Back to basics

Pencil sharpenings evoke a memory of school. Asking permission to leave your seat to use what seemed like an industrial pencil sharpener, complete with hand-crank, attached to the teacher's desk. Then graduating on to using the (more mature) pen in secondary school where pencils are deemed to be too babyish. Once this transition has been made, most people don't go back to the pencil. Unless, for example, when undertaking some sort of artistic pursuit.

Sharpening a pencil: a satisfying past time

The pencil made a bit of a comeback in the form of the mechanical variety, particularly in offices, where it masquerades as a pencil of the future, come to make life easier for everyone, free from the manacles of the sharpener. Like many, I was lured in by Evil Futuristic Pencil Droid, wowed by the perennially sharp leads, the convenient click, and the clip to attach it to my pocket. But I've seen the error of my ways and have come to appreciate the warmth and the beauty of the Humble Pencil. It won't let you down like Evil Futuristic Pencil Droid. You now where you stand with Humble Pencil; none of that clicky-click-oh-no-the-lead's-broken-again nonsense.

While reacquainting myself with the pleasure of pencil sharpenings, I came across this wonderful blog post by Matthew James Taylor about The Art of Sharpening Pencils. He describes four styles of point: standard, chisel, needle, and bullet. My favourite is the needle point which reminds me of a heron's beak. 

Do not use this pencil to administer antibiotics

I admit that I am also lured back to the world of the pencil merely by the fact that we say pencil sharpenings and not pencil shavings. Somehow it seems to be more appropriate for Humble Pencil.