A
Hand Broom?
By Jeramiah Townsend
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What is a hand broom and why do I care?
As an artist, it is important to be familiar with the proper tools. having the right tool for the
right job is very important. Now I am sure that there has been more than one person who has used a butter
knife for a screw driver. It might work- but it never works as well. A butter
knife wasn't designed to be a screw driver. In the same way, an artist needs to use the proper tool
for the job. This will make drawing much more enjoyable AND your artwork WILL improve.
So, back to our hand broom.
What is a handbroom and why do you care? A hand broom is any "small" size broom that you use with
one hand. Any hand broom will work, but I suggest one similar to what you find in a wood working shop. Those
handbrooms have soft bristles that are intended to remove fine dust particles, like this one:
That tells me WHAT a handbrrom is... but WHY is it important??
Your skin has oils in it. Those oils can easily pick up the graphite from your pencil - or the paper-
or eraser residue and smear it on other parts of your picture. This causes all that "smudge" effect
you are probably already familiar with. To avoid smudges, use a hand broom.
What about just blowing the residue off the paper?
Blowing on the paper. This can work, but it doesn't always get all the particles off. Also,
there is the danger of getting spit on the paper. Come on- admit it- some of you have done it!
Another alternative to a handbroom is a feather duster like the ones shown below. These also work
well.
Whatever hand broom you use, make sure you don't use it for anything else and that you don't touch the
bristles with your hands or skin if you can avoid it. We don't want to get it tarnished with those oils
from your skin.
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