Erasing Methods for Dry Media

The common-or-garden eraser is usually underestimated as a software made solely for correcting errors – nevertheless it additionally has nice potential as a drawing software in its personal proper. On this article, I discover the historical past of erasing, predating the invention of the eraser itself, outline various kinds of erasers, and display mark-making methods for detailed and reductive drawing. Articles within the Methods Sequence outline the that means and context of art-making processes and supply sensible tutorials on the right way to work with them.

Definition: Erasing is the removing of dry or dried media from an paintings. This may be completed to appropriate errors, or as a reductive drawing method. That is primarily completed at the moment with plastic, rubber, gum or putty erasers, however refined results can be achieved with a sponge or paper stump.

What’s the Impact of Erasing?

By eradicating media from a drawing, erasing opens up the mark-making potential of discount. By subtracting media from their drawings, artists can pick textures, reveal plains of type, and refine intricate particulars that might be inconceivable to create with out them. Time sensible it’s far more economical to pick the highlights on the fur of an animal with an eraser on the bottom, than to attract round every tiny spotlight. Subsequently drawings which have cleverly devised erasing convey that the artist has deliberate one of the best ways to render their topic. Except for being a drawing software – erasing errors to make room for alteration and redrawing is an important aspect of draftsmanship.

When a drawing has been made with plenty of erasing, and the impression of earlier layers are left seen, the artist might talk themes as broad as time passing, motion, violence and iconoclasm. Necessary artworks centre erasing on this method – similar to Frank Auerbach’s The Charcoal Heads, which had been reworked to the purpose of destruction earlier than being reformed. Erased De Kooning Drawing by Robert Rauschenberg was made by conceptualising whether or not an paintings could possibly be made fully by means of erasing.

Erasing solely appears unhealthy on an paintings when it’s clear that the eraser hasn’t carried out its job because it ought to have – by creating smudges or leaving media behind. That’s why it’s necessary to know the distinction between the number of varieties of eraser, and to have choices at hand. When erasing is finished seamlessly, the viewer understands that the artist is utilizing them as a refined drawing software.

The Historical past of Erasing

The rubber eraser was invented in 1770, which is comparatively late within the historical past of artwork – so how did folks erase earlier than then? From the onset of making works on paper, folks have been improvising methods to take away their errors. In manuscripts in ink on parchment, paper and papyrus, scribes used knives to softly scrape, or abrasive stones like pumice or sandstone to buff away their errors. Some scribes tailored across the permanence of their errors, so the marginalia include corrective notes, or phrases are crossed out. Many depictions of scribes at work in illuminated manuscripts depict them holding their quill in a single hand, and a knife within the different. Except for gently scraping off errors, the knife was additionally a great tool for sharpening quills, and holding the parchment in place.

Saint Gregory as Author, Scriptorium of Weingarten Abbey, South German

Saint Gregory as Creator, 1188-1200
Scriptorium of Weingarten Abbey, South German (Swabia)
Opaque watercolour on parchment, 34.9 × 24.5 cm | 13.7 x 9.6 in
Artwork Institute of Chicago

Draftsmen used chunks of white bread to erase their drawing media for over 150 years, by wetting it barely and rolling it right into a ball – resembling the type of erasers as we all know them at the moment. Nonetheless this method wasn’t supreme because it might go away behind residual flour, grease and breadcrumbs, that might litter cautious drawings. Bread additionally was an paintings conservation software for cleansing artworks, together with a seventeenth Century restoration of Michaelangelo’s Sistine Chapel frescoes.

Younger Boy Enjoying the Lute, 1662
Peter Lely
Black and white chalk on gray paper with erasing, 24.5 x 23.5 cm | 9.6 x 9.3 in
The Nationwide Museum of Sweden

Edward Nairne found that rubber was the proper software for erasing by probability, when he picked up a piece of rubber to amend his work as an alternative of the bread he had helpful. He launched the rubber eraser to market in 1770, which signalled the top of using bread due to rubbers’ effectiveness. After distributing his product, the phrase ‘rubber’ was hooked up to the title of the plant, and have become the frequent title for the eraser within the UK. The issue together with his discovery was that rubber in its pure state was perishable. In 1839 this was remedied by Charles Goodyear by means of vulcanisation – a course of that initially concerned hardening or curing rubber with sulphur and warmth.

