A blending stump (stump) is a cylindrical drawing tool. It is usually made of soft paper that is tightly wound into a stick form and sanded or polished at both ends to a extend that the ends have a sharpened tip.
It is used by artists to smudge or blend marks made with charcoal, pencil, color pencil or other drawing media.
If you are asking where exactly blending stumps are useful then the answer is blending! duh. Kidding, we can use it when we are doing shading, smudging, and importantly achieving dark and light values in other words gradations.
And usually instead of using a blending stump, we use tissue papers, thin cloth, paint brush and also our fingers to do the trick.
Easy way to make your own paper Blending Stumps:
Thus informalities aside I ask you a question. Do you really need blending stump?
Well, the answer is a yes and a no! Yes because there are few instances where blending stumps are useful. And there are few instances where using it the end result can look dirty and unfinished.
So what is the right situation to use a blending stump? Well, it depends on the surface and texture of the paper you are using. That is if the paper is smooth then you don’t have to use a blending stump. You can get the effect using your pencil itself. While texture is a tricking subject. The easy way out in deciding whether to use a blending stump lies on the combination of both the texture of the subject and the texture of the paper.
Well speaking of pencils and shadings, take a look at this video I found. Hope you will enjoy it.
Adios amigos!
Celestle 
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