modern cameras, non-photo blue lines are so subtle and pale that they tend to magically blend and disappear once the final medium is applied. In addition, lightly applied pale blue pencil is easily erased. Moore demonstrated another practical reason: If an initial drawing is made with graphite, almost all of it must be carefully erased before applying colored pencil. If any large particles of graphite remain, they could smudge, muddying the colors. 

With two respected teachers telling me I should get a non-photo blue pencil, I had no hesitation. In addition to Barry’s favorite Staedtler ($3.50), I also picked up a Prismacolor Col-Erase ($1.10), a contemporary Prismacolor Verithin ($1.10), and a Caran d’Ache Sketcher ($5.95). In my own vintage collection, I had an old Eagle Verithin, so I added that to the lineup. Although any light blue hue would probably work for this purpose, I stayed with ones that had “non-photo blue” (or “copy not NP blue,” in the case of the Col-Erase) in their names, just to simplify the options.

First, I tested them on my Col-o-Ring Oversize pad, which is slightly toothy. Erasing tests were done with a Tombow Mono Zero and a standard gray kneadable eraser. The second (scanned) image shows the differences a bit better, since they are all quite pale.

Next, I tested them on a sheet of Strathmore Bristol Smooth paper, which has a very smooth surface.

The Col-Erase is the palest and hardest, followed closely by the contemporary and vintage Verithins. Not surprisingly, the Caran d’Ache is the softest, which is true of most Caran d’Ache colored pencils. What did surprise me was the Staedtler, which was the softest after the Caran d’Ache. Most Staedtler graphite pencils are quite a bit harder than other pencils of corresponding grades, so I was expecting this one to be on the hard side, too. All erased easily and cleanly on both types of paper, especially with the kneadable eraser.

If I were making a drawing in which it was important for the initial lines to disappear completely, I would choose one of the Verithins for being a good balance between paleness and visibility – at least to this artist. The Col-Erase is easily the palest, but I can barely see it! If I don’t mind the lines showing, I would choose the Staedtler or the Caran d’Ache, since they are easier to see (and I generally prefer using a softer pencil).

For Mother’s Day, I felt like honoring my mom’s memory by making a drawing based on a photo that was taken in the late 1930s around the time that she and my father were married. I made the initial drawing with the Staedtler and remembered to scan it before I got too far with the final coloring with Prismacolors. I didn’t erase at all – most lines disappeared under my final coloring. In the small areas where the Staedtler lines are still visible, I could easily erase them, but I don’t mind their presence. Non-photo blue pencils for under-drawings are now a permanent part of my sketch kit.

Incidentally, the drawing was done on Stonehenge Lenox Cotton. It was one of the papers in the Stonehenge Legion sample set I reviewed recently. I typically use Strathmore Bristol Smooth for colored pencil drawings, but I liked the Lenox Cotton sample so much that I bought a pad. Compared to Bristol, it has a light, fine tooth that takes colored pencil pigment beautifully.

Tina Koyama is an urban sketcher in Seattle. Her blog is Fueled by Clouds & Coffee, and you can follow her on Instagram as Miatagrrl.

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Once I grabbed onto the Caran d’Ache Klein Blue Maxi pencil, the slope became slippery. I had already had my eye on the Klein Blue Fixpencil ($52), which I had resisted for a while . . . until I realized that it came with Klein Blue leads! And the leads are water-soluble! I could resist no longer.

The limited edition 2mm Fixpencil comes in a metal gift box in the expected “infinite ultramarine blue” that Klein is known for. The lid is emblazoned with the Caran d’Ache logo and the artist’s signature. 

Inside the box is the Fixpencil and a tube containing one graphite lead and three Klein Blue leads. 

If you read my review of the “junior” Caran d’Ache Fixpencil 884, all my remarks there hold true for the Klein Blue version. The body has the same sleek, comfortable design. The only differences I can see are that the luscious Klein Blue finish is matte instead of glossy, and the grip is without the subtle texture of the standard 884. And of course, Klein’s signature graces one facet of the pencil.

The graphite lead is also the same as the one that came with my standard Fixpencil. An HB grade, it is pleasantly smooth graphite that I enjoy writing and drawing with. But – let’s get to the main attraction (for me): I immediately plopped one of the Klein Blue leads in and got out a Stillman & Birn Beta sketchbook (which has paper that would adequately enable me to see the lead’s water-soluble properties) and a waterbrush. 

After being dazzled by the pencil’s body and even the box, I was somewhat underwhelmed by the pigment’s intensity. I had to work pretty hard to get the degree of color you see in the sketch above. Even as I was sketching, I was thinking of Caran d’Ache’s standard 2mm colored leads, which are very soft and highly pigmented for clutch leads. When compared to the standard blue lead below (swatches made in Col-o-Ring Oversize), Klein Blue is a bit pale. 

Still, I’m thrilled by the limited-edition Fixpencil itself, which seems to be growing scarcer by the minute. I’m glad I grabbed one when I did.

DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review were provided free of charge by Pen Chalet for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.

Tina Koyama is an urban sketcher in Seattle. Her blog is Fueled by Clouds & Coffee, and you can follow her on Instagram as Miatagrrl.

The post Pencil Review: Caran d’Ache Klein Blue 2mm Fixpencil appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

When Caran d’Ache recently brought out a limited-edition line of products honoring the French artist Yves Klein, the Fixpencil and standard-size graphite pencils were expected, but this item was a delightful surprise: the Klein Blue Maxi graphite pencil. (Unfortunately, it’s now out of stock at the Gentleman Stationer, but Joe’s blog post about his love for jumbo pencils includes beautiful photos much better than mine.) 

The gorgeous ultramarine blue barrel has a lovely matte finish and semi-hex shape. According to the Museum of Modern Art, Klein “adopted this hue as a means of evoking the immateriality and boundlessness of his own particular utopian vision of the world.” 

Like the Gentleman, I enjoy using jumbo, mini-jumbo and any slightly over-sized pencils (such as many of Caran d’Ache’s woodcased pencils, including my favorite Museum Aquarelle colored pencils). Although I have small hands, I find larger-barreled pencils to be more comfortable to hold for both writing and drawing, especially when doing either for a lengthy period. Instead of feeling like a child using a jumbo crayon, I feel a bit badass.

The Klein Blue Maxi’s HB core is a thick 5mm in diameter. I usually prefer a softer grade, but this graphite is silky smooth, so that makes up for its hardness. It’s probably at least partly because of its thickness, but it glides soundlessly on paper like a much softer Japanese core.  

On the opposite end is a very nice detail: Capless, the otherwise unfinished end is ever-so-slightly conical.

Drawing with it is as comfortable as writing with it.

I don’t have a hand-crank sharpener that accommodates the 10mm Maxi, but the Gentleman recommends the Classroom Friendly Jumbo Sharpener. I just took my Opinel to it.

The Maxi is a fitting tribute to an artist who was larger than life.

DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review were provided free of charge by Gentleman Stationer for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.

Tina Koyama is an urban sketcher in Seattle. Her blog is Fueled by Clouds & Coffee, and you can follow her on Instagram as Miatagrrl.

The post Pencil Review: Caran d’Ache Klein Blue Maxi appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.