How to Properly Erase a Comic Strip

For a budding cartoonist, erasing a comic strip can be a frustrating task. Poor timing and lack of experience can get ink smeared all over a carefully planned comic strip at the last moment, leaving your fans to wonder if you'll ever appear again. Fight this with a little foreknowledge.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. Start by drawing anything that you'll want to erase, such as guidelines and proto-drawings, with a col-erase non-photo blue pencil. This saves you heartache and paper in the long run.

2. Wait for the ink on the strip to dry. This prevents the ink from smudging all over the rest of your strip when you start to erase.

3. Secure your comic strip. It's best to keep it secure in the same manner you use during the drawing phase, as you're used to it and you'll need to work in a similar manner.

4. Find a good eraser for this work. The kneaded rubber erasers are not good for the quick motion you'll be using. A standard pencil eraser or rubber eraser works much better.

5. Erase lightly over every panel of your comic. Don't skip over sections, even if blue line is definitely not present. You might simply have forgotten.

6. Repeat a few times to make sure that everything's been erased. If you're certain you haven't erased something, go over it specifically.

Tips & Warnings

• Don't apply too much pressure to the paper when you erase, as you might tear your paper or smudge the ink.