Primitive Being, c. 1876
Odilon Redon
Charcoal and black chalk with stumping, wiping and erasing, 44.5 x 36.9 cm | 17.5 x 14.5 in
Artwork Institute of Chicago

Pure rubber was sourced primarily from the Hevea brasiliensis tree, however erasers have been made out of many different supplies following Nairne and Goodyear’s developments. In 1903 ‘artwork gum’ referred to an eraser made out of vulcanised corn oil and sulphur dichloride, within the mid twentieth Century plasticised vinyl was developed to create erasers that had been cleaner than earlier iterations. In 1943 the putty or kneaded eraser was created by probability by James Wright – a Scottish engineer making an attempt to create a rubber substitute in World Warfare II. Numerous different formulations for erasers exist at the moment and fluctuate by model, making them appropriate for lifting a plethora of various mediums.

The Legend of the Wolves, Nineties
Rosa Bonheur
Charcoal and pastel with stumping and erasing on blue paper, 59.9 x 80.7 cm | 23.6 x 31.8 in
Nationwide Gallery of Artwork

Demonstrations of Erasing Methods for Dry Media

Utilizing Bread as an Eraser

Though it’s clear that bread has been an inferior materials for erasing for hundreds of years, many artists are concerned with adapting the traditions of artmaking into their practices. I needed to attempt erasing with bread to expertise it myself, and see how efficient it might’ve been for artists of the previous.

I used the smooth white core from a baguette, and commenced rolling it collectively after dampening it with a contact of water. Once I tried to make use of this bread eraser it simply left a grimy smudge on my drawing, because it was too moist. The descriptions I learn of the method steered that the bread ought to be damp, however I feel it could solely be essential to moist very dry or stale bread. For my subsequent try I rolled a piece of recent bread with out including any additional water, and it labored very properly at erasing my graphite drawing. It couldn’t carry the darkest parts very properly, nevertheless it instantly erased the lighter pencil in a single swipe, with out a lot strain.

Recommendation for Utilizing Erasers

As you’re employed with an eraser, you need to be conscious of constructing use of every of its edges. By turning an eraser in your hand as you’re employed, you may make quite a lot of marks from the identical implement. Within the following sheet I demonstrated the varied marks made by a spherical and rectangular eraser, from skinny strains to broad strokes.

As you’re employed you’ll discover that your eraser will get dirtied, particularly by dusty media like charcoal, or by conserving it in a pencil case. In the event you stick with it utilizing a really soiled eraser, it could make streaks, or really apply extra media than it removes out of your work. To wash it off, rub it vigorously on a scrap of paper, or in your desk. If the filth isn’t shifting, rigorously lower off the soiled faces with a craft knife to disclose the clear eraser beneath.

Rubbers is usually a clumsy form or measurement until you customise them to fit your drawing. By chopping them to have sharp edges or into small bits, you should use the eraser as a exact drawing implement.

Evaluating Plastic, Gum and Rubber Erasers

It’s not unusual to imagine that erasers are all made out of the identical materials, however there are three key varieties of arduous eraser – rubber, plastic, and gum. Every has distinct properties that make them appropriate for erasing completely different supplies, though all of them work by shedding crumbs which have picked up media.

Rubber erasers could also be made out of synthetic or natural rubber, and customarily have a powdery feeling. Plastic erasers are the firmest and most exact, and maybe the preferred at the moment. ‘Plastic’ is a blanket time period for quite a lot of formulations between manufacturers, however basically they have an inclination to provide much less extra mud than rubber, for the reason that plastic clumps collectively fairly than powdering off. Gum erasers are the softest of the three, and are designed to crumble as they acquire pigment to scale back harm to the floor. They’re additionally the least frequent sort of eraser to search out, and are finest for utilizing on delicate papers.

For the next check sheet I used an eraser of every sort: Jackson’s Spherical Comfortable Eraser is rubber, Faber Castell White Vinyl Eraser is plastic, and the The Grasp Gum Eraser by Milan is gum. I used them to erase strips of 2B pencil, Caran D’Ache Luminance Colored Pencil in Ultramarine, Conté à Paris Sanguine Pencil, and Coates Willow Charcoal.

