After months of search I finally found it - my one good pencil sharpener. I had refused to buy another and so had resorted to using a cutting blade, which is fine and I am sure there are many people who never use a pencil sharpener. Perhaps you are now sighing and saying to yourself: dear me, only a knife dear, only a knife!
I remember one of my school art teachers always had knife-sharpened pencils. I had a bit of a crush on - those pencils. The teacher was a bit of a creep. He was an interesting character though and his ideas on art were not too mainstream - so I thank him for that. I remember one lesson in particular. We all had to bring in an old bed sheet to use for painting banners. My family did not have an old bed sheet so I came to the lesson with an old net curtain. We all spread out our sheets (net curtain) outdoors near the staff car park and began to paint……. Of course there was little to no paint on my net curtain. Of course I knew what was going to happen! I enjoyed that lesson. I am not sure now what sort of banners we were even supposed to be painting, I just remember how it was a fine day and there was green paint seeping toward the headmistress’s parking spot.
But back to pencils (I digress so easily). I have, with newly sharpened pencils, now so much more easily sharpened, re-discovered my love for pencil drawing. I go through phases of being very pro pencil and loving the greyscale of them. Of course I draw all the time, whether that is with stitch or monoprint drawing. But those are very different processes. With both it is all about making that mark and keeping it - there’s no revision. You either get it right or you don’t. With pencils you get to use erasers!
Now back to the school days and that art teacher. He banned erasers for a while. Said we were relying on them too much. I say: erasers are great tools. You can rethink, move things (!), you can blur, define, lift areas of dark within, you can draw with an eraser. I want to say to Mr O, quite clearly: look, I know you meant well, you probably saw us girls (I went to an all-girls’ comprehensive) fussing over our details and discussing erasers and not drawing quickly enough - but - but…. I like to rub things out.
But then again, it is a good exercise to not rely on the possibility of rubbing out. It is good to have to draw and do it very mindfully. I do that already with my stitch especially. So with pencil drawings - I let myself use the eraser just as much as I like. And it feels good, so good….
I’ve enjoyed pencil drawing so much lately, I have decided to make a zine of pencil drawings. It is called ‘Snowdrops’ and will be available soon - mid November. A pocket size mini zine with drawings related not only to snowdrops, the plant, but also the winter season and books. Here is a very early sneak preview of one of the drawings. I am not sharing this on Instagram just yet so you are the first to see….. (thank you for subscribing!)
You will see more printed things: postcards, notecards and zines over the weeks ahead. I want to get my shop ‘stocked up’ with goodies and not rely on original art alone. But of course I will continue to offer original art.
Thanks for reading.
I so love these intimate glimpses into how you became the artist/person you are today. Your stories are so relatable and even though it’s your own personal history you are recalling I feel as if I am drawn back alongside you! It thrills me to know that you are planning zines, as they are tiny collections of your work to slowly peruse in my hands. As for erasers, I would no doubt rely far too heavily upon them if I were to again take up drawing. I used to do botanical drawings and wondered why I never stayed with the practice. Many years later I have come to understand what I didn’t know then— that my heart was destined to belong to abstraction. As a (recovering) perfectionist I could never be satisfied by my ‘efforts’, but the freedom of abstraction means freedom of expression and work flows effortlessly. Who knew? 🤷♀️
I kept waiting for more info about the pencil sharpener, I recently got myself a Caran D’Ache sharpener that you pop the pencil in and turn the handle. I’ve wanted one of these since school, even though I have always been team knife. And pencils, what pencils do you use. I could talk stationery/art materials all day long.