10 Uses for an artist sandpaper stick

10 Uses for an Artist Sandpaper Stick

How to use it:

1. Peel off the protective paper coating

2. Grip the block using the handle and sand on a flat surface

3. Tear off the sandpaper sheet once used up to reveal a fresh sheet underneath

10 uses for it:

1. Sharpen woodless pencils and drawing sticks

• Sanding down charcoal, graphite and pastel sticks and pencils is more gentle than using a carving knife.

• ⚠️ Warning: Do not sharpen wood-cased pencils with a sandpaper stick

2. Clean, sharpen and soften blending stumps & tortillons

• Keep one side ‘seasoned’ with drawing material and the other side clean

• ⚠️ Warning: Do not unravel or use a pencil sharpener on blending stumps.

3. Break in charcoal sticks & chalk pastels

• Manufacturers apply a protective wax coating to these materials to protect them while in-transit and need to be shaved off prior to drawing.

4. Make drawing media powder

• Save the powder from sharpening your graphite, charcoal and pastel sticks and pencils.

• Apply it with a chamois or mop brush on your paper.

5. Make watercolor powder

• Sand down the color pigment from watercolor pencils for an ultra-pigmented powder that can be directly brushed onto paper or mixed in a palette.

• Making powder eliminates the drawn look of these pencils for an effect that is more in line with paints.

• ⚠️ Warning: Sand only the pigment and not the wood casing of the pencil.

6. Erase mistakes on watercolor paper

• Tear off a page of the sandpaper stick and using a light, circular motion, sand down the area of the paper until the subject is erased.

•  ⚠️ Warning: Sanding watercolor paper will not affect the composition or durability of the paper but it will smooth out any surface texture or tooth.

• Use this as a final step on areas you don’t intend to paint over or do a test prior to erasing and painting over it.

7. Cleaning & sharpening erasers & oil pastels

• Remove drawing residue from erasers 

• Sand down erasers to achieve a desired point or angle

8. Cleaning oil pastels

• Remove pigment stains and residue to avoid training your drawing

9. Smooth canvas & panels

• Smooth out a gritty gesso ground on canvas or imperfections on a wood panel.

10. Smooth out imperfections on ceramics

• Smooth out imperfections from the dried surface of ceramics.

• ⚠️ Warning: Must be done prior to glazing & firing.