The end between every eraser is refined, however noticeable in observe. I discovered that the Gum eraser eliminated graphite the perfect, however was additionally the worst with the colored pencil. Plastic was the perfect at lifting the colored pencil, however was so stiff that I felt it blended the sanguine and charcoal earlier than eradicating it. The rubber eraser was constant throughout all 4 supplies, however didn’t take away any of them fully. Subsequently it’s finest observe to have a number of erasers at hand, so you possibly can check every possibility for shifting your chosen media. All erasers are comparatively cheap, so it’s price choosing up one in all every sort.

Working with a Kneaded or Putty Eraser

The important thing distinction between arduous erasers and putty or kneaded erasers, is that putty erasers don’t crumb off, and are versatile. They work by adhering pigment to their floor, as an alternative of sporting it off hooked up to little items. It’s a lot tougher to wash a putty rubber due to this, so as an alternative it’s best to pull and fold the soiled components inside the shape to disclose new clear materials. As soon as it will get to the purpose which you can’t stretch and knead the rubber to disclose any clear materials, it ought to be thrown away.

To start utilizing a brand new putty eraser, it must be kneaded in your arms to activate its attribute flexibility. Typically putty rubbers can have a tougher exterior of their packaged type, however when you stretch and fold them a number of occasions, the oils within the eraser disperse extra evenly.

Putty erasers are finest for utilizing with dusty materials that you just wouldn’t wish to bodily brush arduous eraser crumbs from, like charcoal and pastel, to not smudge the remainder of the drawing. Since they’re additionally the one malleable type of eraser, they’re good for forming into particular shapes to create customized highlights. You may as well simply break a chunk off, after which reattach it to the principle eraser later.

Reductive Drawing with Charcoal and Pastel

Reductive drawing switches the eraser from being an enhancing software, to a mark-making one. By working in reverse, artists can use erasers to disclose the paper beneath a floor of charcoal, pastel, or pencil, working in reverse to deliver again highlights. This may create a sculptural drawing impact, for the reason that gentle introduced again suggests plains that catch the sunshine, and carve out type.

Putty erasers are the perfect software for this method, since they don’t come aside in crumbs, so that you don’t should brush or shake the particles off the fragile charcoal or pastel floor.

To start out I lined a sheet of Strathmore Charcoal Paper in Coates Willow Charcoal, and blended it flat with a scrap piece of paper. Subsequent I moulded my Jackson’s Putty Rubber into a pointy wedge form, for choosing out the highlights on a face. I remoulded the eraser as I labored to go well with the sting or form I needed to carve out in gentle.

For my second instance in pastel, I lined a sheet of muted blue pastel paper in a Darkish Lilac Jackson’s Handmade Comfortable Pastel, and blended it evenly with a scrap piece of paper. Subsequent I used a chunk of putty rubber to erase the pastel to type clouds blanketing mountains, with only a few peaks exhibiting by means of.

The pastel was barely tougher to take away than the charcoal which picked up instantly, however this made it simpler to regulate the gradation of tone, relying on how a lot I rubbed every space.

Utilizing Putty and Arduous Erasers Collectively

Putty erasers aren’t the perfect for fully lifting pigment from a floor, so it may be finest to make use of a putty rubber to carry off the preliminary dusty materials layer, earlier than gently refining the erased space with a tough eraser. Within the following sheet I examined erasing strips of 2B pencil, Faber-Castell Albrecht Durer Watercolour Pencil in Mild Purple Pink, Conté à Paris Sanguine Pencil and Coates Willow Charcoal. For every swatch I’ve proven the outcomes with the putty rubber alone on the underside row, and the outcomes mixed with one other eraser on prime. For each materials, the mixture of the putty rubber with one other eraser was more practical than the putty rubber alone.

Erasing Colored Pencil and Pen

Erasing colored pencils and pens might be difficult for artists. Some colors are arduous, or inconceivable, to carry in any respect, or erasers can create undesirable smudges as an alternative of eradicating pigment from the floor. There are some erasers designed particularly for this function – a few of which have abrasive elements added to assist them buff off the pigment. Since abrasive erasers are much less light on paper by basically sanding the pigment off, they need to be used with a lighter contact to keep away from placing a gap in your floor.

