Charcoal Drawing Hints and Terms
9th Grade Studio Art
When charcoal is applied to paper, the granules that come off are irregular in shape. Therefore when light strikes the paper, it bounces back in many different directions. That means that when charcoal is applied to its darkest values, it doesn’t have the reflective glare that is common when using pencils. With this in mind, you need to be careful when shading with charcoal and remember that sometimes it is not good to press as hard as you can when you shade.
Vine Charcoal – this charcoal is very thin and does not shade very dark. It comes in a variety of thin sticks. It breaks very easily.
Compressed Charcoal – this charcoal is very thick, almost like a pastel. The charcoal is compressed into tight sticks and shades very dark. It smears easily so you need to be careful when you are shading.
Blending tortillion – these are small tightly wound paper sticks with points on the end. They are available in several different sizes. You use them to blend large areas of charcoal and to apply charcoal to paper for a light effect. You would use the charcoal that is left on the tortillion after blending to create the lighter effect.
Facial Tissue – tissue is good for blurring the edges of shadows and softening unwanted strokes. Paper towels work well too, especially if you don’t want to lighten an area too much.
Paper – blending with paper brings out the texture of the drawing paper. The paper you use to blend with makes a big difference in the texture created. Try wrapping notebook paper around your finger,
Blending with Fingers – when using charcoal, try to avoid blending with your fingers. Some artists do this, but your fingers have oil in them and you can transfer that to your paper. This oil is becomes apparent if it is light areas of blended charcoal. Charcoal works like fingerprint powder. It will stick to the fingerprints and you won’t be able to get it off. It is almost impossible to make smooth, even tones with charcoal if you try to blend with your fingers.
Value Scale – this scale is used to show a variety of values with charcoal. Usually you go from left to right and gradually get darker with the charcoal.
Kneaded Eraser – a kneaded eraser is a soft flexible eraser that is used for removing small bits of charcoal. It is not actually an eraser that will erase pencil; it is used for lightening areas. It is called a kneaded eraser because you knead and stretch it to get the charcoal out of it. That way you have a clean eraser. These can last for a long time if you take care of them. You can make them into small points for tiny areas of blending.
Fixative – this is the material that you will use to seal your charcoal. Unsealed charcoal will smear and eventually over time come off of your paper. The cheapest and easiest fixative to use is unscented hair spray. It has to be unscented or the perfume turns your paper pink. You can also buy workable fixative that allows you to go back and work with the charcoal without smearing it. You can use permanent fixative when you are done to permanently seal the charcoal.
Framing
– if you are to ever frame a charcoal drawing, you need to put a mat on it
first. It should never touch the
glass. The charcoal will stick to
the glass and eventually rub off of the picture destroying it.