If you are a beginner artist who is only getting acquainted with the world of art and studying materials for drawing, then you might not have heard of a nag. Behind this funny name is an eraser with interesting properties, reminiscent of plasticine by touch. Let's figure out what it is - a nag for drawing, and why an artist needs it. This knowledge will be useful to you when creating works with pencil, charcoal and pastel. You can see that this is a gag for drawing, in the photo below.
Features of a nag
A soft eraser is an indispensable thing for conveying halftones and highlights. Unlike vinyl or rubber rubber used in school days, it is flexible, easily stretched and compressed. The nag changes shape like plasticine. Some artists even use it for other purposes and create figures and sculptures that adorn the desktop.
The eraser is also used for entertainment. If you roll the mass into a ball and throw it on the floor, it will bounce like a ball. Although for a couple of such rebounds, the nag will collect all the dust and dirt. Therefore, instead of laughing, you will want to do the cleaning. But it’s better to understand in advance that a nag for drawing is not a toy, but an important tool of the artist. Therefore, it is still desirable to use it for its intended purpose. And for games, choose something else.
How to use a nagging paint
These unusual erasers are used to remove and highlight materials such as graphite, coal, pastel and chalk. The main feature of the paint gag is that it is a plastic eraser. You can give it any shape that is great for detailing the work. If you separate a small piece from the rest of the mass, sharpen its edge, like a pencil, and apply a few subtle strokes, it is easy to correct a small lack of work without erasing the excess. It is problematic to perform such a maneuver with ordinary rubber erasers without hitting most of the figure.
Another feature of the ink for painting is that this mass leaves no traces on paper. It is as if she eats graphite or pastel, drawing them into herself. When working with a nag, you do not need to constantly brush away pieces of a dirty eraser from work. It is enough just to press it to the desired area several times - and the excess graphite will disappear.
But this may not work if the pencil marks are too dark and you draw by pressing hard on it. The “push and lift” method is suitable for most jobs with a nag. But when drawing a portrait, when it comes to creating hair, a sharp-pointed option is more suitable. The main thing is to brush away graphite with light strokes, without putting too much pressure on the drawing, otherwise the nag will bend.
How to make a soft eraser yourself
Artists can make such a gum on their own. In order to make a nag for painting with your own hands, you will need ordinary erasers. They need to be placed in a jar of gasoline and left for 2-3 days. Then the resulting mass is dried on paper towels and boiled in clean water. The result should be a soft eraser that looks like a gag. Only it is unlikely that it will be the same bright and pleasant color as the original.
How to clean the gag after work
The eraser absorbs graphite during operation and becomes too dirty over time. In order to clean it, just crush the mass in the palm of your hand, just like ordinary plasticine. Then the stylus particles will be distributed over the material, and the nag can again be used. Over time, the soft eraser darkens and changes its original color to dirty gray. But even such a nag can still be used if you knead it well before work, until its color becomes light gray. But in the end, it will still become too dirty and unusable, because graphite, coal, dust or other particles accumulate inside the plastic mass. This is a small problem because the noggles are usually very cheap and can be found in most art stores.
When purchasing a new eraser, do not use the entire mass. First, pinch off a small piece sufficient for work. When graphite accumulates inside, the nag will become softer. If you urgently need to soften the eraser, rub the pencil lead on sandpaper and combine with the mass. After that, you just need to knead it well. Now you know that this is a gag for drawing, and you can use it to create magnificent drawings.