For this check sheet I attempted erasing colored pencils and pens with a Caran D’Ache Design Eraser (non-abrasive) and a Tombow Sand Eraser (abrasive). I used them to take away circles of black biro pen, Jackson’s Fineliner Pen, Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Pen in Center Purple Pink and Caran D’Ache Luminance Colored Pencil in Violet.

The non-abrasive eraser was a lot much less efficient at eradicating all of my swatches, but in addition didn’t abrade the floor of the paper. I feel the refined glowing carry it gave to the marker and fineliner pen have the potential to make actually compelling drawings. Then again the abrasive eraser eliminated every materials extremely properly, by buffing off the highest layer of the paper. Regardless of this there isn’t instantly seen piling or tears, however while you run your finger over the erased floor it does have a worn texture. This eraser is good should you don’t thoughts affecting the paper floor, should you’re erasing on a stable floor, or if you have to take away a mistake that might be inconceivable to carry with different erasers

Erasing by Scraping with a Knife

Just like the manuscript writers of previous, it’s nonetheless doable to erase by scraping errors off with a knife. The Faber-Castell Erasing and Sharpening Knife was designed with this perform in thoughts. Considering of the scriptorium, I drew my model of a creature from a Medieval manuscript, utilizing copper ink, Daler-Rowney FW Artists’ Ink in Indigo, and a William Mitchell Dip Pen.

Subsequent I scraped a portion of the dry drawing off utilizing the erasing knife at an angle, to scrape off the highest layer as an alternative of chopping it out. This isn’t an excellent methodology because it inevitably damages the floor, however could possibly be your solely possibility relying on the medium or floor you’ve chosen to work on.

Erasing with Sponges

Sponges are additionally an excellent materials for erasing by choosing media off the floor by being caught of their texture. This works finest with dusty supplies like charcoal and pastels, versus graphite which might be smudged greater than erased by a sponge. The great thing about utilizing sponges is that they are often rinsed out and used once more, so are a sustainable possibility for erasing dry media. That is supreme should you’re nervous concerning the waste of utilizing erasers that put on out, or putty rubbers which might be uncleanable. Pure sea sponges specifically are a sustainable alternative, since they are often composted.

To erase with sponges I used an assortment of sponges from a Jackson’s Massive Assorted Sponge Bag. I started my drawing by coating a sheet of charcoal paper in Coates Willow Charcoal, and commenced twisting and pinching the sponges to create my desired kinds. I lifted a picture of tangled undergrowth, choosing out lengthy strokes, and broader leaves by utilising the completely different sponge shapes. As soon as I used to be completed I rinsed the sponges out and set them apart to dry.

Erasing with Paper Stumps

Paper stumps are sometimes used for mixing dry media, however they will additionally work as an eraser on a charcoal floor. I used a number of Jackson’s Paper Stumps to do a discount drawing of a dove.

By alternating between completely different sizes of paper stump, I erased broader fluffy areas just like the doves chest, and refined small particulars like the feel on the wings.

To wash the erased media off paper stumps, you have to rub them in opposition to a sanding block. Be certain to rotate the stump in your hand as you sand, to reform its level.

Erasing with an Eraser Click on Pen and Pencil

Eraser click on pens and pencils are designed for precision erasing, and to maintain the remainder of the eraser you haven’t used but clear and encased. Eraser click on pens are refillable, so that you solely want to purchase the casing as soon as, whereas eraser pencils shall be sharpened away.

For this instance sheet I used a Tombow Mono Zero Eraser Pen and a Faber-Castell Perfection Pencil Eraser with Brush.

I used the eraser pen to rigorously pick the highlights across the eye on my charcoal portrait, and loved having the ability to maintain the eraser with precision. It might be a lot clumsier to make use of a tiny piece of rubber pinched in my fingers.

The pencil eraser was good for choosing out highlighted particulars on my sponge discount drawing of foliage. The comb on the top is right for gently dusting away eraser crumbs on pencil drawings.

If utilizing these eraser pencils is just too gradual in your functions, or repetitive hand actions are uncomfortable for you, you may use an electrical eraser pen, just like the Jakar Mini Electrical Eraser Pen.