Staedtler Mars Lumograph Graphite Pencil Review

(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Twitter.)

The Staedtler Mars Lumograph Graphite Pencil Tin Box of 20 is a playground of pencils. I love getting to try new writing tools, and the range of this set includes several grades of pencil I've never experienced before. Disclaimer: I am not an artist, so I can't weigh in on the artitude of these. I've focused instead on their build and function. Overall, they're very decent student-grade tools, but they didn't wow me.

The build of the pencil is very good. The body is eco-friendly cedar wood from Germany. It's coated in a smooth layer of blue-turquoise paint with silver stamped labels and branding. It has the classic hexagonal shape, so it doesn't roll but the edges are smooth and comfortable to hold. The lead grade is labeled on every facet of the hexagon, which is very convenient and helpful. They are 7.4 mm in diameter and 7" long, so they should fit nicely in standard pencil cases.

They come in a hinged tin case that has a cozy nest for each pencil, so they don't rattle around. The tin is attractive and sturdy and slim enough to fit nicely in a bag alongside a sketchbook. It doesn't have a very strong snap close, though, so if any warping does occur, you might need a rubber band to hold it closed.

The leads are perfectly centered in the wood, easy to sharpen, and I had no breakage issues at all.

The softer shades are butter smooth and create dark areas without crumbling. They shade well but are difficult to erase and blend.

There are so many hardnesses here that it's difficult to tell the difference from pencil to pencil, but the overall spectrum is dramatic. The middle range is standard, and all work well. The harder leads create lovely soft shades, but I found them to be very scratchy. And not in a "this is a hard lead so of course it is scratchy" way, but more of a "in order to make this visible I have to damage the paper" way. The hardest two feel like trying to write with an actual nail. The feeling did improve after some use and the point was dulled, but every fresh sharpen starts the cycle over. Even the light tones weren't able to be erased totally cleanly, perhaps because the lines were more engraved than written.

I think the big takeaway here is that I prefer softer lead grades, and this set is so broad in scope that it takes me out of my comfort zone. Which is a very excellent thing!

Price-wise, these are at the more affordable end of the range, so they're a great resource for a student artist looking for some dynamic tools. And I'd recommend them to anyone who wants to experiment with a wide range of lead grades.

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Posted on March 29, 2018 by Sarah Read and filed under Staedtler, Pencil Reviews.

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Palomino Blackwing Pencil Pouch Review

(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)

As I dive deeper and deeper into the pencil world, it doesn’t take long to realize that not all pen/pencil cases are long enough to accommodate a standard size wood-case pencil. They’re just longer than your average writing utensil, and that means you have to purchase a case that is made for these instruments in mind.

It should come as no surprise that Palomino has their own case for just this purpose. The Pencil Pouch from Blackwing is a black waxed-canvas pencil case that features a low-key branding and big, brass zipper to keep everything secure. On the outside, it looks great and, due to the waxed canvas, should hold up for quite a long period of use.

Pencil pouches are fairly simple — they are usually a rectangle with enough space inside for a dozen or two dozen pencils, and close with a zipper of some kind. The Blackwing version is no different, but stays in line with the branding of their notebooks and pencils — it’s minimal and unassuming. I think it looks great, but it’s not perfect.

The brass zipper on top of the case looks fantastic. It has a rugged, aged look that compliments the black canvas. It also has a small leather pull attached to the zip pull to make it easier to operate. On one side of the zipper, there’s also a small leather tab affixed in the seam of the pouch that provides a nice gripping point when unzipping the pouch. Palomino definitely thought through the design and use of this case, and it shows. While the zipper looks great, it uses a relatively large zip size that can be someone difficult to open and close. It tends to get caught midway through the zip, and that can be frustrating. The last thing you want is a struggle with trying to close the pencil pouch that results in some of the tips of your pencils getting damaged or broken.

Apart from the zipper, there’s the feel of the waxed canvas when it’s still new. It has a waxy feel on the outside and the inside of the pouch, and this residue can stick to your fingers. I really dislike this, but it’s happened to me with almost every other new waxed canvas bag that I’ve had. Fortunately, this residue wears off over a brief period, but the protective elements of the wax coating remain. If you can live through a short period of waxy residue on your fingers and pencils, you’ll be fine with this case. The other downside of waxed canvas is that it loves to pick up lint, hair, etc. This drives me nuts because I detest lint, so keep that in mind if you also suffer from this idiosyncrasy.

In the pictures in this review, I’m using a dozen pencils. You can see in the pictures that the pouch looks about half-full, and that’s accurate according to the specs on JetPens. This case should comfortably fit 24 pencils. If you leave a few out, there’s also plenty of room for a sharpener and an eraser.

On the quality side, the case seems very well made, although a little messy on the inside. The outside of the case looks very clean and well-made. The stitches are consistent and I haven’t seen any stray threads coming off the case with use. If you turn the pouch inside out to inspect the interior stitches, they seem a bit messier and might potentially unravel a bit over a long period of time. Still, since they’re on the inside of the pouch, they’re very well protected. I imagine this is normal for any stitched goods that are made in high volume, as I assume these Blackwing pouches are.

The Palomino Blackwing Pencil Pouch will set you back around $35, which seems a fair price for the materials used. I’ve been happy with it aside from the minor complaints I noted above, and I’d happily recommend this case if you like the aesthetic and price-point.

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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