best white pencil?

[prodpoke]

i don't know if its shitty quality or if i have evil sharpeners (metal staedtler and cheap plastic general's) but the lead breaks off my white conte pencil consistently and i haven't been able to use this expensive thing.

so please, tell me- excellent white pencils. i'm drawing on black and grey paper. i'm not TOO fond of white graphite because its not bright enough and it doesn't stick on top of regular graphite.

[MiniGoth]

Have you tried something with a little heavier wax base? Contes will break if you use a lot of pressure.

[rpace]

Avoid sharpeners.

If your pencil is breaking too often, it's likely it was dropped somewhere along the line and the media is cracked throughout.

The best way to sharpen any drawing pencil involves a utility knife and 220 grit sandpaper. Slowly and carefully carve away the wood to reveal 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch or more of the "lead" then gently sand the exposed media to a fine point. You can go for a conical point sanding all sides or a chisel point by sanding from one side at a shallow angle.

Apologies for the crappy photo, my camera doesn't do macro very well.

Good luck,
~R

[Mirana]

rpace is right. It has everything to do with the pencil and next to nothing with the sharpener used. Even if you might not have dropped it, it doesn't mean the previous customers, stock person or numerous shipping people didn't. If this has happened, even doing the artzy knife sharpening won't do much good. ;)

[CaNiBaLe]

and what about mechanical pencils? or a "lead holder" (not sure how it's properly called) I've never actually used this for big drawings, but I imagine it can save many complications, and be at the end even cheaper (I tend to "consume" the pencil quite a bit when I sharpen it)

I don't know, if anyone tried this please correct me if I'm wrong!

[Mirana]

Mechanical pencils don't allow broad strokes or side-ways use. Lead holders are fine.

[prodpoke]

i don't know if there's white lead for lead holders.

both of my conte pencils i've used this semester (one ordered through dickblick.com and the other bought at a local university book store) were being pretty crap-o so i was suspecting something else. thanks for the advice. :333

[PieterV]

You can cut it away with a sharp blade, but it COULD be the sharpener.
If the blade is blunt or it doesn't fit around the tip of the pencil tight enough you'll have a bigger chance of breaking the tip. I noticed this when I got from an old and worn sharpener to a new one.