The Almighty Pencil Sharpener

I remember this From elementary school!

Broken pencil tips everywhere!

Pencil points!

I would like to just take a moment and talk about my pencil sharpener.

This was one of the best things I've ever found for my drawing process. That is because historically, the old handheld pencil sharpener has always made my legs break, specifically on pastels and colored pencils. I would lose probably 30% of any pastel pencil I was using if I tried to sharpen it with a little bitty pencil sharpener. It was always very frustrating.

Then one day I found myself at the Alameda antiques fair, just poking around and not looking for anything in particular. And there it was! A classic Boston rotary pencil sharpener, exactly like the one many of us remember from our elementary school days. I picked it up for probably no more than $10, brought it home and bolted it onto my desk, and was immediately rewarded with a beautiful intact tip on my pastel pencil!

I don't know if I will ever use a handheld pencil sharpener again. I feel pretty lucky to have found this gem.