The Complete Book of Drawing Techniques

(Darren Dugan) #1

154


Part Two – CHARCOAL


TONAL REDUCTION DRAWING USING
SCENE PAINTER’S CHARCOAL


Scene painter’s charcoal is very useful for
very large line drawings or covering very
large areas of tone quickly. In this project, we
are going to use it in conjunction with willow
charcoal to create a reduction tone drawing.
1/ Take your A1 sheet of drawing paper
and using your scene painters charcoal cover
the whole sheet of paper so it is black all
over.
You now need a good strong plastic
eraser to take out the charcoal to reveal the
light. It is probably a very good idea to
illuminate the still life as we have done here
with the floral arrangement.
When you start to rub out the light areas


don’t be too particular if you rub out too
much as we can work back into the drawing
at a later stage with the finer charcoal to
bring back the detail. However, one should
try to make the area as clean and as light as
possible to give a good sense of contrast.
When you are happy that you have removed
the main light areas, you can now think
about working back into the drawing with
the finer willow charcoal bringing a more
accurate rendering of the light and dark
tones. In addition, give attention to textural
and other detail where necessary. When you
have finished the drawing, as with all
charcoal drawings, you must remember to
fix them.
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