#blick

work in progress for my fruits series

its not wednesday but can i share my work in progress w you anyways 🤌🏼🍋‍🟩🍋🍊 making my first request based on a room decor inspo pic!! is this my first baby comission 🥹

inspired by my cat who loves boxes. i used a canvas from blick that i'd never used before. did NOT like the texture personally but i could see it doing well for oil or watercolor even. i used gouache and it was soooo hard to get a smooth finish that i usually like when working with gouache or acrylic. had to stipple on the canvas but it turned out to look good from far away lol i think i still got the playful essence of the kitties though!! looking forward to recreating cats in boxes on different surface, any tips welcomed!!!

Unfortunately Blick doesn't appear to make just regular pencils anymore? So I can no longer order just a plain Blick #2/HB. All they seem to have for sell now is "studio drawing pencils"- which are nothing like what I have.

I cannot stress that it's literally just a regular pencil. Nothing fancy; it's just a purple pencil with a white eraser on the end, stamped "Blick" "#2/HB" "France" "035071". And I cannot find it anywhere.

ETA: Confirmed with customer support via live chat. The pencils have indeed been discontinued by Blick. So I will, in fact, never be able to find it again. What a shame.

It was my favorite specifically because not only did the graphite never break (a miracle), but it was a perfect medium between soft and hard. So it went down super smooth and didn't leave rough indents in the paper unless you really pressed on it- but it also didn't smudge to hell and back like every "Art pencil" I've ever handled does. It also erased incredibly, because it does still have that slight "artist texture" to it.

Your memory will be a blessing, little buddy. Our relationship was incredible for the many years that it lasted.

I'm going to try out a box of Dixon Ticonderoga pencils as replacements, I guess. We'll see how they do.

ETA 2: I was lying to myself (and lied to by Blick support).

I found a photo of my art with my pencil included from before the name got sharpened away, and it is not, in fact, a Blick pencil at all like I thought it was! They are BIC pencils.

Specifically, after some digging, it appears to be a BIC "Xtra-Fun Ultra Solid Break Resistant Easy to Erase #2". They come in a multipack of various colors- one of which is my purple that I've been using for ages now.

I was dreamin’ bout the blicky