Free Book: Drawing Portraits post #45 Pencils and other mark-making tools

1.3.3.1 Wooden pencils

There is definitely a wide range of quality available for wooden pencils. The main difference is consistency. You need the graphite core to be devoid of hard scratchy bits, and places where it breaks easily. Obviously hard pencils don't break very easily, but they may contain scratchy bits. These scratchy bits can damage the paper. Soft pencils can be easily broken, so as well as careful sharpening, you need good quality construction because if the lead is fragile, then it becomes very difficult to sharpen. The wooden casing also needs to be soft yet consistent. It should be easy to remove with a knife without putting undue strain on the lead. You will need to purchase various brands to find out their characteristics, or get some recommendations from someone who has already gained the experience.

When you sharpen a wooden pencil, it is useful to shave off quite a lot of wood to expose a very long core. Use a knife rather than a pencil sharpener because you have a lot more control, and a sharpener is very wasteful. The point that a sharpener creates wears quickly, and you need to frequently sharpen it.