Hurrah for spandex!
So I bought a few art toys to play with, all in the interests of reducing smudges.
First, I got a drafting brush, so I could get the eraser crap off my paper without blowing on it or brushing it with my hand. I also snagged an eraser shield, which is a very thin metal credit card with holes in it. I assume its purpose is to erase stuff cleanly in the shape of those holes. That or it's for cutting myself with; it's quite sharp.
I also got some of the cheap cotton gloves I've seen my fellow artists wear. After lopping the thumb and forefingers off so I could actually feel the pencil, I went to work.
And nothing happened.
A new toy or change in my drawing routine can sometimes lead to self-conciousness as I try to adapt to the new circumstances, and that is what happened here. I kept second-guessing the pose, the subject, everything, right up to the end. Eventually I just finished it as it was and tried to let it go.
Oh, and for some reason, the gloves don't help with the smudging at all. In fact in a couple places they made it worse. Hmmph.
