Started this still life of a water bottle with a basic cylinder shape and then refined the details

I used mostly Staedtler pencils and one Sanford Ebony for rich blacks. Also, I use my handy dandy Sakura Electric eraser as well as a kneaded eraser to pull out some of the whites. I also use a cotton swab to get smooth gradients.

Working on the shadow as well as caustics, the light that is refracting through the plastic bottle and the water inside and illuminating on the surface.

Using a B or 2B pencil, I am developing the shading that I will blend (next image)

Blending in the pencil work that I produced in the previous step. Here, I'm using a cotton swab (because I ran out of my blending stumps, oops) - but I also use an artist chamois or blending stumps or tortillions...whatever works to blend with.

Producing deeper values with the ebony pencil

More blending

Here, I'm sharpening the eraser nib in my electric eraser. I use an electric eraser to pull out the white highlights I need in the drawing

The eraser nibs are hi-polymer white eraser sticks that I sharpen on sandpaper. You can see the highlights that I lift in the drawing.

"lifting out" the highlights with my electric eraser. I love this tool!

labeling was done with a 4B lead mechanical pencil.

my drawing tools

Finito!!