Why are we making this so-called "New year resolustion"?

The end of the year is coming and soon I will be publishing my 2014 New Year resolution.
The big question is why do we do it at all? Why do we keep making this list? And how many of us really look at it after it is written? Why do we make ourselves promises we (most of the times) can't keep? For whatever reasons may it be?

I was first introduced to New Year's resolution concept several years ago when I began reading blogs. Sometime earlier I was participating in a series of life coaching sessions. At one point the coach asked the audience, "So where do you see yourself in 10 years? Whatever it is, write it down." It was my first time to be asked a question like that and I got a little bit scared. I scribbled something in my notebook but kept on thinking. Then we got asked the same question about the 5 years, a year and 6 months. This is when I was first introduced to the concept of planning my own life.

I remembered that at these life coaching sessions we were asked to be as precise as possible (Where do you want to live? What does your hose look like? How many rooms are in there? What is the color of its walls?). I was puzzled but started fantasizing.

After that I began reading more self-development blogs and by the end of the year they all raised the same subject: The New Year Resolution. Plan your own life. And Write it down. So I did. I made a list and specified to the date.

After finishing the year and seeing how little was accomplished, I felt a bit disappointed because the erased part was really not big at all.

I promised myself to be better next year and made a new list with more stuff in it.

2-3 years passed by and I realized that this "per size to the minute" method does not work for me. I understood that my promises were not enough.

So I did a more freestyle list with plans only without dates. It was a dateless goal list with things I wanted to achieve this year. And that stuff didn't work too - ideas and goals changed, life changed and at that point I even forgot about this list. In the end of the year, when I found and read this list I felt so much disappointed. Even desperate.

Several years passed by.

After that I was introduced to the "don't make a goal list" idea. Don't plan your life. Don't build a list. Build a concept of what you want to become and who you'd like to be.

So I created another list. Nothing specific, just ideas that will be reached and done sometimes later in my life.
It's not even yearly, just something for the future.

Here's a part of it:

1. Get a degree for kindergarten teacher and open one.
2. Management degree.
3. Learn to play a Darbuka (or any other cool instrument)
4. Learn to Juggle.
5. Learn to do balloon animals.
6. ...........

What about you? What kind of list do you have? Because I have a VERY long one and it will be published soon. 

A Drawspace art program overview

It's been a year since I began my Drawspace lessons, all shared the results on this  blog. And since I'm done with another section of it (Section K) I believe its time to take a look back and reflect on it.

It's been a year on intensive drawing and many things had changed since I first started it. This is the very first sketch done for lesson A01.

It's the first time in years since I tried working with different graded pencils. Using a tissue paper while shading become a second nature of mine.

But the most important thing is that program made me want to draw every single day. Well, no, I don't really draw every single day, right? But I draw all the time. This year I made more drawing than I ever did before in my entire life! Including my 4 years in Art College! I believe this is the very first time in years that I got hooked on something that hard. Half year through I've noticed that all I want to do is do these lessons. I insisted on doing all the challenges and when there was no challenge in the lesson I just drawn a related subject. Completing this program became important.

At times I felt like Julie Powel from Julie @ Julia. Julie set her goal and she made it. I think I've reached part of my goal at this moment.

So this is a chance to thank Brenda Hoddinott, the creator of the Drawspace art program: Thank you! You are an inspiring teacher that keeps me going no matter what.

The unpublished post

Hi all.

Did it ever happen to you that you had an idea but you never got a time/chance to execute it? I'm sure you did. During these past two years when this blog really started to develop I made a long list of draft posts that I wanted to publish but never did. These ideas would pop into my head while researching, or sketching or reading or even watching a movie or taking a walk. If I had a chance I would make a draft post on the subject - just several lines with a short description for myself so I remember what I planned to write about. Sometimes it would be just a headline of the post.

I had some of those in 2012 and when I didn't publish them I said, ok, I'll do it next year. And I moved them to the end of my Blogger draft list. But the thing is that some of these drafts never made it to the Published list this year too! Apparently, 2013 was more intense than 2012. And I am thankful for that. I am writing these lines while rescheduling many of my draft posts, and I have a lot to reschedule. And that is good!

So why did I reschedule and didn't publish them as planned? Because those could be rescheduled. Because there were other posts that should have been published first. Like my Drawing lessons posts or anything else directly related to drawing. Next year's theme would be Creativity Development, so that subject might become some kind of priority. These are the posts that are not a "must" kind of posts but a nice reserve for the case I'll have no idea for tomorrow's post. And I'm thankful that never happened. If you followed this blog from the beginning of the year you could see that at some point I started publishing every other day, which, in my opinion, is not little.

