I don't draw or sketch at all, so the smudginess or softness of pencils doesn't mean much to me. ^^ I had to look up what a Blackwing pencil was. Looked pretty normal, cool eraser that can be changed. But because I do so much writing, any pencil that has to be sharpened just isn't for me. I exclusively use mechanical pencils, and once I discovered Kuru Toga pencils, I never looked back. ^_^ And I fill my fancy mechanical pencil with the cheapest ￥100 leads I can find.