What does it look like when you fix a mistake? Let’s consider erasers for a moment.

Hard, rubber erasers are good for removing tone. They can strike a clean, sharp line. They can be used aggressively. However, there’s a lot of mess afterwards. Eraser dust. Like tiny crescent rolls of rubber and graphite.

Kneeded erasers (putty rubber) are different. They’re gentler in the way they remove material, and they don’t create dust. Instead of degrading with use, kneeded erasers absorb the graphite or charcoal. Over time, they darken in color, but they tend to last longer than hard erasers.

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So what happens when you make corrections? When you take care of an error? When you right a wrong? Do you create a mess that has to be blown away and cleaned up later?

Perhaps you barely leave a trace… fixing things so that they appear to have always been perfect. Making it seem effortless.

As with drawing, maybe the approach you take is quite situational.

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