The Best Erasers & Sharpeners for Coloured Pencil Drawing | Materials Guide

As with many different types of tools and available art supplies, there is so much on offer that it can be really hard trying to figure out what is going to work best for your coloured pencil drawings. Buying everything might seem amazing if you're a coloured pencil hoarder like me, but, let's face it, it's not the most economical option!

So, to try and save you from unnecessarily splashing the cash, here is my list of the best erasers and sharpeners that are worth spending your hard earned money on...

The Faber Castell Kneadable Eraser

This is one of my all-time favourite erasers, so much so that I have them on subscription from Amazon to make up for the fact that my dogs love them too (although not for the same reasons I do!) and they tend to go missing an awful lot. They're wonderful for making textural marks and cleaning your paper up.

Scotch Magic Tape

This might not be one you'd expect to see on a list of erasers, but Scotch Magic Tape really does stand up to its name. It's absolutely magical. As with the Kneadable Eraser, it's great for getting little marks off the paper and building the texture of a drawing, as well as adding highlights. 

It's sticky on one side and smooth on the other, and all you need to do is lay the sticky side gently over the pigment on your drawing, then go in with a pencil and draw over the top of it. 

You've got to be careful in the early layers as it will take off quite a lot of pigment, but once you've got your layers in, it's works brilliantly. 

Tombow Eraser

This looks like a mechanical pencil, which you can buy refill erasers for, so you don't have to keep buying a new one every time it's worn out. It's great when you want to make very small amendments to your drawing, as well as when you want to add texture. 

Slice Tool

If you've drawn along to many of my tutorials, you'll have definitely see the Slice Tool pop up! I use it most often on Drafting Film, and it's brilliant at adding texture, and creating fine details and whiskers. 

Swordfish Multipoint

Moving onto sharpeners, I couldn't live without this one. The Swordfish Multipoint is so easy to use, it's perfect if you're a lazy artist like me, as you just pop your pencil in and it does all of the hard work for you! 

It's a really wonderful sharpener and I can't recommend this one highly enough. 

KUM Magnesium Handheld Sharpener 

This is a great option if you're looking for something more affordable than the Swordfish Multipoint. It's very cheap but incredibly good. 

I tend to use it for my softer pencils, as it gives me a little bit more control and allows me to make sure they won't break. 

Click on the video at the top of this page to see what all of these fabulous tools look like and to see them in action. If you're new to coloured pencils and you'd like to learn more of the absolute basics, my new Super Simple Coloured Pencil Course will help you. You can find out more about what's included and what you'll learn here.