I've wanted one of these for ages for my pastel pencils. I normally use coloured pencils, but on the odd occasion I use pastel pencils. So thank you for a smashing review! Hope your pain levels drop. I know how chronic pain can cause so many more problems beside physical pain!
Thst was really interesting Harry, I’ve often wondered about these precisely for pastel pencils. I use a craft knife for sharpening mine but I always make a mess of trying to sharpen the actual lead to a point , I always seem to get nicks in it with the knife , I will think about this. I’ve looked on amazon and I think the price is comparable to what I paid for my xacto knife and that only had one blade I had to pay extra for spare blades
What are you talking about? Check amazon! We do have amazon basic colour pencils in Canada. Bought numourus sets to donate. If you are talking about the peller I see in the image we have that amazon in Canada to! Take a look!
In the Caran d'Ache video for watercolor pencils, they use this to scrape the color off the pencil so bits fall onto the paper, then they spritz the bits for the effect on the paper. It's beautiful.
The peeler is also useful for shaping ordinary soft pastels. An Xacto or similar is better, in my opinion, but if you have one of these for your pastel pencils then it is possible to use it for shaping and sharpening soft pastels for detail application. And of course it works on charcoal too.
Thank you for the review Harry. I have this too but I'm more incline to use the Derwent Craft Knife and the it's sharpening stand which are sold separately..I find that I've more control and it's also easier on the hand. Thank you.
What else are the blue pigmented pencils for if not for demonstrations and experimentation? Curious to know if there's a pencil swap somewhere. One person's unused is another person's forever refilled. "Swatch 'n' Swap".
Harry, thanks for the review. Loved the artistic images you’ve taken. I believe in addition to pastel pencils, it’s very useful to get some pigment off water color pencils. Like when you work on wet surface or just want to mix it with water before applying using a brush.
I'm looking into this but to shave watercolour pencils to lay down the the watercolour in a powder format and then activate it and use it as traditional watercolour when needed (but maybe I could just use a craft knife, not sure)
Great review. Very much appreciated. Just another doodad to have and keep track of. Cool, but not for my work method. Craft knife and sandpaper is what what I will stick with. Take care, be well and remain positive my friend.
Hi I also have a accident that cause me to have long term chronic pain I've had to do art to help me also deal with my new reality I have to also look for products I can use that are easy to use for someone that's not strong in their hands could you tell me do you do a different review of other sharpeners my hand crank broke so now all my color pencils are dull I'm looking to buy a sharpener that can do color pencils water color pencils and I'd like also like graphite ....I heard you say m&r and brass but I'm unsure what the full name of those are any help in a reply would be very grateful....thank you many blessings to your art journey today
Hi Marc sorry to hear of your accident and current situation. I don’t think the M&R Brass sharpener would be useful for you because it is a small hand held sharpener and could be difficult for you to grip. I think for artists who experience issues with their hands or wrists the best way to go would be an electric sharpener. Something all you have to do is place the pencil into the slot and the sharpener does all the work for you. Unfortunately I can’t recommend a specific electric sharpener for you as I have not used them personally, however I will be ordering a few cheaper ones for review and will be able to advise you better but unfortunately I don’t know how long this will take and you need one soon.
Has anyone tried a pumice stone or a nail file for sharpening delicate cores? Or perhaps a corn and callus remover that takes inexpensive razor blades?
I’ve been trying to decide which type of sharpener to buy since I just got into pastel pencils. I’ve been using my crank sharpener, no breakage but the problem is it eats up my pencils. I think the peeler will work well, but have also been looking at the Hovel plane sharpener at Jackson’s. Seems to be about the same concept but a different design. It’s expensive, but lifetime warranty. Have you seen or heard of it, any opinion on it? I love your reviews and trust your opinions, so thank you!
