Pencil Lines After Erasing

A problem with a lot of peoples drawings that they hate is those left over eraser lines, now this is caused by 3 things, that mind you can be eassily fixed. :)

The first reason is that they push down their pencil to hard before they are sure of where the lines are going.

They put down the first lines heavy with the pencil praying they wont make a mistake and when they do and have to erase it's upsetting because part of the old lines always show, even if you clean all the pencil remains there is still the indents in the paper that are left over after erasing.

These indents are cause from pushing down the pencil that hard or having an extreamly sharp pencil that will actually cut the paper as it moves rather then drawing causeing more damage then good.

 Fix this by sharpening your pencil then doing a few strokes on another scrap paper before moving to actual drawing surface.

Drawing the first lines where you are deciding where to put the strokes and what strokes are not necessary should be done lighting, move your hard don't push down. Sketching just dark enough to see but light enough to very easily over the pencil without much effort. sometimes my first sketches will be so light that unless your in a room with enough lighting the paper will often times look empty. Then you may fill in the ending lines darker later.

The second reason for those ugly lines after erasing is the eraser. Most people think that since the pencil already has an eraser on the end there is no need to purchase extra erasers, however the truth is that using the eraser at the end of the pencil is a mistake in the first place.

Pencil erasers often leave pencil behind after erasing, stain the paper, leave colored streaks on the paper from the eraser Smudge the pencil without erasing leading to the staining that is un-erasable. These are the top reasons people find out they really do need an extra eraser on hand.

While a standard pink eraser is better then a pencil eraser it's still not the best for working with. Pink erasers can still leave smudge lines especially if a lower quality. White erasers are some of my favorites to work with, although again cheap one can smudge the pencil without erasing it, so you will want to ensure that you are purchasing a quality eraser.

Personally I prefer to work with Art Gum erasers, I have never had a problem with these, they work wonderfully although the have a lot more eraser shaving then normal erasers so you will end up going through then faster then average eraser.

The third reason for leftover pencil lines after erasing is the pencils, did you know that it could be your PENCIL that is causing the problem?

It could be. After making sure that you are using a traditional 2B or HB pencil they should erase yes? No... some cheap pencils will not only draw on top of the paper but will stain it with the lead, smear on top of the paper and stay there. Some pencils are just so cheap it's ridiculous, I recommend getting a decent package of pencils, even these can be found at local stores like Wal-Mart or Target.. also can be commonly found online.

The last of the noticeable reason your drawing would still show erasing lines is the paper it's self, some papers are glossy and are not great for drawing because of this and will smear rather then erase the unwanted pencil lines. Some papers are very textured these are also hard to work with when erasing, so many small spaces you literally have to wear away the paper twice as much to erase the same thing as one good drawing paper. Using a sketching paper or even just a decent printing paper will do just fine.

Now that you know the most common reasons of habving left over pencils lines after erasing I bid you farewell and great drawing... good luck!