I do hope that one day I will publish all of my rescheduled posts so you'll be able to read them after all.

Have a great day and a great year!

Yours,
Dalia

Drawspace lesson K05: How to draw boxes with two point perspective.

One thing I can say about this lesson: Torture!!!!!! Torture!!! Do people really work like this? How can you deal with all these lines? How can you not get lost in them, it's crazy!!!

This is the sketch. I know for sure now that I need a longer ruler!

Drawspace lesson K04: How to draw a cube with a two point perspective.

While writing the title of this post I though to myself, hmm, I wander what is the difference between a cube having one point perspective and a cube having two point perspective? I got the answer straight away. One point perspective is when a cube faces the viewer with its side. Two point perspective - it's when a cube faces the viewer with it's corner. And that's a very nice thing to know.

Now, when this part is clear, here's the sketch.

And there's nothing more I have to say.

Drawspace lesson K03: How to draw a cylinder with 2 point perspective.

Drawing a cylinder, that's the subject of lesson K03. And again it's aw, so schematic!
This time I'll do ruler version straight ahead since there is no scheme, there's a method.

Although, after reading and re-reading the article I came to the conclusion that maybe the ellipse closer to the Horizontal line is a half of the ellipse that is farther from it. Maybe I'm wrong but that's what it looks like.

Anyways, that's the sketch.

I guess it doesn't work for me as well as it should, the ellipse is so far from being perfect!

P.S. I might need to buy a bigger ruler....

DIY Project: How to utilize the usage of your pencil box - 2

Remember several months ago I published a post about the usage of your pencil box? I used a simple wooden box, put a piece of fabric in it and put my pencils graphite side down.

Well, that's not good enough for me anymore. I need to expand. Because I get really irritated with the fact that my small and large pencils get mixed up and even more I hate the fact that I still have to look for the pencil I need. So I decided to go further. I took an old 3-sectioned Remote control box, put a piece of cloth in each section and separated my pencils: H, B and the leftovers.

I've been working with it for some time now and i's good.

I just hope that I'll be able to paint it fresh sometime soon. I'm thinking, Pete Mondrian style!

And what about you? How do you keep your pencils in order?

How to arrange your pencils to make the work efficient

Hi all.

It's been a year since I started the Drawspace art program. The progress is visible and it's wonderful. I draw as I've never drown before and I love it! At this point I'm actually done with the Beginners section and moved on to the Intermediates.

While becoming a little bit more skilled than the same period last year I keep looking for ways to make my work more efficient. I always look for shortcuts. Just like with Short-keys in any software that make the workflow smoother and user friendlier - the same goes here. I look for these "short-keys" to make it easier to work. It doesn't have to necessarily be something big. I believe that every little thing can be helpful. Like a good and comfortable knife or a good pair of scissors. Or a comfortable mouse.

You probably remember my DIY pencil box utilization. I now look for the most comfortable way to arrange my pencils while working with different grades. After all, these are not colored pencils so they all look the same. And it's not that comfortable to always look for the right number on its end. And I'm not becoming blind; I'm just being lazy to look for that right pencil all the time.

At the moment that's what I do: I put my pencils by order, hardest to softest. It's not the best, but it's something. Or maybe one day I'll just purchase this arranger and use it.

Do you have any ideas? Do share here; I'm sure I'm not the only one looking for answers :).

Drawspace lesson K02: How to draw an ellipse.

How, really? Because ellipses always felt a bit enigmatic to me. I mean, how can you really know what the upper ellipse of the tee cup should look like regarding to where it stands? I know, I know, you have just to look at it to know what and how to draw.

After reading lesson K02 I realized that as much as the task might look simple, it's not simple at all. Rulers and measures and angles are involved, and as much as I love geometry (I do, I really do!!!), I'll skip the exact part and will just get to know the method. 

So first - a basic ellipse. Some helping lines, some more helping lines and then the ellipse itself.

 This is the precise ellipse. More helping lines than in a previous one.

You can see that the ellipse is not so precise. But you know what? Just out of curiosity I'm going to do the very same exercise on a checkered notebook with a ruler.

OMG, I can't believe I'm actually doing this....

But you know what? it was fun :) I loved working with a ruler, it was a nice feeling. Although I'm not sure it made my ellipsis look better...

Drawspace K01: How to draw boxes in perspective

Soooooo..... perspective. The subject was touched lightly in section D and here's a little extension of it. Linear perspective, box' drawing, lesson K01. Yes!!! It's a new section!!!