I know the sharpener you are referring to however I must admit I don't think I have tried it myself, I will definitely have to give it a go and try it. Thank you so much for the recomendation
I agree with, I wouldn’t give kids a set of Luminance, Pablo, Supracolor, Museum Aquarelle or Pastel Pencils. But Caran D’Ache do pencils specific to kids like the FanColor range and for slightly older kids I.e teenagers there are the Swisscolor. Much better priced, I think a set of 40 FanColor on Amazon will cost about £25. Before I became interested in art, at Christmas as stocking fillers my wife and I would get all three of our kids these huge art sets that looked really nice and cost about £10. The only thing is all of the kids once they tried to use them closed them up and set them to the side because they couldn’t get Color on the page, or they would have to run so hard they would rip the paper. I look back now and think what horrible gift to give anyone. All we had to do was spend another £5 or £10 each on the kids and could have got them really nice pigmented pencils that explode with Color. My own personal take on kids and art supplies is this. Kids have a very short attention span, if they don’t receive results they move on to the next thing. So in the case of my kids, when we gave them terrible art supplies, it could have so easily put them off art of life. I know them not liking art isn’t the end of the world, but I think with our children we have to let them experience as much as we possibly can to help their minds develop. But if we give them terrible starting blocks they are not going to be interested in much. If anyone took their kids to have horse riding lessons and they were given a three legged horse, but all the other kids had proper horses able to go faster etc and do small jumps, the kids with the three legged horse unable to do as the other kids horses did, they would soon walk away to find something else.
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The problem is they don’t sell the blades separately, that’s what stopped me from buying one ever since I first saw them, (unless the sell them now.)
I normally just use an xacto and that gets me a great point without hacking up the pencil!
I've wanted one of these for ages for my pastel pencils. I normally use coloured pencils, but on the odd occasion I use pastel pencils. So thank you for a smashing review! Hope your pain levels drop. I know how chronic pain can cause so many more problems beside physical pain!
Thst was really interesting Harry, I’ve often wondered about these precisely for pastel pencils. I use a craft knife for sharpening mine but I always make a mess of trying to sharpen the actual lead to a point , I always seem to get nicks in it with the knife , I will think about this. I’ve looked on amazon and I think the price is comparable to what I paid for my xacto knife and that only had one blade I had to pay extra for spare blades
I understand the concept, but it seems very time-consuming. Like you're doing a little mini sculpture or carving
We don't even have this at amazon in Canada so looked at UK, expensive but what isn't these days.
What are you talking about? Check amazon! We do have amazon basic colour pencils in Canada. Bought numourus sets to donate. If you are talking about the peller I see in the image we have that amazon in Canada to! Take a look!
Thank you. Im thinking there must be a similar type device at a cheaper price. Currently this is over $100 US 😜
Wow that is crazy prices, where on earth did you see it for $100. At the price I bought it at, it’s just about manageable, but %100 is really bad.
Wow! I’m wanting to try this out! Thanks for sharing! I wouldn’t have known about this before.
In the Caran d'Ache video for watercolor pencils, they use this to scrape the color off the pencil so bits fall onto the paper, then they spritz the bits for the effect on the paper. It's beautiful.
Thanks Harry, I was curious about these. You saved me some cash as at the moment I'm a coloured pencil artist so I will stick with my m+r sharpener.
Thank you for another great review, I am adding this peeler to my wishlist, I am sure it will be useful for sharpening my pastel pencils and sticks.
The peeler is also useful for shaping ordinary soft pastels. An Xacto or similar is better, in my opinion, but if you have one of these for your pastel pencils then it is possible to use it for shaping and sharpening soft pastels for detail application. And of course it works on charcoal too.
Thank you for the review Harry. I have this too but I'm more incline to use the Derwent Craft Knife and the it's sharpening stand which are sold separately..I find that I've more control and it's also easier on the hand. Thank you.
What else are the blue pigmented pencils for if not for demonstrations and experimentation? Curious to know if there's a pencil swap somewhere. One person's unused is another person's forever refilled. "Swatch 'n' Swap".
Thank you for your informative review. Your videos are extremely helpful.
Harry, thanks for the review. Loved the artistic images you’ve taken.
I believe in addition to pastel pencils, it’s very useful to get some pigment off water color pencils. Like when you work on wet surface or just want to mix it with water before applying using a brush.
