Charcoal Drawing

EXPLORING CHARCOAL 

Essentially, charcoal is scorched or charred organic material. The charcoal encountered in our drawing equipment is typically compacted wood.

What Is Charcoal?

Charcoal drawing is frequently compared to specific painting methods by artists who practice it. Charcoal sketches can be soft and gentle, or they can be very realistic.

Versatility 

You’ll quickly realize that all of your materials are essential in the methodology of drawing with charcoal pencils.

Charcoal Mediums

DIFFERENT TYPES OF CHARCOAL

The softest charcoal is called willow charcoal. This specific kind of charcoal is usually used in the early phases of adding another layer to our charcoal drawings.

Willow Charcoal

The toughest and deepest form of charcoal is compressed charcoal. It has a gum binder that holds it together and generates clean, dark lines, tones, and textures.

Compressed Charcoal

Powdered charcoal is ideal for the nuanced layering of charcoal drawings if you want to create lighter or softer layers.

Powdered Charcoal

TYPES OF PAPER TO USE WITH CHARCOAL

With toned paper, you could use nearly any color; even so, you must use black and white charcoal pencils to generate full value among both highlights and shadows.

Toned Paper

Bristol paper, newsprint, illustration board, or plain cartridge paper are great for adhering to charcoal.

Textured Paper

The texture of the charcoal paper is fine-ribbed and thick. Comparable paper materials to charcoal paper can be found in the form of pastel and watercolor paper.

Charcoal Paper

OTHER TOOLS AND EQUIPMENT

Blending brushes and stumps are used to add subtle merging and smudging effects to our charcoal drawings.

Blending Brushes