Ask Ali: Sharpening Pencils

I get asked this A LOT, which is the best way of sharpening pencils or which is the best pencil sharpener and in my experience, there is no definitive answer to this as for me, it depends on what pencil I am using and how lazy I am feeling.

As a mixed media artist, I use a huge range of pencils, both cheap and expensive depending on the mark I want them to make, and so I have found there isn’t one single solution to all pencil requirements. That’s not true, the single solution is to always sharpen with a knife but I can be so lazy when it comes to preparing my materials and sharpening with a knife is not always the fastest solution and can get in the way of creativity if you are impatient like me.

Some artists relish the act of whittling away with a knife, that it is part of the process and can be a focussing task to prepare one’s pencils - these are more patient people than I as I usually rush it and snap the end of the lead, cursing and trying to find that super duper sharpener I bought and put in a safe place.

Sometimes, particularly if a pencil has broken all the way down the colour strip, the ONLY way is to sharpen it with a knife to save yourself from buying a new one but if you like a gadget then you may be interested to know the two rotary sharpeners that I have on my desk.

The first is made by Derwent and is an old version of their current model:

As you can see, it is battle-weary and has seen a few thousand pencils in its time. What’s the paperclip taped on the top for I hear you ask? Good question. In my experience, all rotary sharpeners get clogged up with the tip of the pencil snapping off on occasion and an unfolded paperclip is the only tool I have found that you can poke backwards into the mechanism to clear it. Super high-tech, right?

My second rotary sharpener is made by X-Acto:

This one is called a ‘Vacuum Mount’ as it is supposed to suck down onto the desk but again, it is now well on to retirement and doesn’t suck any more so it’s clamped down to the edge with a G clamp.

This one is my favourite as it takes different sized pencils, better than the Derwent version but because it is clamped down, it is a pain to unblock and the design of taking off the front is rubbish as pencil shavings go everywhere!

So I’m going to ask you, as you will know better than I, if I was going to treat myself to a new one, what have you used that is portable and takes larger pencils but has a good design and doesn’t clog so easily? Am I asking for the impossible?

Oh and by the way, did you know that they need sharpening themselves to keep the blade bright? It’s so easy to do, buy yourself a graphite stick and every so often, run it through and the blades will sharpen themselves on the graphite.

Hope that helps, do leave me a comment below and let’s see what you all use, speak soon, Ali.