What are the different kinds of erasers used in graphite drawing?

Question

When you are drawing you inevitably make mistakes. Erasing therefore is a large part of drawing. Not just for mistakes either. They can aid in shading and detail work, like hair, and other fine details. Erasers are obviously important. What kinds are out there when it comes to pencil drawing? I see many of similar colours, styles and hardness. What characteristics make them unique and, at a broad level, what are they designed to do?

Answer 1

Without specific examples, I can't really speak to everything you're looking for but I can make recommendations. For extensive graphite drawing I recommend having a Staedtler Mars Plastic eraser and a kneaded eraser at minimum. The mars plastic eraser is one of the best I've used and I recommend their eraser products for all drawing mediums--they erase well, don't stain paper (like colored erasers might), age well and don't crumble, and last a long time. They're easy to cut for sharp-edge erasing as well. A kneaded eraser is a bit like silly putty, but it pulls up graphite really gently for lightening certain areas. It's not an eraser you rub back and forth, you blot it on the area for a gentle lift. They're very easy to shape into a point or other shape as needed for fine erasing. I hope this helps!