Noted on the Eraser, I'll say this to since I haven't and might be a factor, Materials I use:
Erasers: A.W. Faber-Castell Eraser (Pink color)
Pencils: Mechanical Pencil Point 0.7 mm
Color Pencils: (15-year-Old) Prismacolors
Markers: "Sharpie" Fine Point (Permanent Marker)
Pens: Faber Castels (says it's Waterproof) Point 0.2 , and some Pens which they're names are unreadable (Technolinear?) Points from 0.2 to 0.5
Gummy erasers are like pencil sponges, and you can tear them apart / stick them back together like putty, mashing it together to make the lead it erases just...gone. It mixes into the eraser itself, giving it an incredibly long lifespan. You also don't have to deal with shavings this way, and instead of rubbing out bad lines / leftovers, you can just stamp them out, as the eraser pulls up a little bit of lead with each press. Think of the old silly putty and newspaper comic trick. You can get a gummy eraser cheaply enough at an art supply store or even a college campus store, and you only really need one. Two to save yourself a trip later on, maybe. I used this tool extensively.
If you want a regular pencil eraser that doesn't suck: Staples makes good pencils (bright red rounded erasers) that fall apart easily under friction. Papermate, conversely, has flat topped pink erasers that act like they're coated with glue, and smear ANYTHING. Using them on scantron tests was a nightmare.
What I've been using as erasers are "A.W. Faber-Castell erasers" Color pink, and I think their Papermate as Arrow said are the bad ones.
When you say Gummy Erasers, you mean those that are like Bubble Gum? You can stretch them to clean them up and also use the graphite/lead to produce shadows? There's three of those around (In one piece I hope).
I like that new one, Karo! You're getting better everyday!
Thank you :>
If you have the resources and time to learn, I bet you'd make a pretty awesome digital artist, too! It took me and my sister a bit to learn and get used to the awkwardness, but it's an overall fun experience. Bamboo/Intuos tablets are pretty affordable if you get the starter ones, and you can do all your drawing on GIMP or photoshop and not have to worry about having all the right materials! ;o
Agree 100% with yuyu on the digital art thing. It's hard to get used to at first. You might feel discouraged that none of your art looks quite right for a while (I know I was ), but if you can work past that, it's a great tool.
Since I read these two posts Friday up to today, I have been considering on moving to digital, I have an Old Wacom Tablet sitting around I used to paint this digitally: