That’s the rub
Question: I am an old-fashioned designer and work in pencil. I have noticed
over the years that a line recently drawn on paper can easily be rubbed out with
a conventional eraser but that the same line if left for a few weeks becomes
virtually indelible and even the hardest rubbing still leaves a vestigial mark.
What is occurring here?
Answer: I suspect that there are two effects at work. Pencil graphite
contains wax and while this wax is still soft, minute particles of graphite
slowly get absorbed into hollows in or between the paper fibres. Next,…
