I was sharpening some charcoal pencils and realized this might be a good subject to cover. I sharpen the charcoal pencils differently for more freedom and flexibility when drawing. As you can see to the right, I learned to sharpen my charcoal pencils to have a long sharp point. This is because I have been taught to use the charcoal pencil more like a paintbrush and to draw using the whole movement of the arm rather than just the movement of the wrist. To draw this way requires the pencil to be sharpened in a different manner than I normally would sharpen other types of pencils.
Today, we are going to look at how to sharpen a charcoal pencil in a way that exposes more of the charcoal, making the pencil easier to use and allowing us to take advantage of the medium more effectively.
Let's look a the benefits of sharpening the pencil this way.