freelance – The Art of David Stankowicz

Welcome to the first ever DSDraws Review! This is a series of posts in which I give my honest opinion on things such as art supplies, movies, games, tv shows, and just about anything else. I’ll break each one down by listing some pros and cons, then finish it off with my final overall verdict and recommendation.

For this inaugural post, I have decided to review Blackwing pencils. I picked up some a few years ago and have used them in many sketches and drawings. The Blackwing line of pencils include many varieties, but this review will focus specifically on the Blackwing Matte style that I have been using.

A fresh Blackwing Matte pencil straight from the box.

The Blackwing pencils actually have a long legacy that I was unaware of for the longest time. It began in the 1930’s when the Eberhard Faber Pencil Company introduced the original 602 model. They were quite popular during that time. However in 1998, the machines used to produce the pencils broke down and the manufacturer decided to end production of them instead of replacing them due to high costs and slowing sales. The pencil remained extinct and over the years developed a cult following that lead to some pencils selling for as much as $40! (that’s a lot for just a pencil) It wasn’t until the year 2010 that the company Palomino revived the Blackwing brand and expanded it to what it is today with multiple models.

I’ve been an artist for many years and I was painfully oblivious to this pencil and it’s legacy until fairly recently. I first discovered them from watching a fellow artist’s drawing video online. He was using it during some sketches and I thought to myself “hmm what is that pencil with the strange eraser end?’ I discovered it was a Blackwing pencil after some research online and became more curious, so I dove a bit deeper. It was then that I learned that some of the best artists at the time used the original 602 Blackwing, including animator Chuck Jones and Walt Disney and his nine old men! These guys swore by this pencil and it was then that I knew I had to give them a try myself. I needed to use the chosen tool of some of the best animators ever! Alright let’s get to the review.

The Pros

Let’s start with the pros. At first glance you might think this is just like any pencil out there but what makes them physically stand out is the unique ferule and eraser. The Blackwing ferule is longer and rectangular shaped with a removable and replaceable eraser. This is the feature that truly makes the Blackwing pencil unique as no other traditional wooden pencil has this to my knowledge. It’s honestly a pretty neat feature that drew my attention to it more. I try not to erase a ton when drawing, but having the ability to swap in a new eraser when needed seemed cool to me.

The first thing I noticed when picking one of the pencils up for the first time is how nice it was. It wasn’t heavy, but the wood felt dense and solid with a smooth black coating that gave it a super high quality look. After sharpening it many times with different types of sharpeners, not once has the the wood split, the graphite crack, or the coating peel away. I can see why these were the go to pencil for the best artists of the 1930’s. The pencils exude a sense of high quality that almost forces your drawing skill to level up just by using it. These pencils are also noticeably longer than other pencils, so that’s another thing that extends their life. I specifically picked up the Matte version because I heard it was softer graphite better suited for artists. It is indeed very soft (comparable to about a 4B pencil) and writes incredibly smooth. It felt like drawing with a stick of butter which I loved.

The Cons

Now let’s get to the cons. I mentioned before that the unique ferule and removable eraser is the Blackwing’s major calling card, but it has it’s faults. Because the ferule is so uniquely shaped, you cannot use a traditional pencil extender when it starts to get smaller. I’m one who likes to get the most life out of my supplies, so I’ve used pencil extenders for past pencils to get a bit more out of them before throwing them out. Blackwing does sell a dedicated extender for their pencils, but you have to commit to theirs only. I haven’t used their extender, but the shape of their ferule makes me concerned with how comfortable that would be in your palm while using the extender to get more life out of the pencil. The removeable eraser is cool, but in my experience I’ve found that it can be a bit stubborn or even impossible to remove. The first couple of pencils I tried had erasers that were completely stuck in the ferule. I nearly cut up my fingers trying to grip the edges of the metal holder trying to pry it out. Now that could have just been a few faulty pencils, but the fact I came across it multiple times when that is one of their big calling cards is definitely cause for concern and something to keep in mind.

The other thing is the price. These bad boys are not cheap. A set of twelve pencils right now costs $34, which makes the price for each pencil nearly $3! For me personally that is a lot for a set of pencils. I understand the quality bumps up the price, but oof that price hurts my wallet every time I see it.

