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Merriam-Webster defines the kneaded eraser as “a soft pliable eraser of unvulcanized rubber used especially to remove graphite or charcoal marks from drawing paper”. There are many other types of erasers that can do the same thing. However, the kneaded eraser is especially good at removing some of the graphite (for example) and purposefully leaving traces of the graphite on the paper for artistic effects. Some artists also use a kneaded eraser as one might use clay to make a model of an object to sketch.

If you'd like to know how to use a kneaded eraser to achieve some of those artistic effects, here are a few examples that can be applied to portrait drawing. Most of the time, you would use a kneaded eraser to pull out highlights. For instance, you might apply some graphite to a skin tone and smooth it out with a tortillion. Then, you use the kneaded eraser to carefully pick at the area where you want a highlight. Don't rub vigorously as you might do with a traditional eraser. Rather, almost think of it as you would "blot" a stain out of a carpet. The kneaded eraser is used in a similar fashion to pull highlights out of hair. Additionally, some artists use the kneaded eraser to carefully rub out loose strands of hair that overlap the general mass of hair on the head.

As you use your kneaded eraser, you will find that it accumulates all of the graphite or charcoal you apply to it. That might leave you wondering how to clean a kneaded eraser. Well, there's no set way to truly get it clean. However, you can give a kneaded eraser the appearance of being clean by making new, clean spots on it and using it again and again. This is achieved by doing exactly what the name implies...kneading the eraser. To do this, simply pull on the eraser so it stretches and fold it over upon itself to find a clean spot.