As a graphite pencil artist, I think paper stumps and tortillons are high on my list of ‘must haves’ in my drawing equipment. The stumps come in a variety of sizes so you can blend large or small areas of pencil.
If you enjoy drawing (and this includes charcoal and pastels) these are a must have item. The stumps and tortillons allow you to achieve a smoother blending effect.
Never use your fingers to blend as you transfer the oils from your skin into the paper.
Stumps and tortillons can be cleaned with sandpaper, emery board or pencil sharpener. I sometimes use a dirty one to produce a light shading effect on work without using a pencil.
The (sped up) video below shows me demonstrating blending using an 8B graphite pencil to show the effects.
© Karen Hartnell
