Graphite pencil marks

[Smarty]

I have a self portrait (in my sketchbook, but digitally corrected) and its done in a 6B graphite pencil. My question is, how do i get rid of an oily graphite smudge? Its in a really annoying spot where the lights should be lightest (tip of the nose).

I've tried a few different erasers and all just bite away at the paper. A friend suggested a tiny bit of water to lift it up or something and then use an eraser, I'm a bit cynical of that. I think grapihte is soluble in turps? would this work better?

If all else fails I'm contemplating a tiny dot of white titanium acrylic on the spot.

[emily g]

I wouldn't put anything like water or turp on the paper. I think it will just make a mess.

Sometimes you just can't get these things out if they're embedded into the paper.
I would experiment with the white acrylic on a separate piece of paper and see if it looks ok (it might stand out too much and just draw more attention).

[Jasonwclark]

You could try Blu Tack to lift the graphite off the paper, but if it's already been erased with a hard eraser, or there's a lot of oil involved, that might not do much for you.

If the paper is thick, you can try carving at it with an razor, but I wouldn't really recommend that. Before you do anything, try examining the mark with a magnifying glass, and see if you can lift anymore graphite off the paper (moving in the same direction, as gently as possible.)

[JPArt]

if you haven't tried it yet....
try one of the Mars White "plastic" erasers,
they're the lesser of the evils when it comes
to using an eraser.....they tend to leave less
trace oils/residue behind them when used.

the super soft graphites, ten to embed themselves
pretty deeply into the paper pores, so your chance of
getting it all out are pretty slim. So goes the "Zen" of drawing.

[Smarty]

Hey thanks for all the replies guys i tried various brands of rubber, and tested some acrylic on a spare bit of paper and it stud out like a saw thumb.

Against what people put here i lightly applied some water which softened the paper on the spot... I then erased, which took paper off, but luckily enough the paper is very thick. I quickly sanded the spot down a little.

Its not perfect, but I've moved onto other things so it doesn't seem like such a big deal anymore