Charcoal Drawing
Charcoal pencils are another artistic medium you can use that are very similar to graphite pencils. You can use them to sketch and shade and you will get a similar look to graphite pencil except for several noted differences.
Charcoal is darker and blotchier
Charcoal can be harder to control because it has a different texture than graphite. When you picture charcoal, you might think of the small squares of charcoal used on a grill. It breaks away easily, similar to chalk, but it is coarser.
Because charcoal is darker and coarser, it can be more difficult to blend. If you press too hard, you may add more charcoal than you wanted which brings us to a big drawback with charcoal pencils.
Charcoal doesn’t erase well if at all
This means there is no room for mistakes. If you press too hard, you may not e able to lighten it up. This is important to remember when using charcoal. Start out very light to the point where you think it’s too light. You can always add to it more later. Use charcoal in layers starting at the lightest points of your drawing and filling in darker.
Dusting with charcoal
One unique think you can do with charcoal is dusting. For this, squares or sticks of charcoal work best instead of charcoal in pencil form. Grind some charcoal onto a small piece of paper to form a powder. Use a clean paintbrush to pick up some of the dust and tap the excess away. How you can use it for very light shading where using the charcoal directly wouldn’t work. This works very well for drawing skin. If you don’t have a paintbrush or don’t want to use one, you can try it with your fingers.
If you use graphite pencils often and aren’t used to charcoal, you should practice shading and drawing with it before you get into any serious pieces using charcoal. Remember that charcoal is a lot messier than pencil, so be careful where and how you use it.
