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Caran d’Ache Technalo 779 water soluble pencil

These are not pencils for writing memoirs or taking scientific notes. Made by Caran d’Ache, the graphite core is water soluble. Like watercolour paint, the graphite dissolves when wet, becoming another type of medium, while remaining graphite.

The pencils, in HB, B, and 3B, have the bar code attached to a removable plastic piece:

Caran d'Ache Technalo 779

The pencil is exceptional in appearance, with a beautiful and simple gold imprint on a matte black background. An easy sharpening cedar pencil, it really has the feel of a quality art supply.

Caran d'Ache Technalo 779

The brush icon indicates that this is a water soluble pencil:

Caran d'Ache Technalo 779

The cap is glossy:

Caran d'Ache Technalo 779

I am not an artist! But even as a backyard doodler, I can see that these pencils are both capable and fun. Going over a drawing with a fine brush dipped in water unleashes nuances and shading capabilities that would be challenging to achieve with regular pencils. Or at least for me they would be!

Caran d'Ache Technalo 779

Maybe you have tried them, or a similar product?

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Staedtler Tradition 118-2/3 red and blue pencil

Staedtler Tradition 118-2/3 red and blue pencil

The growth of online stores, auctions, and selling forums has resulted in many benefits for pencil end users, including the ability to discover unusual products. Here is an example.

How many people outside of Malaysia knew that Staedtler made a red and blue pencil?

Staedtler Tradition 118-2/3 red and blue pencil

The traditional red and blue format survives, yet I’ll bet very few people would know where to find one. I suspect that in most markets, not a single brick and mortar store carries such an item.

Certainly this particular pencil is a surprise – why is it so “beneath the radar”? From a major manufacturer, it would command a market simply due to the brand.

Staedtler Tradition 118-2/3 red and blue pencil

So there are a few things different – the tradition name, usually written with the lower case t, has graduated to using a majuscule T.

The markings are also a bit un-Staedtler – no bar code, just the text, “Staedtler Tradition 118-2/3”. 2/3? 2/3 of what? And the imprints don’t seem to be of top quality.

The red and blue markings do seem to be nicely merged with the traditional tradition branding.

And finally – why the tradition line? How does this variant relate to the 110 pencil?

Staedtler Tradition 118-2/3 red and blue pencil

The Malaysian made (according to the box) pencils are a nice oversize hexagonal shape, and function well. The line seems a bit dry while richly pigmented – nicely tuned for writing. I look forward to using them.

P.S. This is the 500th post at pencil talk.

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Crayola Pro Sketch pencil

According to Crayola LLC, only 1% of US households don’t know the Crayola name!

The makers of very famous crayons and so much more, it is no surprise that Crayola (founded in 1885) makes a woodcase pencil. Perhaps it is surprising that this pencil is so hard to find.

Like other large manufacturers, the items one can find here and there are not always in the official catalogue or website. Such is the case with this pencil, which I don’t find mentioned on any Crayola website.

The pencil itself is labelled “Sketch Crayola Pro”, while the packaging suggests the name “Sketchers Pro”.

The package has three pencils in HB, three in 2B, and one each in 4B and 6B. The packaging gives no information about pencil details or the country of manufacture.

The pencils are round and finished in matte black. They have silver lettering and grey dipped ends. The end colour varies with the grade.

The pencils sharpen easily. I can’t discern the type of wood, but it is agreeable from an end user perspective. I hope it isn’t an endangered species!

The HB and 2B pencils have very ho-hum leads. Scratchy and smearing! About what you would expect from a discount pencil. The 4B and 6B are much more interesting. I suspect most children never experience these softer grades, which float across the page. Just by including these two pencils, I think the set partially redeems itself.

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Fußball pencil

Faber-Castell has released a timely themed pencil.

Have you seen it (if you live in Germany), or any other FIFA World Cup themed pencils or stationery items?

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Commenter rewards – Primo charcoal drawing set

The General Pencil Co. has kindly sent a few product samples. The blog has had four contests in the past, but they were all knowledge based, so it’s about time for something more open.

For random draw is a “Primo Euro Blend Charcoal Drawing Set” with five charcoal pencils, four compressed charcoal sticks, a kneaded eraser, a black Factis eraser, and a sharpener. The box is illustrated by artist and past pencil talk commenter J. D. Hilberry.

Primo charcoal drawing set

As a way to say thank you to those who’ve left comments here is the past, the draw is only open to previous commenters. The WordPress blog software should manage this. It is set to “Comment author must have a previously approved comment”.

One commenter on this post will be randomly chosen. They draw is open for 24 hours, ending tomorrow June 11, 2010 at 19:00 EDT. The prize will be sent via Canada Post.

To enter, just leave a comment on this post.

Update: The Draw

Thank you to the ten entrants! Using the python pseudo-random number generator on my PC, we have, drumroll please …
$ python
Python 2.6.2 (r262:71600, Apr 16 2009, 09:17:39)
[GCC 4.0.1 (Apple Computer, Inc. build 5250)] on darwin
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>> import random
>>> random.seed()
>>> random.randint(1,10)
4
The fourth commenter, David O., is the winner. David, I will contact you by email!