Last time we did boxes - lesson E04 - I didn't even publish, or to be even more honest, did any drawing. 

This time the task is more interesting and the challenge is really cute, so I just can't skip it.

So let's begin. On of the most dominant tools here is a ruler, but I won't use it; first - I don't like using it and second - I don't really mind if the drawing will be a bit crooked. I won't also look for an exact similarity if the boxes - neither in size nor in positioning. 

So there is a Horizontal line and three levels on objects: above, below and leveled to the horizontal line. 

9 boxes, which lines all connect to the same dot on the horizon. 

Step 2 - making the squares three dimension.

Step 3 - erasing the helping lines.

And this is the challenge. Boxes with faces.

I took a note to myself for the future to do some more drawings using basic forms. 

Drawspace J08: How to work with Charcoal

Unfortunately, I didn't make it to the art store on time, so I guess I'll be completing this lesson sometime later.

How to develop creativity: a Lewis Carroll quote

“Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.”
― Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

I am a big movie watcher. And besides watching movies just for the entertainment of it, I always try to take something from it to myself only, a thought, an image, a sound. This quote is from Alice in Wonderland by Tim Burton. This is one of these movies that go now as a background sound when I work. Because there are movies, that beside the great visual have also a great script. And, at times, the only way to really appreciate it is to shut of the image and stay with a sound only. Because that's when you really listen to the dialog without being distracted by the picture.

This quote says it all: now it's the time to make it a daily practice.

Drawspace lesson J07: How to work with a grid?

Really? I found the lesson too boring. I read it twice and I had no desire at all to do these squares.

Drawspace lesson J06: How to create a shading map.

You might remember that one of the reasons I started taking the Drawspace lessons was to learn how to shade properly. So while the drawing part went ok, the shading part was not so good. To be more exact, I wanted to know the trick of the proper shade placement. I mean, how the hell am I supposed to know where to place highlights and the dark spots?

Since the beginning of the program I kept thinking to myself: What if there is no such a lesson in the program? What if this subject is skipped? This question kept me busy for some time. At a time I didn't even know it was called a shade mapping!

But finally, the time has come. Lesson J06 suggests such a method.

It is actually a variation of a drawing by numbers method. You find your highlight spots, the medium and dark spots, turn them into shapes and fill with color after wards.
I did the outline of the suggested face and the spots and immediately got lots in it.

I mean, come on, it's a human face, not a very friendly subject for a newbie like me!

So I decided to go for a simpler subject and since this lesson is about shading and not drawing there would be nothing wrong if I would take something like a tennis ball or a tea mug.

This is the ball I sketched.

I really tried to find all the bright and dark sports, but since the light was very even and the form is perfect, finding the highlights and dark spots was not that easy (see the paradox?).

For that reason I decided to do a sketch of a coffee cup.

On my way to the kitchen for the cup I decided to do another sketch of the tennis ball and shade it with Squirckles. I thought that since the ball has a soft and woolly texture, Squircles might be a better choice here. On that note, I decided to go and look what the tennis ball is made of, and apparently, it is made of fibrous felt.

This is the second sketch.

Indeed this shading technique felt a bit better fitting for this king of object. I did two sets of shading; the second one was done 2 days after the first session. I added some more dark values but still, it seems, it was not enough. Also, I still make my Squirkles a bit larger than they should be, so that's another thing to practice on.

This is the coffee cup.

It felt weird shading it. Several times I tried to rotate my sheet to make the shading easier but then I would "loose" the proper image. When I tried to lean my head on my shoulder - my lighting would change. I decided not to continue with it at the moment but I did make a note to myself to keep and draw a cup's handle; it appears to be the most interesting part of this object.

P.S Just checked the upcoming lessons. Apparently, I should go and buy some charcoal.

Drawspace lesson J05: How to create a focal point of your drawing.

Spoiler:  Lesson J05 is a theoretical lesson. No drawing required to be done. Text and examples, that's all there is.

But, if I may say, a very important text. This lesson gives a beginner artist some points on how to choose and create a focal point(s) of the drawing. In this post I will summarize the suggested methods but I strongly recommend reading the original lesson through.
So what will make an object focal in the composition? What would help it stand out everything else on the drawing?

1. The position of the object in a composition. 
2. It's size.
3. The colors/shading volume. 
4. Treated with details
5. Primary and secondary focal points positioned one close to another.

I'm sure there's more to it, but that's what the lessons suggests.

