Art Tutorial:
Charcoal
Drawing Part 1 by
Michael Newberry
Charcoal drawing
on great paper is one of the easiest and most rewarding
techniques in all visual art. It is perfect for the raw beginner,
because it quickly conveys the image; mistakes are easily
corrected; and it naturally enhances light effects. But it holds
challenges to expert artists as well: it lends itself to the
extremes of the freedom of action drawing or insanely subtle
realism thereby giving artists plenty of room to visually
experiment with few limitations.
Michael
Newberry, Sponge Bath, 2010, charcoal on Rives BFK, 13 x
19 inches
Collection Chan Luu
First you need a
great paper. Inferior papers simply cannot withstand repeated
erasing; they lose the paper's integrity and become resistant to
edits after a couple of minutes. My favorite paper is Rives BFK,
found in good art stores. It is 100% cotton rag, acid free. It
comes in white, off white, and in heavy to light sheets. I
prefer medium. A heavy sheet is excellent if you want to work on
your project for weeks or months. I tend to work about 10 to 20
hours on a finished charcoal.
Here I started
with an oversized sheet, about 40 x 29 inches, and I need to
trim it down to 19 x 26 inches. With great paper like Rives, it
is fine art practice to tear the sheet instead of cutting it with a
blade or scissors.
After I have
marked the dimensions, I use a straight edge to make the tear—careful to keep pressure along the straight edge with my left
hand as a tear with my right. Very easy, if done carefully.
Most quality
papers have a watermark, which you can see when you hold them up
to the light. The side where the water mark reads normally is
the front, the side you want to draw on. Though, it is not the
end of the world if you end up drawing on the back.
Now I have two
sheets of paper, masking tape, and a rough wood drawing board.
Because the board is rough, I am laying a sheet of paper as a
cushion (you will see why later.) If you have a smooth drawing
board, one sheet is fine.
Carefully, I line
up the masking tape and cover 1/4 inch of the paper and then
attach it to the board on all four sides.
For the next stage,
you need paper towels and a block stick of compressed charcoal—Alfacolor
or General's are excellent for this. Do not use vine charcoal,
its wispy nature is not suitable and will not "take" to the
paper. (I use vine charcoal for gridding and correcting
paintings on canvas). My favorite paper towel is for shop
mechanics found in places like Home Depot.
Using the flat
side of the charcoal, I cover the paper. I like a medium dark
tone to start with.
As you tone the
paper, the charcoal will register the roughness or imperfections
of the drawing board underneath, which can be a hassle later.
That is why I have an extra sheet of paper underneath to give a
smooth surface.
After the paper is
covered in charcoal, I gently use the paper towel to blend the
tone. A good rule of thumb is a smoother tone for a
more realistic drawing. If you plan a nuanced and subtle drawing,
then you don't want a rough charcoal ground to complete.
The preparation
takes about 10 to 15 minutes.
Now I am ready to
start drawing.
In Charcoal
Drawing Part 2, I will show you how to use paper towels, as well
as kneaded
and hard erasers, to create dramatic and subtle shifts of light.
Michael Newberry,
Revolution is in the Air, 2010, charcoal and pastel on Rives
BFK, 25 x 18 inches
Collection Luxman Nathan
Revolution is in the Air is the finished drawing with
the addition of pastel color for the red and and the highlights.
I
hope you enjoyed seeing charcoal in a fresh way.
Michael Newberry
Santa Monica, April 2010
Other related art presentations you might enjoy.
