How can I sharpen a pencil?

How to Sharpen Charcoal Pencil?

• i just bought conte charcoal pencil, are there any special sharpener for charcoal pencil? Or we use x-acto knife to sharpen it? Thx.. :)

• Answer:

  Sharpening a charcoal pencil is actually a 2-step process. 1st: You must remove the wood around the charcoal core. You do this with either a handheld pencil sharpener, or, if you are very careful, an X-acto knife where the point of the pencil is held away from you. This way, you are cutting/shaving the wood away from your body. 2nd: Sharpen the charcoal itself. For that you use either sand paper (fine to very fine grit), or a sanding block, which is sandpaper layers fastened to a wooden support with a handle (available in most art stores and very cheap). Put your sandpaper on a table or hold your sanding block and gently rotate your pencil point, on an angle, against the sandpaper until you achieve the point that you want. Do remember to wipe your charcoal point with a tissue before using, or the fine charcoal dust left on it will transfer to your drawing.