Tip of the post: Along with the practical side - theoretical knowledge as well as different tips and tricks are essential to your success and efficiency. So do look for such articles and for way to make your work easier and enjoyable.

Drawing with pencils of a different grade

Hi all!

Do you remember that very first time when you took a non 2HB pencil in your hand? I remember it quite well. It happened in the end of 2012 when I decided to take my drawing really seriously. Last year, when I began drawing, my main subject was Flowers and I used only a 2HB pencil. At that point I didn't have a good enough reason for using anything else. But here's the thing: all my sketches came out pretty dirty. I had a hard time making a light thin line with a 2HB and the erasing itself was not really clean. I had a feeling that the solution was to use different pencils but was not sure about making this change just yet.

This year the situation changed. I joined the Drawspace art program and I had no choice but to start using different pencils. This is the very first sketch done with different graded pencils.

I can tell you now that that was a life changing experience. As of now, my sketches look way neater than before, my erasers hardly work and my hands (yes, yes) stay way cleaner. My favorite pencils to use are 2H, HB, 2B and 8B. These are the once I use more often and at this point I never start a sketch with anything but a light line of a 2H pencil. I keep using 2HB pencils but only for a brainstorming. It's always something really quick and non-detailed.

And what about you? What pencil do you mostly like to use? Or is it a different medium at all? Do share here.

Drawspace lesson J04: How to transfer an image from one sheet to another.

Another method that's supposed to make an artist's life easier is tracing and retracing the image. Lesson J04 suggests another method like that. Basically, you take an image and transfer it to another, cleaner sheet of paper. What you do is you turn the sketch face down and give its outline a thick rub (without pressing too hard). After that you place it back down on a new paper and go over the original outline. This should leave a new outline on a new paper.

To do that I took one of the sketches I made during this program and printed it out. 

Since the printout was good, the outline was visible when I flipped the paper over. Here it is. I did the rubbing using the 2HB pencil. You can even see it's a turtle. 

I did the tracing with a red pencil since I wanted to see exactly where I did or didn't go over the sketch. I did consider the red pen but then decided not to. 

This is the final outcome.

As you can see it is very light and gentle. The original outcome is even lighter then here; I had to Photoshop it so it could be more visible.

Tip of the post: when using this method use only a newly sharpened pencil otherwise your retrace will have a thick line like mine, and that's not a very good outcome.

When I finished reading the lesson I was pretty skeptical about the necessity of this method. My first doubt was weather the rubbing would leave its marks on the paper beside the tracing itself. Second - is there something beside the need to have a neat image? And then it hit me: this method gives you a chance to draw and alter the image over and over again! And what's the good in that? I guess I'll discuss it in a separate post.

Drawspace lesson J03: How to draw a symmetrical item

New team member is in town - Drawspace J03 introduces drawing with a Tracing paper!!! And why, you ask? Because this lesson is all about drawing symmetrical objects.
The method suggests using the paper to draw a simple vase, but since I didn't really understand the method and I don't have any tracing paper, I'll have to make it without.

That's the sketch.

It took me 5 minutes to draw - outline only, no shading or anything, so I decided to draw a chess pawn.

This is it.

And that's the sketch.

After finishing the shading part I've realized that I captured the form all wrong. If you notice, the bottom part is at all uneven and it's non-proportionally large regarding its top! I guess I didn't make as many helping lines as needed. So I sketched it again.

Much better, don't you think?

To keep on the practice I did a sketch of this Chess King.

 I worked slowly and very methodically. Plenty of helping lines and loads of erasing. The result is ok.

Tip of the post: Always, at any times look for the basic form inside the item you draw! Always! The mistake in the first Chess Pawn drawing came ONLY! from the fact that I did a round form first and not the square. You could see how better the right sketch look comparing to the left one and to the original on the photograph. (Yes, I know, I took the picture from another perspective, that's another note for me).

Wow, hell of the lesson, hell of the sketching and hell of the post! I'm so glad to move on to the next one!

P.S. When I opened my chess set I was hit by the chess smell, and it made me wonder: how is it possible that after so many years being manufactured, every single set of wooden chess still have this strong smell of wood and varnish? Incredible!

Drawspace lesson J02: How to pencil blend properly

So, just like the title says, lesson J02 is about pencil blending. I wrote before about how I feel about blending here, so I won't repeat it. I do understand now, after reading this lesson, that there are many factors to consider. Things like paper and pencil quality or a blending tool and a bare (oily) finger touching the sketch. Also I learned that no blending will improve badly shaded sketch. I guess that was the reason for me hating the shading technique this much: so dirty and no improvement.

