How To Draw Sheer Fabric Colored Pencil

How to sharpen a colored pencil

Learning how to sharpen a colored pencil is an indispensable skill for colored pencil artists!

If you are a fan of cartoon with colored pencils, and then you lot know how precious the colored pencils are to yous... and how frustrating it tin can be when the lead breaks off! This article explains the various ways you lot can sharpen your colored pencils, as well equally measures you lot tin can accept to prevent the atomic number 82 from breaking.

The "lead" in colored pencils is actually colored paint in a wax or oil base, depending on the brand. Wax-based colored pencils like Prismacolors are quite soft, which means they can suspension quite easily. Colored pencil artists love getting their colored pencils to a nice, sharp signal (like in the film above left). Merely without the protective wood encasing the pb, it becomes extremely vulnerable.

This article focuses on Prismacolor colored pencils, since that is what I utilize most, but this information tin can apply just too to any make of colored pencils.

What is the all-time manner to sharpen colored pencils to preclude breakage?

Prismacolor colored pencils tin can piece of work beautifully and last a long time if they are sharpened well and cared for correctly. Artists sharpen their Prismacolors in a number of ways: handheld pencil sharpeners, electric pencil sharpeners, cosmetic sharpeners, sandpaper blocks, and even the old-fashioned way - using a pocketknife.

What works for ane artist may not work for another artist. It is often a thing of trying out unlike sharpeners and sharpening methods, to see what works best for you. Here is the lowdown about the best ways on how to acuminate a colored pencil:

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Handheld

Handheld pencil sharpeners permit for careful precision and control when sharpening. The sharpener that I employ is the Maped Hand-Held Sharpener. Information technology'due south a cheap, sturdy pencil sharpener that volition last a long time.

Prismacolor also makes their own pencil sharpener, which many artists review favorably. The Prismacolor Colored Pencil Sharpener has a neat, compact shape, so it's dandy for travel without the mess.

Hither's the best way to acuminate a colored pencil

Hold the colored pencil in i hand and the pencil sharpener in the other manus, then plough the pencil sharpener, while holding the colored pencil still.

About of us do it the other style round (turning the pencil and belongings the sharpener still), but if you plow the pencil sharpener instead, it reduces the stress on the colored pencil and reduces breakage.

If you apply a handheld pencil sharpener and you experience lead breakage, check whether your pencil sharpener is nonetheless abrupt or non. You can determine if your sharpener is in proficient condition by checking the length of the pencil shaving. If your pencil sharpener can produce one long, continuous pencil shaving (equally you see in the motion-picture show above), then information technology is in expert condition. That means you are less probable to experience any breakage as a event of sharpening.

If the shavings are small-scale and come off in bits and pieces, it means your pencil sharpener has gone blunt. This means that in that location is more hazard of breakage. If the blades are replaceable, replace the old one with a fresh blade. If the blades are not replaceable, try tightening the little screw to see if that makes a difference. If that doesn't help, it'southward time to chuck information technology out and buy a new pencil sharpener.

If your pencil sharpener is sharp and you are still experiencing breakage, read more reasons why the lead in your colored pencils might break.

Another tip on how to sharpen a colored pencil with a handheld pencil sharpener:

When you use a handheld pencil sharpener to sharpen your colored pencils, attempt non to apply too much pressure. Utilize a gentle bear on to press the pencil confronting the blade. It may help if you concord the pencil vertically, as shown above, rather than horizontally.

Electric Sharpeners

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Some artists honey electric pencil sharpeners for sharpening their colored pencils, whereas others report problems. There is a big argue over which type of sharpener is best for colored pencils: handheld vs electric.

With electric pencil sharpeners, you have a lot less control. You lot basically slip your pencil into the sparse dark abyss and hope for the best. The danger with electric sharpeners is that they may use too much force, grinding abroad at your precious pencil. With handheld, you take the ability command the corporeality of force practical on the pencil.

Some teachers study that their electric pencil sharpeners get ruined from students using them to acuminate colored pencils. This is about likely due to the fact that the wax from the colored pencils will inevitably build upwardly and clog the sharpener.

Tips on how to sharpen a colored pencil with an electric pencil sharpener:

If yous use an electric pencil sharpener, exist sure to run a regular graphite pencil through the sharpener on a regular basis. The grease from the graphite will assistance to make clean and clear the blades. It's besides advisable to open up the sharpener and clean the blades with Q-tips or toothpicks every at present and then.

Cosmetic Sharpener

You tin sharpen your colored pencils in a cosmetic sharpener that is normally meant for things like eyeliner pencils. Eyeliner pencils are soft like colored pencils, so the sharpeners are designed to deal with such material.

Sandpaper Blocks

Sandpaper blocks are an piece of cake mode to sharpen your colored pencils. They consist of several layers of sandpaper mounted onto a wooden cake.

Tips on how to sharpen a colored pencil with a sandpaper block:

Belongings your pencil at an angle, run it dorsum and forth over the surface of the sandpaper, rotating it evenly to sharpen every side. When the top page of sandpaper becomes unusable, simply tear information technology off and you've got a fresh new sheet!

Sandpaper blocks are small and lightweight, making them very portable. You lot can also use them to sharpen charcoal and pastels.

Knife

You tin can also get back to basics past sharpening your colored pencils with a utility pocketknife. This is the near unsafe option, because the bract is exposed, but it's common with artists (espcially those who use graphite) considering it allows them to sculpt dissimilar shapes that aid in stroke-making.

