Monday, April 14, 2008

You Get What You Pay For; Erasers Are Not All Equal

First of all, I cannot believe that I am writing about an electric eraser - of all things - much less touting the fact that I own one! I have been doing a lot more sketching recently - thanks to Paulette Insall's class. I am enjoying it a lot too! I am also needing a good eraser more than I used to. One of the books I have been reading recently is "Secrets To Drawing Realistic Faces" by Carrie Stuart Parks. In her book she recommends a Sakura electric eraser. I balked at the cost of it & opted to order a much less expensive Helix brand from Dick Blick. It worked for all of about 15 minutes. It had a cheap feel too. Dick Blick was very good about crediting the costof both the eraser & the refills I had purchased. I like Dick Blicks' catalogs & web site & I generally buy all of my art supplies from them. I was pleased to learn that they are good with their customer service! After some more thought about whether I REALLY just HAD to have an electric eraser (I am so weak!) - I sprang for the Sakura model - and yes, it is true, you definitely get what you pay for - even with electric erasers! It works so quickly, cleanly and evenly. No smudges, no lines. Terrifc little gadget!

In the photo above you can see the lines I erased (using some elbow power too) with my trusty Sanford pencil eraser (yes, I also did try a variety of other erasers I had on hand as well)and next you can see nearly the clean paper where I used the Sakura. Obviously, since it broke so fast, I can't compare the Sakura to the Helix! So,it is a foolishly small thing in the general scheme of life, but I am now a real convert to electric erasers - if one plans to do much sketching - and likes clean lines too - it's a good thing; embarrassed as I am to admit to that !

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

you know, I've never heard of an electric eraser until now!

Anonymous said...

I tried them all--the Sakura is the only way to go. As it gets a bit older the eraser will sit further down inside. Keep extra batteries as it does like to go through them.

Keep up your sketching!
Best wishes,
Carrie Stuart Parks

mouse (aka kimy) said...

I believe now I have heard of everything! electric erasers - we do live in crazy times.

Karoda said...

as my great grandmother would say "well well well...what will they come up with next"

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