So with that in my mind, I decided to make an experiment of my own.

I decided to do two sets of blends - one set made on a simple white printing paper I use on an every day basis and another made on a thicker off-white acid-free 180 mg paper.

These blends were done on a white paper.
Messy shading

Hatched

Crosshatched

And these were done on a heavier off-white paper:
Hatched:

Crosshatched:

I must say that the experience of shading on a heavier paper was very interesting. The shading is smoother and better looking. It makes me wonder....

What do you think?

Drawspace lesson J01:

Wow! It's a mile stone!!!

Today not only do I start a new section of the program, I also move one from the Beginners (A-I) level to Intermediate (J-S).

Lesson J01 sums up most of the things were discussed in sections A-I. Artistic tips and tricks that are supposed to help the artist to utilize the process and to become more productive, more efficient and more comfortable in his or hers work.

It is a list of 130 items and I will introduce and summarize here those that I use now myself. Some of these tips became habits in my everyday work and affect it greatly.

# 3. Always put your pencils somewhere so they don't fall. Pencil with a broken graphite is a very difficult to sharpen. - My pencils are placed in a blue wooden box with a cloth inside it. I put the cloth and place my pencils sharpened part down so I easily see the grade of the pencil.

#10. Don't draw on a flat surface, it could distort the proportion and twist the sketch, thus make the sketch less realistic. - I never worked on a flat surface; it was just uncomfortable to me. At this point, as I do my sketches on A4 paper, I find it comfortable to use a simple clipboard. I believe that if and when I will change the format of my work/paper size my working habits will change too.

#14. Don't press too hard on your pencil, it can ruin the sketch and make it very difficult to retouch. - This is something I had to learn how to do. In all, only after beginning the Drawspace program, did I start using pencils of different grade. Last year when drawing flowers I used simple 2HB pencils and always wandered, how come my sketches get to be so messy. Now I know. It's all about the pencil's grade.

For some reason one of my favorite things that I adopted big time is to place a tissue paper under my hand while shading. It is to avoid smudging the sketch and finger -oiling the paper.Or maybe I just missed it while reading.

As I read through the given list I've noticed that some things in it are simply irrelevant at the moment and that is for several reasons. One - I didn't get yet to the level when I could use these tips. Like those in drawing a person - tips 67-83 - or signing my name - tips 98-101. Some of them are a general knowledge and recommendations - 122-130. Or a Perspective drawing - tips 84-91.

Because of these reasons I believe I will get back to this lesson in several months when I'm done with the Intermediate section (part J-S).

And how about you? Have you read the article? Do you have any drawing tips you could share? Please do!

Do you use a web timer service?

I recently started using a web timer service; I've heard of it before and tried to use it but without any luck. After that I read some book about time management and decided to give it another go. For now it works wonders for me. It has a 25 minutes periods with short (5 min) and long (10 min) breaks. You have 25 minutes to work on the project. Obviously, you can set alarm again and again but you have to make the maximum of that time. It's all about mindset. I set my mind to the fact that all I have is these 25 minutes and I have no time to waste.

Highly recommended!

Drawspace lesson I13: how to draw a cartoon snake

Well, a cartoon snake. A cuddly, even. I am not a big fan of snakes, really, but I'll do this lesson for the sake of the lesson.

LO13 is divided into three sections: basic contour, shading and marker outline. It suggests creating a grid for this particular sketch, but I want to try and manage without.
As I read the lesson before drawing I realized that drawing it without the helping grid could be really challenging since it has so many curves and details. The shading part seems simple enough and the marker outline is a 5 minutes work tops.

So this is it. This is the first part of the sketch.

It took me 20 minutes to draw, and 10 more minutes to outline. As you can see, there are no many helping lines, as promised. I did create a basic rectangle just to keep the proportion right. Also, I drew a full line when making the body's curves, erasing them afterwards.

This is the shaded and the outline finish. 10 more minutes.

I don't think that the marker outline was necessary here, but I did it anyway.
And, as you can see, I managed to keep the right proportion without the square grid. And for that I'm proud.

Have a great day!

Taking a break from blogging: a must or a no-no?

Hi all!

