[BEGINNER] How exactly does the erase tool work in Designer?

[TBUA]

I am trying to draw this image using the pencil tool. I'm doing it free hand but when I use the erase tool it creates a mask over it and later on i can't draw over the same area.

 

So my question is how exactly does the erase tool work here? If I want to make quick changes , as how I would on paper, what other options do I have in Affinity Designer? 

[firstdefence]

It looks like you are using the pen or pencil tool to create lines in Draw persona and then trying to erase those lines in pixel persona. 

Draw the lines in pixel persona and you will be able to erase them as you would on paper, without creating a mask.

 

The eraser will "Mask" vector lines and shapes until you rasterise them by right clicking on the line or shape layer and selecting Rasterise, If an eraser mask is applied to a vector object and the object layer is rasterised the mask will be made permanent and the mask will disappear but leaving the erased part "baked in" 

[TBUA]

Thank you.

For free hand painting do you think Affinity photo is a better option?

[gdenby]

Hi, TBUA,

For doing traditional bit map painting, Photo is a little better than Designer. Both benefit greatly when used w. a tablet.

I infer from your 1st post you mostly work on paper. In Designer, the "pencil" is a specially designed tool to turn hand motion into a geometric vector representation. At this point, Designer does not have a vector eraser. The best on can do is delete individual nodes of the stroke, or break it into smaller pieces. There is an advantage to this. The strokes can be infinitely adjusted, repositioned, duplicated, made to have different thicknesses, etc. Designer has a very nice tool called the vector brush, which works much the same as the pencil, but stretches or repeats a bit-map along the stroke.

Here is an analogy. Working w. vectors is a bit like making a collage, or setting up a mosaic. Erasing really isn't an option. 

[BrianHermelijn]

As already been pointed out by @firstdefence @gdenby

You gonna have to use the Pixel Persona or Affinity Photo for drawing out what you want to create.
After that using Designer in vector mode to recreate what you drew as vector.

One way I tend to do sometimes is using the geometric tools, and turn them into curves,
and then I use the node tool to push and pull things to where I want them to go.

Example of this

[TBUA]

I like this community. You've all been very helpful.