A Fine Point: David Rees and the Art of Artisanal Pencil Sharpening

A Fine Point: David Rees and the Art of Artisanal Pencil Sharpening

“Artisanal pencil sharpener” isn’t a career you see on many business cards, but for David Rees the art of the hand-sharpened pencil is both a passion and a full-time pursuit.

Rees, a former political cartoonist who has come out of retirement temporarily to create a series of comics related to the 2012 presidential election for Rolling Stone magazine, has worn many hats during his professional career. However, it was a stint as a worker for the U.S. Census that was the impetus for his newest endeavor.

On the first day of training, Rees and his fellow census takers were given a bag of necessary census equipment, including several pencils and a hand-held pencil sharpener.

“The first thing they had us do on the first day of training was sharpen our pencils. It was the most exciting thing to happen all day,” noted Rees dryly while speaking with Studio 602.

The unexpected pleasure he derived from sharpening the pencil made him wonder if there was a way to make money sharpening people’s pencils.

“I liked the idea of treating the pencil like a wood-craft object,” said Rees, who draws on older artistic disciplines like whittling and wood-carving when giving his pencils the hand-sharpened treatment. “The pencil is so ubiquitous that it’s almost invisible. I wanted to remind people of what an elegant, effective mark-making tool the pencil is.”

Rees will be hosting a workshop on the craft of artisanal pencil sharpening at Pete’s Candy Store in Williamsburg, Brooklyn as part of the establishment’s Open City Dialogue series. The free event is available to all on a first-come, first-serve basis, and begins at 7:30 on the evening of February 13.

“It’s a good chance for me to warm up for the national tour,” said Rees, who will be kicking off a tour throughout the United States in April to coincide with the publication of his book, “How To Sharpen Pencils: A Practical and Theoretical Treatise on the Artisanal Craft of Pencil Sharpening, for Writers, Artists, Contractors, Flange Turners, Anglesmiths, and Civil Servants, with Illustrations Showing Current Practice.”

The book features eighteen illustrated chapters on methods of artisanal pencil sharpening, and includes a foreword by humorist John Hodgman. Tour dates will soon be available on http://www.artisanalpencilsharpening.com.

“Now when I walk by someone’s desk, I start looking at the pencil tips to determine how the pencil was sharpened,” said Rees, who has sharpened everything from Blackwing pencils to antique Dixon-Ticonderogas. What may have started on a boring day of government work has become a passion and an art.

“My favorite pencil to sharpen is the client’s own, like a pencil from their childhood…those are the pencils that are the most meaningful for me,” noted Rees.

It’s become an educational experience as well; Rees freely admits that much of his work as a comic artist has relied on digital media. The pencil was a new frontier.

“One of the reasons I started this business is because I don’t use pencils that often, and I wanted to learn more about them as a tool and as a craft,” Rees said.

To watch the craftsman at work, top by Pete’s Candy Store in Brooklyn at 7:30 pm on February 13, or keep watching the space at http://www.artisanalpencilsharpening.com for upcoming dates in a city near you.

Photo Credit:”David Rees” Meredith Heuer/ArtisanalPencilSharpening.com