Last week was a weird one. For the first time this year I think I managed to make an almost week long gap between my posts. I know I post a lot, and every post is includes several sketches that become more and more complicated, thus it takes longer to draw them. I have no particular reason for this gap, I just feel that my energy is somewhat off. Just a bit. The irritating thing is that I do want to draw! Very much! But whenever I take the pencil in my hands I put it down almost immediately.
Last month I started a 365 drawing project - one or more fast sketches per day, and this month I did no sketches. I joined Conjure for her weekly flashmobs only to realize this is all just too much for me at the moment. My Drawspace lessons are moving greatly, but at this point, as I almost reached the end of the Beginners section, all I want to do is to skip the lessons left to be done and move one to the Intermediate section! And that would be cheating and I don't want to do that.

I do hope that in several days I will be able to get back to normal and continue my training.

Wishing you the best of weeks,
Dalia

Drawspace lesson I12: how to draw a sheep

Hi hi,

There's no lesson I11 so jumping on to I12. Jumping on to drawing a Sheep. Cute little sheep called Dolly, Yes, the famous one :)

And, for the first time in long long time - there's a challenge. We're supposed to draw a reversed version of the sheep. This is it.

It was far more difficult task, maybe because I'm a righty, and used to draw from left to right. But I managed and it was fun. And they don't look alike at all!!!

I'll keep on practicing,
Dalia

P.S. Remember Boundin'? A cool cartoon by Pixar of a Dancing sheep and a Rabbit? If you haven't watched it yet, you really should, it's so cool! I love it!
P.S.S. You may also want to check the art of Menashe Kadishman, an Israeli artist. Sheep portraits is his trademark art.

Drawspace lesson I10: How to draw Jack Russell terrier

Hi all!

Moving on to Lesson I10. Drawing Jack Russell this time. For some reason I feel that I already did this sketch, I just don't remember when. And I'm not talking about the nose sketch I did here. I'm talking about the face in a whole. But on the other and, who cares, drawing practice is a drawing practice and practicing drawing is what I should do.

So this is my sketch of Jack Russell.

In the middle of it I've decided that it was too messy, so I did a second one.

After finishing the second try and seeing that it is not much better than the first, I decided to go to the original (it was really a photo reference, not a real dog). And I'm so glad I did that!

To me, this one looks so much more real than the other two! I did the sketch with a weird sense of relation to this dog. I have no idea why but while drawing it, I felt that got to know this dog in a way. Weird, isn't it? Maybe that's exactly the reason why it looks better that the first two... I don't know. I think that the nose is now that good but I just love the eyes, although they are too large and human :).

Anyway, have a great day,
Dalia

Drawspace lesson I09: how to draw a pig

Hi all!

Let's draw a pig! That's what lesson I09 suggests we do, so, like Marvin from Red said: "I'm bringing the pig!"

The piglet in the lesson was really cute.

It seems that I got the form pretty but my shading, well, was far from perfect. Maybe I should have done the strokes shorter. After all, pigs usually don't have a long hair...

These are the references for my challenges. The "same pose" pig and portrait. Here they are.

The shading went pretty slow. So slow that I couldn't make myself finishing the portrait, so I decided to leave it as is. And you know what? I love that thick 9B outline!

I hope you were more successful than myself in this shading part.

See you soon,
Dalia

Tip of the post: When drawing/shading fur, move your pencil in circle or a wavy line. It will make the fur spread more realistically on the drawing.

Tips and tricks: How to make pencil sharpening more efficient?

Hi all!!

Are you familiar with this situation that you have to sharpen your pencils over and over again? I'm sure you are! And then you have to go to your trash can over and over again? What a time waste, isn't it? So what do you do?

Well, the first thing to do is to go and buy several pencils of the same type and sharpen them all at once. But what if it's not enough? What if your sketch requires really thin pencil tip and you have to resharpen every other strike you make? What if you don't use these huge sharpeners but still keep it with the simple small ones? Bummer! So I decided to put an end to it. Since I'm pretty lazy by nature, I used to take a tissue paper and sharpen everything in it and only then through it all away. But recently, I have to sharpen one pencil only pretty frequently. So I use A LOT of tissue paper now. After a while I decided not to waste so much paper but take a simple container to turn in to my sharpening bin. Yes, it's exactly the sharpener and container principle but why should I buy something if I can use things I already have?

So I took this cute container I bought years ago from Ikea

(it's true, it's been sitting in the kitchen closet for like 10 years now, waiting for it's time to shine!!!) and started using it. It's light, easy to open (no screwing required), fits perfectly in my palm and I love its shape. I actually use the same container for my erasers and sharpeners.

Bu you know, any small see through plastic box will fit. I just happened to have these cuties, so why not use them?

I hope you find this idea useful.

Have a great day,
Dalia