alright guys I'm going to show you how
to make blending soaps these are used
for getting soft shading when you're
working with graphite it's a technique
that I learned from working in the
prison system as a correctional officer
the inmates do it so that's how they get
there they're shading really really fine
and precise in their drawings I use them
I've never bought them because they're
really expensive for what you get and
you can make them yourself for cheap um
we got here it's just regular I think it
was a post-it paper and I cut the
adhesive part off um basically what you
do should take it fold it down about a
quarter of the way now you can use any
paper but you want it to be about two
and a half three inches wide just kind
of crease the edge like that throw that
scrap away you want your manufacturer to
edge to the edge it came cut from the
factory you want that facing you alright
alright now what you're gonna do is make
a little triangle it doesn't have to be
perfect I don't even know if you have to
use a triangle but you want an angle it
makes it easier to roll crease it tear
it off then what you're gonna do lick
your fingers seems gross but inmates
work with what they have available they
use everything from toothpaste to soap
as adhesive and glue is contraband and
so is taped so they don't have it
available what you're going to do is you
work the edge back and forth until it
starts to roll on you once it starts to
roll just start twisting it in now if
it's not rolling at an angle roll it out
a little bit and then force it to roll
out a little bit of a graduated angle I
like mine start off with a fairly decent
point and taper so if it's not quite
where you want it push it in a little
bit and then twist it a little bit more
all right now inmates will spend hours
building their own art supplies because
they're only allowed so much in the
prison system so they have to become
very inventive and I learned a billion
Church from them this is one of them you
just roll it up and then tear off your
edge like that all right
now with this edge what you're going to
do is you're actually going to lick the
edge again it's kind of gross but it
works works is an adhesive and then what
you want to do is like you can use you
can use a glue or tape if that's the way
you want to build yours but if it's your
art I don't think it matters if you put
a little spit into it
now what I like to do is when I'm done I
wrap them in heat shrink tubing
and heat it up and it constricts the
paper keeps it from unrolling the way
the inmates do it is they'll take a
bedsheet strip the threads out of it and
they'll wind it all the way down the
core and then they'll take a pencil or
another blender and they'll tuck
they'll tuck the ends in to the blender
like that and that is how you make a
blending stone