Blending Tools for Drawing Bundle

A guide to using & cleaning blending tools for drawing.

⚠️ Avoid using your fingers when blending drawings!

Our hands are naturally oily and pick up various dirt and grease as we use them which transfers onto the paper when used for blending. This deteriorates the drawing overtime leading to yellowing and patchiness.

Blending Stumps

✏️ Overall look:

Smooth, uniform blending that best retains the drawings original details & tonality.

✅ Strengths:

Precise blending, especially for small areas and details
Tip can be used for details and lines, whereas sides can be used for larger areas.
Can be cleaned and sharpened for continued use

⚠️ Weaknesses:

Absorbs up graphite & charcoal quickly, needing frequent cleaning
Can quickly smudge unintentionally or flatten gradients if overused
Can blend unevenly if overly dirty
Darkens colors by 1-2 shades
Not ideal for very large areas

✨How to clean:

Rub your blending stump on the artist sand paper stick provided in this kit to shave off the dirty sections.

💡Tips:

Keep one end clean and the other end ‘seasoned’ with drawing material for more versatility!
Use a dirty blending stump on clean sections of your paper for an ultra-light shade!

Tortillons

✏️ Overall look:

Similar to blending stumps but slightly rougher, allowing for more visible texture

✅ Strengths:

Best used for details and very small areas
Blending single-tone sections
Can be cleaned and sharpened for continued use

⚠️ Weaknesses:

Less durable than blending stumps
Not suitable for large areas
Absorbs up graphite & charcoal quickly, needing frequent cleaning
Blends unevenly if used on large areas.
Darkens colors by 1-2 shades

✨How to clean:

Rub your tortillon on the artist sand paper stick provided in this kit to shave off the dirty sections.

💡Tips:

Use a tortillon to lightly draw on clean sections of your paper!

Chamois

✏️ Overall look:

Soft, airy, and diffused shading with no visible texture

✅ Strengths:

Excellent for covering large areas quickly
Seamless blending
Produces flawless results as it smoothes away imperfections with ease
Works especially well with charcoal, soft pastels and powders

⚠️ Weaknesses:

Lacks precision for small details
Tends to lighten pigment and flattens gradients if overused
Harder to control compared to stumps or tortillons
Removes drawing texture

✨How to clean:

Combine warm water and gentle hand soap in a bowl
Submerge your chamois in the solution
Once saturated, swish around the chamois gently (do not wring or squeeze it)--spot clean stubborn sections using your hand
Change the water if it becomes too dirty and continue cleaning until the water runs clear
Optional step: Fill up the bowl with warm water and a few drops of a nourishing non-drying oil (argan, coconut, shea, etc.) and leave your chamois submerged in it for a minute to restore its softness
Remove the excess water from the chamois by gently squeezing it
Drape the chamois flat over the bowl and leave to dry away from sunlight

💡Tips:

Use a chamois to evenly apply and draw with charcoal, graphite or pastel powders!

Kneadable eraser

✏️ Overall look:

Ultra-subtle light and soft blending, highlighting and texturizing without harsh eraser lines

✅ Strengths:

Lifts and lightens graphite, charcoal, and pastel for highlighting, reductive drawing and sfumato techniques
Malleable—can be shaped for precision work
Can achieve round texturizing effects by lightly twisting or dabbing the eraser into a shaded area
Lighten drawings by shaping it into a log and rolling it over the desired area of the drawing

⚠️ Weaknesses:

Very specific use means it’s less effective for heavy-duty or general blending
Unable to smooth out areas–retains the texture of the drawing material
Picks up dirt and graphite quickly, needing frequent reshaping and cleaning

✨How to clean:

Combine warm water in a small bowl and a gentle hand soap in the palm of your hand
Knead the eraser with the soap in your hand, submerging it in the water periodically to remove the dirty residue
Continue the process until the eraser appears clean
Dry off the excess water from the eraser and reshape it
Leave it out to dry

💡Tips:

Best used as a follow-up tool to another blending tool like the chamois!

Mop Paintbrush

This unique mop brush blends soft goat hair (to retain pigment and achieve a smooth application) with coarse badger hair (to break down and work the pigment into the paper)

✏️ Overall look: