Course Highlights


Chalk, Charcoal and Conte Crayons

Further along in the course, we will work with other mediums including chalk, charcoal and conte crayons. Chalk is similar to the pencil and comes in similar forms but has unique characteristics including the ability to create broad strokes when turned on its side or at an angle. It is well-suited for natural landscapes (clouds, mountains, water), light and shadow studies, or portraits. Use fine sand paper to sharpen it by rubbing one end of the chalk on all sides against the sand paper while rotating slowly. Your fingers can be used as a smearing tool to soften and blend lines. Apply a spray fixative to prevent unwanted smearing while drawing, and spray once again immediately upon completion.

Charcoal

Charcoal is a user-friendly medium, excellent for beginners as it encourages students to look at subjects in broad terms and not get caught up and frustrated in the details. It can also be erased or corrected quite easily without degrading the surface of the paper.

Charcoal behaves a lot like chalk and comes in many grades as well as physical forms including pencil, block and paper-wrapped sticks, peeled back to expose more charcoal as needed. Soft charcoal is better-suited to blending and smudging techniques while harder charcoal is more ideal for detailed work because it doesn't smudge as readily. Pencils are somewhat limiting because the tip is the only usable portion, unlike blocks and sticks whose entire surface can be used to create different effects. Pencils on the other hand are considered by some to be cleaner and easier to control. Charcoal must be fixed when finished to prevent smudging, however one can continue to add darker layers or produce more subtle tones with an eraser after applying fixative. Keep in mind that any additions must be fixed as well.

Charcoal is a very versatile medium, suited to outdoor sketches, photograph rendering as well as moody or abstract pieces. It's great for sketching outdoors, doing quick drawings to establish tonal values or for blocking in subjects. Its also ideal for mixing with other media such as pastels, pencil, and ink to name just a few. Don't limit yourself to drawing with charcoal on white paper as it works equally well on tinted or colored paper.

Conte Crayons

Conte Crayons are firm, slim chalks made from pigment and graphite. They are available in stick or pencil form and have a similar effect to that of charcoal but they can render finer lines because they are harder. Traditionally, they were produced in four color ranges including sanguine (or red), sepia, white and black. Now, like other chalks, they come in many different shades but these colors are still the most popular as they are most commonly used for portraits and nude figure studies.

Other pages of interest

Sketch pad paper types
Chalk, charcoal and conte crayons
Eraser and other techniques
How to store artwork
The fundamentals of drawing

 

 



 

 

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