DEMO place saver: This is from a drawing demonstration focused on how to use various tools when doing a reductive or erasure drawing.

The tools I have at hand are vine charcoal, Faber-Castell compressed charcoal (not a cheap one which is too greasy to erase), charcoal pencils—usually 4B or 6B so that it is soft enough to smudge, round flat makeup sponges, blending sticks, white eraser (Magic Rub preferred), Art Gum eraser (I call this the bull dozer eraser), kneaded eraser.

First I rub vine charcoal into the surface. I like to use the makeup sponge to lightly create a a veil of vine charcoal over the surface of the paper. I use a good quality drawing (not sketch) paper that has a bit of a tooth—a slight texture—so that as I continue to work the drawing can push the vine charcoal more deeply into the paper. Strathmore Drawing paper is a good choice, especially because it is not pure white but has a warm tint. I prefer not to work on stark white paper. The darker that I want the image, the deeper I will push the vine charcoal with the sponge into the paper. I often use my fingers if I know I want an area to be dark. The charcoal wants to stick to more charcoal—but it especially wants to stick to the residue from my fingers smooshing into the paper.

and…..