Final Verdict

After spending the last few years using these Blackwing Matte pencils pretty consistently, I can say with confidence that I would recommend them to any artist. They are high quality and write very smooth. Their longer length extends the life of each pencil and the unique ferule and eraser is a nice touch. Overall, I believe the pros outweigh the cons here and suggest every artist give the Blackwing pencils a try at least once. Not everyone likes using traditional wooden pencils these days, but if you do and don’t mind spending more for the high quality, then these pencils are definitely worth your time.

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February 20, 2026February 20, 2026 by DStankowicz Categories: ReviewsTags: blackwing, dsdraws, freelance, pencil, review

Jumping back into the Convention Scene, and I Met Mario!

It’s been a while, but I’m back to talk about a major event I attended recently. A few weeks ago in mid October, I had a table in the artist alley of a convention for the first time in two years. It wasn’t any convention either. It was at Wizard World Chicago and it was the biggest convention I’ve been to and the last one to use the ‘Wizard World’ name (starting next year it will be FanExpo). I wanted to write about this sooner, but other things and life stuff got in the way. But I’m here now to tell you about my experience at the show.

Back in 2019 I did a few smaller conventions that were pretty fun, but this one was the biggest yet for me. There were tons of incredibly talented artists and authors everywhere you looked. As I was setting up, the imposter syndrome crept up big time. I couldn’t help but think that I was way out of my league here, and I probably was. But something I’ve learned from many people is you don’t know how prepared and ready you are for something until you do it. You can plan and ponder these things until you are blue in the face, but you’ll never know if you are truly ready and able until you jump into the water with both feet. So that’s what I did here.

I’m glad I did too. Overall, the show was great and quite successful. I had some new prints available and tried some different thing out at this one. What’s weird is that all these convention shows are super unpredictable. I thought many of the new things I brought this time would do really well and that didn’t seem to be the case. In fact, many of the older prints that didn’t garner much attention at other shows sold better here. Also, the day that was supposed to be the biggest day of the show turned out to be my slowest. I’ve learned now to expect the unexpected and nothing is predictable. I never know how these shows will play out, and while that is really terrifying as a selling artist, it’s also part of the appeal and enjoyment.

Let me get to what was easily he highlight of the weekend. As you may or may not know, these conventions usually have celebrity guest show up for all or a few of the days. This being a very big show meant that some big names showed up. People like Rob Paulsen (voice of Yakko from the the Animaniacs and many others), Paige O’Hara (voice of Belle from Beauty and the Beast, and William Shatner (no introduction necessary) all appeared. I usually don’t try to make time to visit any of these people because I’m usually busy trying to market my work and network with fellow creators. But there was one guest who I had to make and exception and meet…Charles Martinet was there! That’s right, the voice of Mario himself was signing and taking photos all weekend. Being that a huge part of my love and passion for video games, art, and animation came from Super Mario and hearing his voice, meeting Charles became a top priority. I have a bunch of Mario related fan art I’ve created over the years and I had to capitalize on the opportunity to have the voice of Mario sign one of my original Super Mario art prints.

I try not to show my face too much because I’d rather let my artwork take the spotlight, but I have to show off this picture to remind myself that this actually happened. I don’t get star struck, but this was certainly a surreal experience I’ll never forget. You can be sure that print is getting framed and hung on my wall. A massive thank you to Charles Martinet for this moment. He’ll probably never remember this, but for me it will forever be a highlight in my life. I only wish we didn’t have to be wearing masks, but it was a small price to pay for this priceless memory.

Before the show wrapped up, I made sure to go around the show and meet some of the fellow artists around me. Everyone had amazing work and were very kind and friendly. I stopped and chatted with many of them and made quite a few new art buddies. What I did notice is that many artist had their own published comics shown off at their tables. That reminded me how my own comic project has been put on the backburner for far too long. It’s long past time I dust it off and continue development on it. That will be a top priority going into the new year.

So that was my time at Wizard World Chicago. It was a fun and memorable weekend for sure. I learned some things and made some new friends. While I may never attend another convention the size and scale as this one again, I’m definitely going to look back and remember how fun it was as I continue my artistic journey at future conventions.