Wednesday, January 14, 2009

How To Sharpen A Charcoal Pencil

After dealing with several failed attempts to get my charcoal pencil points sharpened I did a search on google and found this invaluable video. If anyone else has some charcoal pencil tips, such as good sharpeners that don't break the delicate points, or a pencil brand that's tougher, please post here! By far my worst experience has been with "Pro Art" charcoal pencils - they are a nightmare when it comes to constant breaking and I hardly got any actual drawing out of them. It went more like this - sharpen, break, sharpen, break, sharpen, break - then when the pencil was down to half -size a miracle would occur and I could draw with it a little....before it broke again..

Charcoal Pencil Sharpening Demo

3 comments:

Vanessa Brantley Newton said...

Thanks so much for sharing this great tip. I use charcoal pencil and it was driving me crazy with her to sharpen them. I would usually go out and buy more. This helped a great deal. I have been to your website and blog many times. Your work is always amazing and beautiful. You are truly an inspiration and a delight to me. Thanks again for sharing

Paige Keiser said...

Hi Vanessa, thank YOU so much for the kind words about my work! That really made my day :0)

Sandra Belegi said...

Hi, Paige! First time visiting your blog. What a fun place you have here :) I just wanted to say hello and let you know I appreciate the link to the video. It made me think of my mom: I remember her sharpening her pencils like that, any kind of pencil. Once I was old enough to hold a blade she taught me how to do it and it turns out I do it every now and then.. it's a relaxing and meditative little break in the middle of making art.