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[Treefox]

Lately I have been doing some pencil drawings and I always seem to have the same problem: I smudge the whole thing during the drawing process. I have even started wearing a glove which helps a bit but still is far from being clean.
Am I just klutzy or is there some (or several) good way to avoid this?

Even if I intend to clean the drawing up and color it later this is annoying, because some of the pencil stains can hardly be erased afterwards.  

[Joyrider1978]

*delurk*

Couple of things can help with pencil smudges!  #1) Invest a dollar in a while vinyl eraser, Staedtler makes the best; they are gentle, do not smear the graphite, or damage your paper.  #2) The better your paper, the cleaner it erases.  And #3) If you're right handed, shade your drawing from the left side of the paper to the right; if you're left-handed, do it in reverse.  The smudges comes from the side of your hand swiping back and forth over shaded areas, so no swiping = no smudges!  Hope this makes sense as I am crazy sleepy and it's the week of 13-hour workdays

Oh yeah, there are also these things you can buy called "leaning bridges," which are essentially a little movable shelf you place over your drawing that holds your hand an inch or two over the surface.  I've never used one though so I can't vouch for it

[Windrider]

I always lay another piece of paper or vellum over the part of the drawing I am not working on, so I can lay my hand on it without smudging the pencil underneath.  Still get a few smudges even so, but Joyrider is correct - better quality paper erases better.  Vellum cleans up even better than the best paper, which is why I often draw on it.

[Treefox]

Oh, I would not mind to invest in a good eraser. I still need to find a good drawing stuff supply here. Until now everything I found has been less than satisfactory. The paper I used this time actually was high-quality paper. And I must say it has been better than before. I already usually try to shade in from left to right, this works well for shading, but for the basic drawing I find it hard to draw the left side first and then the right side. My drawing style is rather messy anyway...
These "leaning bridges" I have never heard of! Sounds interesting and like something one has to get used to at first.

Hope this makes sense as I am crazy sleepy and it's the week of 13-hour workdays

Gee... Sounds terribly familiar...  *gives gentle shoulder massage*

Windrider, I tried the paper technique but once I get into the drawing I often fling the paper away without even noticing it. I have never tried vellum, sounds good!

[Joyrider1978]

OH!  Also (stupid me, how did I forget this?) doing your base sketch and linework with a hard-lead pencil will drastically reduce smudging.  In the range of pencil softness/hardness, the higher the number H, the harder, lighter and less smudgy it is; the higher the number B, the softer, darker, and smudgier it is.  Ie: a 6H pencil will give you a light grey, sharp line that you'd have to rub with your thumb to smudge it, while an 8B pencil would be nearly black and will smudge if you look at it sideways.  (HB is the center of the range and is essentially your standard Number Two test-taking pencil.  F is a random pencil, I think for draftsmen.)  Me, I grew up drawing under my architect father's drafting table and have always felt more comfortable drawing with a mechanical pencil, and I find that helps as well (but shading is usually done with a "real" pencil or a nice dark Ebony Splendor )

Interesting art history note: Cretacolor / Koh-i-Noor of Austria pretty much invented the modern day pencil combination of graphite and ceramic that allows for different lead softnesses.  Both these companies should be widely available in Germany; Cretacolor's pencils are especially lovely.  (see what happens when I only work 12 hours? I come home and talk about work!! )

[Treefox]

Oh, I missed your last post somehow! I usually love mechanical pencils most! I can just handle them better and, of course, they are always sharp.
When I do a black and white drawing I usually try to make the basic drawing with a hard pencil. But I noticed that when I'm drawing on water color paper, even hard pencils tend to smudge.

Interesting art history note: Cretacolor / Koh-i-Noor of Austria pretty much invented the modern day pencil combination of graphite and ceramic that allows for different lead softnesses.  Both these companies should be widely available in Germany; Cretacolor's pencils are especially lovely.

I had no idea! That is so cool.

(see what happens when I only work 12 hours? I come home and talk about work!! Wink )

It happens...

[Razzle]

If you're drawing a pencil drawing and you DON'T plan to color it in, what I use is just plain ol' printer paper. Plain white, multi-purpose I think. Just the cheapest package. Don't reckon I'd be able to manage to put pencil to paper on anything more expensive till I'm a lot better! I'd be waaay too nervous. *laughs* I find that it really doesn't smudge at all, with printer paper and a twist mechanical pencil.

(Of course, my dry pastels are a different matter... *frown*! 'Course it might help if I actually knew how to use 'em! =P)

[Pyreite]

To reduce smudging either use a tissue under your and to prevent the heel of your palm, the side, and the fingers from dragging across the page and smudging the pencil, or, draw with the pencil lead very softly, so you can just see the lines but they're not so dark that it'll smudge if and when you erase.

You could also get hold of a kneaded eraser, or a gum eraser.  It won't reduce smudging but it can be manipulated like playdough in various shapes, and allows you to take off big or large portions of pencil, including smudges.  They can be pretty hard to find unless you frequent art shops, or have a stationary shop that stocks them. 

I've got three, and they last forever.

You might consider using mechanical pencil too instead of regular pencil.  The leads are easier to replace, and they don't wear down as fast, plus no sharpeners. 

YAY!

I prefer it over the traditional lead in wood pencils, and I've been able to do more detailed work on ordinary sketching paper with them too, although unfortunately you do have to constantly sharpen the mech-pencil lead for finer lines.  I do this by running it back and forth really fast over a spare bit of paper to keep the tip on a lean instead of flat.  Takes repetitive action but I find it easier to use than a normal pencil, no shavings.

~ Pyre