Thanks everybody for your suggestions. I'm sorry I didn't come back to the forum earlier but life just got in the way. Mike :) - I'm pretty sure the main issue is that I don't like very hard surfaces and usually draw straight from the pad. I suppose I'll have to wean myself off that habit. Then I'm ...

Hi, I'm currently trying my hand at erasing techniques but I'm running into a hurdle: there's no way I can draw THAT dark squares with a 4B pencil (I'm using the Staedtler mechanical pencils and leads). The paper I'm using is Canson 1557 in 180 gsm. It comes in a very light tooth but it's still more...