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PRODUCT REPORT
artistApril 2016 http://www.painters-online.co.ukYorkshire Light,Nitram charcoal, pastel,
ink wash and gouache on Canson Vidalon
140lb (300gsm) watercolour paper, 13 18in
(33 45.5cm).
Demonstrating just how versatile this
charcoal can be, soft responsive petits
mignonettes were used, both as small hand-
held pieces of charcoal and with the Nitram
baton, to create detail and texture. First I
established an underpainting of different
tonal values from deep black to lighter greys,
with India ink and gouache. Then petits
mignonettes were used without the baton, to
make marks in a similar way to using pastel
to develop the drawing still further. Final
details were added with sharpened petits
mignonettes in the baton to create continual
sharp points at a very useful distance from
the drawing towards the endRobert Duttongets to
work with the new Nitram
baton and petits
mignonettes charcoal, and
finds it to be a very
responsive and versatile tool
The finer
points of art
from Nitram
exceptionally well balanced. To hold the
charcoal in place and stop it slipping
backwards, a cleverly designed collar
tightens the ‘jaws’ of the holder, thus
gripping the charcoal firmly in place as
you draw. As the charcoal wears down,
simply move it forward by loosening the
collar and pushing it backwards until the
desired length of charcoal is exposed. Too
much pressure applied to really long
lengths of charcoal will cause it to snap,
however. For light delicate mark making,
long lengths of exposed charcoal are
ideal, but if you know you are likely to
require darker marks, a shorter piece of
exposed charcoal is strongly recommended.
For artists who do not like to get messyyou would a pencil. Another advantage is
that the petits mignonettes can be
sharpened to a very long point, which
allows you to work at arm’s length – a real
advantage when working from an easel in
front of your subject.The baton
The Nitram baton may come across as just
another device for holding charcoal but it
is far more than that. The baton isT
he Nitram baton is a cleverly
designed, lightweight, fixed-length
drawing device designed to hold
Nitram’s new petits mignonettes,
beautifully soft high-grade charcoal sticks.
The length of the baton allows big
gestural drawing strokes for large-scale
work as well as precision mark making for
finer detail or work on a much smaller
scale, as you hold the charcoal at much
greater distances from your work thanNitram double-sided
sharpening bloc, shown with
three different grades of
sharpened Nitram charcoal