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The main feature of these mediums is that
they make very strong drawings in a linear,
tonal, textural and atmospheric way, and the
drawings nearly always tend to be very
dramatic and expressive.
CHARCOAL
Charcoal is the oldest medium of the three
materials in this section. It is made from
wood that has been slowly charred in a
controlled firing. The material takes on the
natural form of the wood that can range from
a twig to something as large as a branch. The
largest piece of charcoal I have seen is up to
2 inches thick and this is called scene painters
charcoal.
Charcoal is a material that has been
around since the dawn of man. As man
discovered fire then he discovered charcoal,
inadvertently at first then by purposeful
production. The inadvertent discovery of
charcoal enabled man to make his first
drawings, recording his observations and
thoughts of life in his surroundings. The
mark that charcoal made would soon
develop into a sophisticated visual language
that would be an expression of the day-to-day
lives of these early peoples as seen today on
cave walls.
Since these early discoveries, man has
developed the medium into other forms
such as conte crayon, wax crayon, and a form
of compressed charcoal. We have developed
stabilisers to fix the drawings and make them
permanent. We have also developed the use
of erasers that remove or enhance the
potential of the drawing.
Charcoal has qualities that are obviously
different to other materials. Compared to
graphite or pencil charcoal is a soft smudgy
material that delicately survives on the
surface of the paper until fixed and made
permanent. The material produces a good
strong line, tone, and textured surfaces in a
similar way to graphite but with a character
that is very different. Charcoal has what I can
only describe as an ethereal, atmospheric
quality to it. It feels more direct as a material
when one is using it. It feels softer and
gentler in its response, whereas graphite has
a more immediate harshness to it.
Another material made from charcoal is
compressed charcoal. This is a material that
first came into existence in the first half of the
last century, and behaves more like a pastel in
that it holds the surface of the paper more
substantially than charcoal, and has a
propensity to be slightly denser than
charcoal. Compressed charcoal is made by
crushing charcoal into a fine powder then
mixing it by rolling it with a fine binder to
make a compressed charcoal stick. The stick
has to be made to such a consistency so that
it can be handled without crumbling or
breaking, yet at the same time soft enough to
make a mark when put to paper. Varying
degrees of hardness and softness can bePart Two
CHARCOAL
Charcoal, Conte Crayons and Compressed Charcoal.