I'm looking into this but to shave watercolour pencils to lay down the the watercolour in a powder format and then activate it and use it as traditional watercolour when needed (but maybe I could just use a craft knife, not sure)
Great review. Very much appreciated. Just another doodad to have and keep track of. Cool, but not for my work method. Craft knife and sandpaper is what what I will stick with. Take care, be well and remain positive my friend.
Hi I also have a accident that cause me to have long term chronic pain I've had to do art to help me also deal with my new reality I have to also look for products I can use that are easy to use for someone that's not strong in their hands could you tell me do you do a different review of other sharpeners my hand crank broke so now all my color pencils are dull I'm looking to buy a sharpener that can do color pencils water color pencils and I'd like also like graphite ....I heard you say m&r and brass but I'm unsure what the full name of those are any help in a reply would be very grateful....thank you many blessings to your art journey today
Hi Marc sorry to hear of your accident and current situation. I don’t think the M&R Brass sharpener would be useful for you because it is a small hand held sharpener and could be difficult for you to grip.
I think for artists who experience issues with their hands or wrists the best way to go would be an electric sharpener. Something all you have to do is place the pencil into the slot and the sharpener does all the work for you.
Unfortunately I can’t recommend a specific electric sharpener for you as I have not used them personally, however I will be ordering a few cheaper ones for review and will be able to advise you better but unfortunately I don’t know how long this will take and you need one soon.
Has anyone tried a pumice stone or a nail file for sharpening delicate cores? Or perhaps a corn and callus remover that takes inexpensive razor blades?
That’s a good idea 👍
Good review! better than a craft knife
Thank you for the review. Good points to know.
Had mine for a while haven’t really used it
I'm not gonna say first, but i am ;) .
Great review.
And mind your thumb bud haha
I’ve been trying to decide which type of sharpener to buy since I just got into pastel pencils. I’ve been using my crank sharpener, no breakage but the problem is it eats up my pencils. I think the peeler will work well, but have also been looking at the Hovel plane sharpener at Jackson’s. Seems to be about the same concept but a different design. It’s expensive, but lifetime warranty. Have you seen or heard of it, any opinion on it? I love your reviews and trust your opinions, so thank you!
Did you buy the Hovel and if so, how do you find it?
Oh, for pastels I bought the derwent pastel sharpener, which is not expensive and super gentle and eficient.
I know the sharpener you are referring to however I must admit I don't think I have tried it myself, I will definitely have to give it a go and try it. Thank you so much for the recomendation
Well it also can be used to cut fine cheese. Save the xacto for the pencil.🤗
I have one of these i love it
I would save my money and use a knife to peel the wood. Then use sand paper to get the lead pointed.
Commenting for TH-cam
A pricey solution to a non problem. Looks like it is rather akward to use compared to the obvious alternative, any thin bladed sharp knife.
Dunno about the sharpener but i wouldnt give Caran Dache pencils to a child, i can barely afford them!
I agree with, I wouldn’t give kids a set of Luminance, Pablo, Supracolor, Museum Aquarelle or Pastel Pencils. But Caran D’Ache do pencils specific to kids like the FanColor range and for slightly older kids I.e teenagers there are the Swisscolor. Much better priced, I think a set of 40 FanColor on Amazon will cost about £25.
Before I became interested in art, at Christmas as stocking fillers my wife and I would get all three of our kids these huge art sets that looked really nice and cost about £10. The only thing is all of the kids once they tried to use them closed them up and set them to the side because they couldn’t get Color on the page, or they would have to run so hard they would rip the paper. I look back now and think what horrible gift to give anyone.
All we had to do was spend another £5 or £10 each on the kids and could have got them really nice pigmented pencils that explode with Color.
My own personal take on kids and art supplies is this. Kids have a very short attention span, if they don’t receive results they move on to the next thing. So in the case of my kids, when we gave them terrible art supplies, it could have so easily put them off art of life. I know them not liking art isn’t the end of the world, but I think with our children we have to let them experience as much as we possibly can to help their minds develop. But if we give them terrible starting blocks they are not going to be interested in much.
If anyone took their kids to have horse riding lessons and they were given a three legged horse, but all the other kids had proper horses able to go faster etc and do small jumps, the kids with the three legged horse unable to do as the other kids horses did, they would soon walk away to find something else.