Selecting your accessories: for drawing

1. The eraser

Note that the looser the medium pigment being used (that is, without a lot of binder, like charcoal), the softer the eraser should be.

The classical eraser: It is well-suited to graphite or color pencils. It is better to choose soft ones.

The kneaded eraser: suitable for both graphite and color pencils, it is particularly indispensable for charcoal and sanguine. Its main quality: absorbing surplus drawing material.

Getting it right: the kneaded eraser, just like chewing-gum! 

Note that kneaded erasers are not used for rubbing like a classical eraser, but by stumping the area to be lightened. When brand new, they are rectangular in shape: before using them, you need to knead them (like a ball of bread dough, which is where it gets the eraser name), and give them the desired shape. It's easy to clean: all you need to do is knead it until it completely absorbs the pigments.

2. Stumps

They have the shape of pencils and are made out of blotting paper. Ideally, you should use one stump per color to limit unfortunate mixes. Blending stumps have a tip at each end and work well for negative work. Use one to work on dark areas (to gradually pick up the drawing material) and another on light areas (that will remain cleaner).

3. The pencil sharpener

Invest right away in a good solid pencil sharpener that won't damage your items to be sharpened. Also make sure that it is the right size for your leads. If you work a lot with color pencils, it may be a good idea to select an electric pencil sharpener.

4. Fixative

Essential for fixing charcoal and sanguine, it comes as a spray and in a bottle. In the case of bottles, apply it using a fixative syringe from about 40 cm away.