My Secret Weapon - The Paper Stump

I really love to draw skin on paper and I am asked all the time, "How do you get it to look so smooth?!?".  Well, today, I will reveal my secret weapon:  the paper stump!  A paper stump is simply a drawing tool made of tightly rolled paper.  They are great because they come in several sizes and can be sharpened and cleaned.  More on that later.

To draw skin, I start with a fairly soft pencil, usually a B or 2B and make gentle marks on the paper.  Drawing gently is important because if you press too hard the marks will not blend completely and you will be able to see the pencil marks.  Some artists like to see the marks left by the pencil, I, generally, do not.  I like skin to look as smooth as a black and white photo, especially when I draw children and women.  Women love the "wrinkle smoothing effects" of the paper stump.  It's like a painless face lift.

I draw pencil marks in the direction I will be using the stump.  If the area needs to be dark, crosshatching works well. 

The great thing about a paper stump is its versatility.  You can use it dirty or clean.  I will explain both and how you can get a stump dirty or clean. 

First, dirty stumps.  The term "dirty stump" means the tip of the stump is covered with your medium, be it graphite or charcoal.  Dirty stumps are great for halftones or where you need just a bit of shadowing.  Not only do they make great halftones, but they are also great for soft lines which are easy to erase, provided you use a gentle touch.  Nothing will take out medium that is ground into the paper.

Now, let's talk about clean stumps.  A clean stump is just what it sounds like:  the stump tip is clean and free of medium.  I use a clean stump to grab graphite and blend.  You can lighten an area of graphite by actually removing the graphite from the paper.  It is a very gradual lightening as opposed to using a kneaded eraser.   However, it will only lighten so far until the graphite is ground into the paper. 

How do you get a clean paper stump after it is dirty?  Easy!  You will need something to actually grind away the end of the stump.  I suggest a sandpaper block.  A sandpaper block has little sheets of sandpaper stapled to a wood block.  The handle gives you something to hold to while you are pulling the stump in the opposite direction.  You can also use a small piece of regular sandpaper or even an emery board.