Erasers: History / Fun Facts / Best Erasers for Artists

Erasers are something we apply everyday. As an artist y'all demand to know which are the best ones for drawing. Today you're going to learn a little flake nigh eraser technology and how yous tin apply it to your ain drawing techniques. Also included is a handy infographic for helping y'all decide which eraser to employ.

Who Invented the Eraser?

The history for fixing written mistakes goes dorsum as far as we've been writing. With such a necessity it's no wonder the modern eraser has gone through such an interesting development.

When you think of erasers you probably have thoughts of safety. Maybe even 1 of those pink school erasers you grew up with. Correcting pencil marks on newspaper has been going on a long fourth dimension. If fact, some of the original pencil erasers where nothing more than than crude stones and fifty-fifty breadstuff!

The folks indigenous to Central and South America were some of the people first known to use rubber. Somewhen rubber found information technology's way into the hands of other cultures effectually the world. In England Joseph Priestley (discovered oxygen) once noted that graphite marks could be "rubbed out" by a piece of rubber. From this discovery, prophylactic derived its proper name. You lot come across, the safety eraser was more of a discovery, like many things, and less of an invention!

What'due south interesting is how rubber got its name: All types of rubber got their name from the physical action one used to erase pencil on newspaper. What do you practise to erase marks? Yous rub! In fact, prior to the utilise of safe as a ways of erasing, whatsoever fabric that was used to remove marks was casually called a "condom".

As you know it usually takes a person with adept marketing skills to bring new technology to the masses.

British engineer Edward Nairne is credited with marketing safety erasers first. Upon accidentally using a piece of safe instead of bread Nairne saw the rubber eraser'south marketability at one time and worked to develop sales of this new eraser in Europe.

Considering rubber is perishable and did not have a great shelf life, rubber erasers were still not nearly adopted to widespread use like they are today.

It wasn't until Charles Goodyear discovered and patented the process of rubber vulcanization.  And so the globe was gear up for the mass adoption of longer lasting rubber erasers made of vulcanized safe.

What Are Erasers Made Of?

Erasers were originally made of natural rubber just times have changed dramatically, especially for the needs of mod draftsman and artists alike.

At present, virtually erasers are made of constructed condom or plastic. Their complexities vary greatly as different shapes, colors, and requirements have flooded the market.

Some are moldable, while other'south crumble. The modern creative person has an assortment of erasers to choose from.

Kinds of Erasers for Artists

Considering this is website about helping artists, we're going to proceed the focus on artist erasers. Here's a list of the dissimilar kinds of erasers you'll encounter when shopping for new art supplies.

i. Kneaded Eraser (putty eraser)

Ordinarily lite gray in color, the kneaded eraser is the softest kind of eraser you would use for cartoon. You can mold this kind of eraser into any shape you'd like. Kneaded erasers are fabricated of unvulcanized rubber which makes them much softer and more than pliable compared to other vulcanized prophylactic erasers and plastic erasers.

These erasers function very differently from other safe or plastic erasers in that they practise non wear down. Because they don't wear downwardly kneaded erasers don't deposit those little pieces all over your drawing paper like other erasers.

Kneaded erasers do demand to be cleaned every bit a result however. To clean a kneaded eraser simply pull it autonomously and shrink information technology back together a few dozen times.

If a kneaded eraser doesn't wear down how does information technology actually erase?

The particles of graphite, charcoal or whatever drawing medium you are using gets absorbed into the kneaded eraser. You'll notice the eraser picking up your drawing medium as you use it. One time this happens just clean the eraser.

Somewhen the eraser will take captivated so much cartoon medium that it will no longer accept the chapters to absorb. The eraser will look darker than the lighter gray information technology once was. When this happens, but throw it away and become a new one.

ii. White Plastic Eraser (Vinyl Eraser)

Thanks to mod chemistry we now have plastic erasers. Also chosen a vinyl eraser, these handy tools usually tin can be purchased as a pocket-sized white block wrapped in a paper sleeve. Because these are highly polymerized vinyl, they are technically in the plastic family and not a prophylactic at all.

White plastic erasers are known for being extremely gentle to one'south drawing paper and promote a cleaner eraser unit when compared to nearly junior rubber erasers. During erasing, the pencil or other drawing medium sticks generally to the niggling scraps of vinyl that fall off the eraser block.

three. Gum Eraser

Gum erasers are typically sold as tan blocks. When trolling the aisles in your art store they are unremarkably one of the largest erasers sold. This makes them more suitable for fixing extremely large areas of a drawing. Gum erasers are unremarkably made of natural or constructed rubber.

4. Eraser Stick

Eraser sticks are nothing more than a white plastic eraser formed into a tiny cylindrical shape. This thin eraser is then held in place inside a plastic tube much like a mechanical pencil. Eraser sticks are a swell tool for erasing tiny areas of one's drawing.

The Best Erasers for Cartoon

While each artist has her ain preference, some eraser types are conspicuously meliorate for certain drawing tasks when compared to others.

When working with charcoal or pastel for instance you'll want to cull an eraser that doesn't leave too many eraser scraps on the drawing surface. If you were to brush abroad these scraps you would risk smudging your drawing. Some types don't agree their shape very well and can make fixing pocket-sized details frustrating.

Use the eraser infographic below to aid yous choose the best eraser for your type of drawing.

Erasers Review

With so many erasers for sale, ownership the right blazon tin exist somewhat of a daunting chore. I have found these 3 erasers are all I need for my cartoon needs.

Whether drawing large or small or in pencil or charcoal I recommend the following three erasers:

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Eraser Drawing

Did you know that yous can also draw with an eraser? Information technology'southward true. Many artists like to "tone" their paper with their drawing medium outset. This removes the intimidating whiteness of the paper and allows the artist to draw with their eraser.

It'southward an interesting approach to cartoon because y'all volition be drawing in the lighter values instead of the darker values. It's a removal process that is sometimes called subtractive drawing. Why subtractive? You are removing the medium instead of adding it. It's a subtractive procedure.

Eraser drawing is really easy to go started with charcoal. Simply take the side of your vine charcoal and cover your unabridged paper with broad strokes. Yous can then spread around the charcoal evenly with a tissue or paper towel. Once your paper is toned evenly with the charcoal you can start cartoon with your kneaded eraser.

The whole procedure is the reverse of what you are used to and can be a thrill. You are removing charcoal to create your image instead of calculation charcoal!

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Source: https://helloartsy.com/erasers/

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