I read in the January 2018 issue of Colored Pencil Mag - I just got an annual subscription to this monthly - about these paint-brush like tools which do the work of moving the color pencil pigment around, thus smoothening color transitions and getting rid of color pencil stroke marks. They work like blenders, in other words.
At the end of each paint-brush type handle is a silicon tip which has quite a bit of give as it is run across paper, so it moves color around without adding additional color. These silicon tips come in several sizes and shapes and are good for blending tricky corners, applying masking fluid, defining pastel lines and fixing painting mistakes.
They are also called clay shapers, and were originally made for sculptors...until color pencil artists appropriated them!
The magazine article recommended the shapers from ZXUY, which I found on Amazon (at this link). I ordered them and they came in a set of five, each with a differently shaped tip. They cost me under S$20, including shipping.
How have they worked out? Well, I like that they have fine tips, but am finding them a bit too soft - too much give. And where I have laid down more than a few layers of color, probably where I have killed the tooth of the paper, they don't seem to blend so well.
I would say the jury is still out on this. I'll keep them in my box of tools with my pencils. At least they didn't cost a bomb.
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