Kneaded erasers

[Earendil]

What is the average lifespan of a kneaded eraser? Also, how can I erase charcoal without blending it as my eraser tends to do?

[PixelFarmer]

You can try electric erasers if you really want to erase something, but they are expensive.
Kneeded erasers will last a pretty long time, I use them for lighter or softer areas where there is not a great deal of material on the paper.

try a vinyl eraser, typically solid white and soft.
If you use a hard eraser, it would tend to push the material around and damage the paper.

Something else that may help, what type of charcoal are you using and what kind of paper (thickness etc)

If you have a great deal of charcoal on your image, it's going to smudge reguardless because the grain can only hold so much. You may have to take a tissue paper and lightly remove some of the extra material before you erase. Make sure your hands are dry, if you get charcoal wet, it will not come out of the paper with out rubbing a hole into it.
I did this image a while ago as a school project, I used a combination of an electrical eraser and kneaded eraser, both soft. Mostly vine charcoal as well. the entire sheet was coated with vine charcoal then the image was erased out and then reworked.
http://polyfarmer.net/cpg/albums/Older/leo.jpg

[Emotive]

I know I've got some kneaded erasers have lasted quite a while. I've had about five of them for six months roughly, and I still haven't opened the other four lol

http://www.dickblick.com/zz215/54/
I have that. It's the Helix electric eraser, which I use for erasing where there's a lot of graphite (I'm sure charcoal would work, too). It claims it erases ink, however I have yet to try it.

That's the cheap way to go; there are other ones that are much more expensive. A bit to far out of my budget however.

http://www.dickblick.com/zz215/14/ This is the Sakura, which is pretty much the same thing as the one I have. Expensive, and really the only thing I can see different between the two is the Sakura is a bit smaller, which isn't worth the extra thirty bucks if you ask me.

http://www.dickblick.com/zz215/31/
This is the mother of electric erasers. I'm sure that would take out anything lol

I hear the art gum works well with packed areas of medium, too. Not sure if it's true or not.

[Earendil]

I've never even heard of electric erasers! :nerd:

Thanks for the links and info guys. Pixelfarmer, that image is sick!

[dbclemons]

I'm sure I have some that are several years old. They become less effective as they get blacker. By the way, there's a putty product sold for sticking posters on a wall that is essentially the same thing as a kneaded eraser, larger, and usually cheaper. Like these:
http://www.islandblue.com/store/product/2474/HOLD-IT-ADHESIVE-PUTTY/

As Sam was saying, keep your values light with a small amount of charcoal as you're erasing, and then start adding more to get it darker once you've got it the way you want. Dry bread also works well.

[Elwell]

Kneaded erasers get stickier with use, but they're usable for a long time. Their consistency actually becomes more and more like the stuff dbclemons linked to. But even if you prefer the feel of a fresh one, they're still pretty damned cheap as art supplies go.
To lighten or erase charcoal without smudging, use a kneaded eraser and and tap, press, or roll, don't rub.

[Seedling]

Kneeded erasers have a second, lesser-known use: toss an old one in the bottom of your bookbag and it will roll up all the crumbs and hairs like a katamari. ;-)

[Earendil]

How long is a "long" time elwell? Thanks for the tips on proper eraser, it'll definitely help out.

[Seedling]

How long is a "long" time elwell? Thanks for the tips on proper eraser, it'll definitely help out.

That depends on what you are erasing, in what quantity; and it depends on how much you care about using a no-longer-perfectly-clean eraser.

Unless you are doing six-foot-high super-dark charcoal drawings in which you are using the kneaded eraser as a drawing tool, you'll probably misplace your eraser long before it is too krufty for further use.

[Emotive]

Further what Clemons was saying, I read from this fine artist (http://www.sibleyfineart.com/). On his website (studio tips) he sells this stuff called Blu-Tak, from his words supposed to be better than kneaded erasers. I'm sure you can find it from other places as well.

Either way, even if you draw every hour of every day and erase -a lot-, a kneaded eraser will last you at least a few months, in which as Seedling said, you'll probably lose it before you actually fully used it. Along with their life, they're cheap and easy to g

[Earendil]

Awesome, thanks for the info guys!