In my experience, blending stumps can be cleaned fairly well by molding a kneadable eraser around the tip and twisting them inside the eraser several times. If it doesn't get most of the graphite, etc. off the first time, knead in the graphite and repeat as necessary. I've tried sanding and carving them, but I've never been satisfied with the results. The tips tend to be sloppy ever-after once the surface has been abraded or cut--and of course the surface itself will never be as smooth as it was when new. Q-Tip: OK for large areas, but not so great for tight spaces unless you roll the cotton to a fine tip. You might find it hard to erase areas where you’ve used the q-tip. Especially if the q-tip is hard. Can’t find soft q-tips? Use your clean hands/nails to fluff the cotton by pulling on it in different directions. When you roll a tortillon, you don’t start off by curling the paper. Instead, you start with a fold. So make a small fold in the corner (as shown below). Then, fold that first fold in half two or three more times to make a dense, sharply-pointed “sliver” of paper that you can start rolling the rest of the paper around. Some artists opt to use only tortillons because they are less expensive than blending stumps and look similar enough that it’s easy to assume they are identical in use.

Many artists will use blending stumps as a finishing tool and tortillons during the initial stages of a drawing. While blending stumps can be cleaned with a kneaded eraser and sharpened with sandpaper, there’s no need to invest this time when working on a drawing. Think about it this way: when you are trying to create a drawing with a wide range of values and use graphite, you’d want to use various pencils, right? Of course, you would. You’d want to use harder pencils for lighter values and fine details. At first glance, you might mistake a tortillon for a blending stump. If that happens, don’t feel too bad about it, this is a common mistake. Tortillons strongly resemble blending stumps, and they’re even used for the same purpose. Tortillons are thinner and less tightly wound than blending stumps. They also don’t have as many layers of paper forming their structures. If you’re not gentle, it’s a lot easier to damage your tortillon than your blending stump.

To have the biggest impact, make sure that your kneaded eraser is clean. You won’t do any good by rubbing a dirty kneaded eraser all over your dirty blending stump. Oil pastels combine pigment with wax binders, creating a versatile medium that offers blendable texture. Pastel pencils allow you to enjoy the expressive qualities of soft pastel in a pencil form - perfect for precise, detailed marks that can be blended and smudged too. You can still use it in dark areas of a drawing, but that’s pretty limiting, so most artists just throw them out. What do you do when a blending stump gets dirty? You can use a kneaded eraser to clean the surface, returning it to a usable condition. To clean a blending stump or tortillion, rub the tip of it with a kneaded eraser until it is clean again. You can also use sandpaper, which will both clean it and sharpen the tip. To clean a kneaded eraser, stretch it and knead it until the graphite disappears and the eraser is clean again. Make a tissue ball and wrap it inside another tissue. This is similar to the one above except you can blend a larger area.

Most of the time, you can clean your blending stump, tortillon, or kneaded eraser to the point of fresh, like new beauty. That said, there are times when they are past the point of no return. Let’s talk about the best strategies for cleaning these precious art tools, and how to know if it’s a lost cause. That’s like asking if graphite is better than charcoal. Or if oils are better than acrylics or watercolors. The point is that there is no better or worse; there is only a difference. Instead, you can use tortillons for larger areas, rough layouts, and initial shading. When one becomes dull or dirty, you just throw it out and grab a new one. Blending Stumps and Tortillons Will Help You to Become a Better Artist

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What is a blending stump? It’s a tool, plain and simple. Will it magically make you a better artist? No. It will not do the work for you, but it will make doing it easier for you. Why use blending stumps? It all comes down to control. If you’re an artist who works using fine details and smooth transitions in value, then having a precision tool is necessary.

As an artist, you should always look for ways to grow and expand your skills. One of the simplest ways to do this is to invest in inexpensive art supplies that will be enormously helpful to you. Sanding the tips of your blending stump is also a great way to sharpen them. We all know how dull they can get after helping us with so much shading.

On the other hand, tortillons are usually smaller, more challenging, and don’t blend. Why would you want to use tortillons? They are cheap; you can buy a dozen for a few dollars. Then you’d want to use softer pencils for darker values. It’s all about having the right tool for the job at hand. That’s what a blending stump is. It’s the right tool for blending. Blending stumps are made in much the same way that paper is made since they are made of paper. They are made from paper pulp, shaped, hardened, and then sharpened. What is a Tortillon? I use Prismacolor Pencils a lot. The colors are vibrant, and they are beautifully transparent when I use a tortillon to blend them, allowing the colors below them to show through. After going through quite a few store-bought tortillons over the years, I decided to make my own. Here is my process. How to make a tortillon Do blending stumps and tortillons look similar? Yes. Are they used for similar purposes? Yes. Are they two names for the same thing? No. While similar in look and function, they are each a different artist tool. Is one better than another? It’s important to realize when your efforts to clean your blending stump are jeopardizing it. What’s the point of a clean blending stump if the tip gets damaged and you can’t use it as well as you did before?

If you want a faster and more intense approach, you can use an x-acto knife to slowly and carefully carve away the dirty paper on the tip. As with sanding, make sure that you maintain the tip of the blending stump as you shave it away. When is Your Blending Stump too Far Gone to Save? Gently sand the tip of your blending stump, being careful to maintain the point and sand each side evenly. The benefit of making your own blending tool is that you can customize the type of paper and level of softness. Why are tortillons so tightly wound? Tortillons are made from paper. The paper is not very strong. Even if you invest in higher-quality paper, it’s pretty clear that it’s not the most durable material in the world.It all depends on what you’re trying to accomplish. Are you trying to do a little light blending? Then use a light amount of pressure. Are you trying to really get into the paper and blend darker values? Tortillons are made from sheets of paper that are tightly wound to create a point that can be used for blending. Blending stumps are more expensive than tortillons, and they are softer and offer the ability to create more subtle blending areas. But, tortillons are meant to be a more disposable tool since they are so inexpensive. Why would you want to use tortillons instead of blending stumps? A lot of it comes down to convenience. Due to how narrow the tip of a tortillon is, I would avoid using an x-acto knife with it. As you shave away the paper, it’ll be easy to weaken the tip or change its shape in a way you might not want. When is Your Tortillon too Far Gone to Save?