I’m on a pencil kick lately, (as if you hadn’t noticed) and I recently purchased the Pencils.com mixed palomino pencil pack. This is a pack that contains a selection of 9 of the most popular Palomino pencils. Included in this pack are one each of: Blackwing, Blackwing 602, Blackwing Pearl, Orange Palomino Premium HB Eraser Tipped, ForestChoice #2 (FSC-certified), (the rest are all made in the USA) Green Prospector #2 , Natural Prospector #2, Orange Golden Bear #2, and Blue Golden Bear #2. I have previously reviewed the Blackwing and the Blackwing 602, which are both great pencils for sketching. I hope to review all of the pencils in the set but for now this is a general review of the set.

The Blackwing pencils included are obviously the high end of the lot. As such they perform flawlessly and will not disappoint in appearance or use. Read my review of the Black wing and the 602. The orange Palomino Premium HB with an eraser top sits in the premium grouping. Without a complete review, it’s a very nice pencil.

The next group of pencils are the middle level, the Palomino Prospector and Golden Bear. Their bright colors and smooth finish are also very nice. I really enjoy the clear finish on the naturally colored Prospector. It’s darn near perfect. The lead in all of this group of pencils is similar. The pencils in this grouping will also be satisfying.

The final pencil is the Forest Choice. It’s a very nice pencil but not my favorite.

In terms of sketching, these pencils are mostly HB. So they are great for starting out a drawing but won’t give you a huge range of shades or deep darks. The Blackwings are an exception to this, as they are all softer and darker than an HB designation. I’d put them in the range of 2B.

After doing a little rough math, the price for the 9 pack is not bad when you consider that buying a package of each of these pencils all together would cost about $90. It’s a great way to test out a great group of pencils without investing in 12-packs that you might not like. Overall these pencils won’t disappoint and it will help narrow down what you like, or don’t like, in a pencil.

I hope to get reviews of the rest of the pencils in the next few weeks.

I purchased these pencils and have not been compensated for this review by pencils.com or Palomino.