Tips on how to acuminate a colored pencil with a knife:

Sharpen the pencil past property it in ane manus, and holding the pocketknife in your other mitt. Hold the knife at an angle away from your body and carefully press it downwards against the end of the pencil with your pollex, shaving it off chip past bit. Rotate the pencil and so that you evenly shave each side.

Check out the Permit'south Depict form to see a step-by-stride video of how to properly sharpen a pencil with a knife. They'll also show y'all how to sculpt different point shapes and demonstrate the strokes and lines they aid you achieve.

Paw-crank pencil sharpeners

How to sharpen a colored pencil with a hand-crank pencil sharpener:

Don't! Mitt-crank sharpeners are the blazon of pencil sharpeners that y'all oft find attached to the wall at schools and universities. The general consensus is that these pencil sharpeners volition butcher colored pencils.

Hand-creepo pencil sharpeners like the 1 on the left are a big no-no for colored pencils!

I would advise against buying one of these. Instead, a handheld sharpener or electric sharpener would serve you much better!

Tips for preventing breakage in your colored pencils

Now that you know all the different means you tin sharpen your colored pencils, what other steps can you lot accept to prevent the lead from breaking?

The fact is, no matter how advisedly you sharpen the pencils, the pb within the colored pencils tin still suspension. If they are dropped on hard surfaces or banged around, the lead within the pencil may weaken and break when it is sharpened. So have good care of your colored pencils - don't drop them!

Remember though, that even if you treat them with the utmost care, you never know what may have happened to them earlier they reached your hands - they may have been dropped at the store or banged around during shipment. And then, even if yous conscientiously continue your colored pencils prophylactic and stable and they withal break, it may exist due to previous handling and no fault of your own.

And so is there anything you can do if the pb is weakened or broken on the inside?

On Prismacolor's website, they recommend "setting the pencils in a warm, sunny spot for a few minutes [which] can soften the wax-based colored pencils." Since the cores of Prismacolors are wax-based, the oestrus will soften the wax core and crusade the broken pieces to fuse together. To me this sounds similar the safest method for mending a colored pencil.

There are some "kitchen" techniques that many artists accept tried (some with success and some without) such every bit microwaving the colored pencils for 5-10 seconds or placing them in a warm oven for a few minutes. Alternatively, some artists report that freezing colored pencils makes them easier to sharpen (which certainly seems safer than popping the pencils in a microwave or oven). Nonetheless, these techniques - specially the ones involving microwaves or conventional ovens - come with risks. I haven't tried any of the kitchen techniques myself so I can't verify their effectiveness or propose that y'all try them, and then if you practice try the microwave or oven technique, you do and then at your own risk. Please do all caution and continue a close heart on the colored pencil at all times. Remember that all microwaves are different so what works for one person in their microwave might non piece of work in yours. Likewise exist aware that if your colored pencil is labelled with metal lettering, this tin cause sparks (or worse) in your microwave.

1 Art-is-Fun company wrote in to say that she tried putting a Crayola colored pencil in her microwave to repair the cleaved atomic number 82, and reported: "After 8 seconds I opened the door to check, and smoke came pouring out of the microwave. The pencil had separate end to cease, and the chip of lead at one end was carbonized. At the other end, it had bulged out. The paint was blistered and missing in placed." This is clearly an instance of the microwave technique not working, and it's lucky she checked on the colored pencil when she did. Information technology'due south up to you whether yous desire to take the risk.

Another visitor wrote in to say that, "Microwaving of pencils can work, but but if you put a container of water in with the pencil you lot are trying to mend. Even then it isn't a 100% guarantee that it will work or that your pencil won't suffer some damage, merely your chances of success are much college."

It's worth noting that the concept of microwaving cleaved colored pencils has become then widespread that Prismacolor answered a question well-nigh this in their website's FAQ. They advise against putting their colored pencils in the microwave and instead provide the proposition of placing the pencil in a warm sunny spot for a few minutes, which is certainly the safer option.

More tips for keeping your colored pencils in good, abrupt condition:

• Acuminate them every bit soon as you become them. Keeping them abrupt all the time may help reduce breakage, because it means less force is needed to bring them to a sharp point.

• Try using a sharpener with a larger opening, which will be more gentle on the pencil. This will make a smaller angle on the pencil, making it less pointy. Information technology also means that less of the lead is exposed, and more than of it is protected by the wood.

• Whether you are using a handheld or electrical sharpener, ever make clean out the shavings. Otherwise the shavings may crusade issues when sharpening the pencil.

In the end, finding the best mode to sharpen your Prismacolor colored pencils is an individual quest. What works wonders for one creative person will mysteriously non work for another creative person. A large part of the reason for this is that nosotros don't know how the colored pencils were treated before we got them. But we can accept control of how we care for them at present that they are in our care! So try out a few of these ideas on how to sharpen a colored pencil and see what works all-time for you!

Step-by-step colored pencil coloring lesson by Thaneeya McArdle

How to Describe Grade

If you want to larn more tips and tricks nigh drawing, cheque out my review of the Let's Draw Course .

In improver to the fundamentals of drawing, you'll learn all almost dissimilar ways to sharpen your pencils, and how various art supplies can enhance your abilities.

Source: https://www.art-is-fun.com/how-to-sharpen-a-colored-pencil

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