Q&A for How to Use Blending Stumps

Although you don't need them, a blending stump is a terrific tool for drawing for beginners and artists at any level!

For sure! Just gently press your blending stump onto your paper and it will smooth out and blend the colored pencil as needed as you would with a drawing pencil..

You can make your own, by rolling up paper tightly and even shape it using sandpaper. You don’t use glue, just tape up one end to secure it.

A blending stump is a paper stick used to blend areas of a drawing where you don’t want to use your fingers. Fingers carry sweat, dirt and these can spoil the texture or ‘tooth’ of the paper.

Experiment, your paper and medium will determine which is best. Do at least three different samples. For detailed work, use a small stump.

It's not necessary to draw with a pencil first when using charcoal or graphite; it depends on your preference and the effect you want. For charcoal, you can lightly sketch with a pencil for an outline, but keep it faint as pencil lines can be hard to erase. Alternatively, sketch with a lighter charcoal grade for a seamless blend. For graphite, sketching with a pencil is common since graphite pencils blend well and are erasable, so choose what feels comfortable for your style.

To clean your blending stump, gently rub it against a piece of fine sandpaper or an emory board, rotating it to remove the dirty layer and expose a clean tip. You can also wipe it on a clean scrap of paper for minor cleaning. If the tip becomes too blunt, reshape it with the sandpaper.

Yes. Rub the tip at an angle against fine-grit sandpaper (150-220 grit) to reshape and clean it. Rotate the stump as you sand to create a sharp or rounded tip, depending on your preference. This method is safer and less messy than using a craft knife.