Proper Sharpening of a Charcoal Pencil for Long Lead
July 15, 2009
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Running time: 2m, 46s
I know, I know... "A video on how to sharpen a pencil?"
One of the keys to good charcoal drawing, the way I teach it — and the way I was taught — is to have a long segment of the charcoal "lead" exposed, and the surrounding wood whittled down and out of the way for maximum "side exposure" to the paper.
NOTE: The pencil in this demonstration is has a paper-peel support rather than wood. Ideally, though, you'll want to shave the wood back at an angle as well, exposing about 1.5" of "lead" with nothing else.
Tip: Shave the wood off in a separate location, so that you do not mix wood shavings with the charcoal shavings. This way you will have usable charcoal powder with which to tone your paper.
This method allows for a lot of variety in pencil work, from thin lines to broad fill-in strokes with very little adjustment of the positions of the drawing hand or pencil.
When I taught Life Drawing a few years back, it was common to hear cussing, swearing and all manner of impolite expletives coming from the area near the trash can where students were whittling their pencils in preparation for drawing. This was as routine as morning coffee. At $1.50 or more per pencil, it can get aggravating.
So I sat down one evening to develop a method that dealt with the too-common lead breakage, and realized it had to do with the brittle nature of the leads and the heavy-handedness of the whittlers.
Once the lead becomes exposed (long and unsheathed) it is very sensitive to "cross pressure." So the technique of pointing it downward on a paper surface and also shaving downward seemed to take the side-ways pressure from the shaft, directing the energy downward.
It's not fool proof, but I have received a LOT of feedback telling e that my method is the best around, leading to the most success when shaping pencils.
It's still "an art" to get it right — rooted in developed skill, like any other ability.