Charcoal drawing is one of the most ancient techniques for depicting composition and fixation. important events. Ancient people used burnt tree branches to capture scenes from life on the stone vaults of their homes. And nowadays, coal has not lost its relevance as a drawing medium.
Types of coal
How to draw with charcoal? To answer this question, you need to understand what kind of coal can be created artistic images. This material as a graphic tool is a burnt stick or charcoal pencil. The stick is made by hermetically roasting grape, willow or beech twigs in a special oven. This tool is similar to a regular pencil, but it has a charcoal lead inside it, which has different degrees of hardness (from hard to soft).
There is also pressed coal. It is produced from residues from the coal processing process. The resulting coal chips are pressed and mixed with plant-based glue. The charcoal sticks created in this way differ from those made by firing in that they are denser. The drawing with such a tool is more accurate and less prone to shedding. The basis for drawing with all types of charcoal is a special paper that has a rough surface. You can also use watercolor sheets, even plain wrapping paper. Smooth paper is not suitable, as the coal chips will actively fall off. As a result, the drawing will become faded and inexpressive.
How to draw with charcoal step by step?
To begin with, it should be noted that drawing with charcoal requires additional items. These include the nag and the retainer. A klyachka is a special eraser that is used to remove excess coal from a sheet. Instead of a nag, you can use a regular bread crumb or a soft cloth. A fixative is a special spray for fixing a pattern. For these purposes, you can use regular strong-hold hairspray.
Thus, the first step is to prepare the tools: special paper, charcoal sticks, pressed charcoal, kneading and fixative.
Drawing process
How to draw with charcoal? For beginners, one more thing should be noted important nuance. This is the left hand rule. It says that when drawing with charcoal it is very easy to leave extra marks and dark spots on the paper, so left hand(the one the artist does not work with) must always remain clean so as not to inadvertently spoil the composition.
How to draw with charcoal? Create a composition follows, as with a regular pencil. From the whole to the particular, and from the particular to the whole. Coal is convenient because with different degrees of pressure it is possible to create interesting halftones and transitions. There are two main techniques for this process.
Charcoal drawing techniques
The first one is very suitable for introducing children to coal. It consists of using a charcoal stick to completely shade a sheet of paper. Next, a drawing is made using a nag. After this, the main elements are highlighted with a charcoal pencil or charcoal stick. A striking example such a technique is a painting depicting frosty patterns on a dark window or drawing a winter landscape against the background of the night sky.
The essence of this technique is very simple. The working plane should be carefully shaded with a charcoal stick. After this, rub the coal dust with a soft cloth. The result will be a monochromatic dark background. Then, using a nag, you can draw silhouettes of snow-covered trees, stars, and snowflakes. If there is no mark, then you can use a regular eraser. In the same way you can depict a frosty window, a night river with a lunar road, mountain landscape and much more.
If desired, in addition to charcoal, in drawing winter landscapes you can use ordinary white chalk, which is used to add highlights and make accents. The combination of chalk and charcoal gives a special contrast to the design and allows one to highlight the compositional center. When we draw with charcoal with children, we should remember that this working tool tends to leave marks not only on the work surface, but also on hands and clothes. Therefore, it is better to create in a special apron and sleeves.
Line drawing technique
When working with this technique, charcoal is first used as a pencil, and then shading is done with it. The drawing is applied in the usual way. Here it is better to combine the use of charcoal sticks, charcoal pencil and pressed charcoal. The drawing should start from the center of the composition so that the surface of the sheet is covered gradually and preferably in one layer. This is necessary to avoid unnecessary stains. Shadows and penumbra can be done using the shading technique. Depth of tone is easier to achieve using charcoal sticks. Drawing details and nuances is better when using compressed coal. It is advisable to create the texture of the depicted object using a charcoal pencil. This technique can be used to draw with both charcoal and chalk, which is ideal for creating bright highlights.
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The skill of some artists surpasses all boundaries. They paint with anything: oil, acrylic paints, charcoal, ballpoint pens or with a simple pencil, - but their work cannot be distinguished from photographs. The considerable perseverance and talent of the authors make these works more than just photocopies. They contain life, the artist’s vision, emotions and the illusion of the world in which we live.
website collected 15 artists, looking at whose work we literally cannot believe our eyes.
Diego Fazio
Diego works like an inkjet printer, starting to draw from the edge of the sheet. Draws with a simple pencil and charcoal. It takes the artist 200 hours of work to create one portrait.
Gregory Tilker
Gregory Tilker paints his “rainy” canvases with a brush, using watercolors and oil paints. Viewing Gregory's paintings is like traveling by car on a cold, stormy day.
Ruth Tyson
British artist Ruth Tyson, like many of her colleagues, does not have art education, however, he has an original manner of performing his works. She draws with graphite and watercolor pencils, but sometimes he also takes on paints.
Roberto Bernardi
It's hard to believe that Roberto Bernardi's "sweet" still lifes were not filmed. Each still life conveys reflections on the glossy surface of the table, folds and highlights with amazing accuracy.
Robin Eley
The London-based artist creates large-scale, realistic oil paintings. In the paintings of this collection, the artist gracefully “hides” the nakedness of human bodies with transparent film.
Gottfried Helnwein
In his works Helnwein mainly uses watercolor paints. He works as a painter, draftsman, photographer, sculptor and artist, revealing all aspects of his talent.
Vincent Fatauzo
Renowned Australian artist Vincent Fatauzo's work has been exhibited around the world. The portrait of Heath Ledger was painted a few weeks before the actor's death.
Camalchi Laureano
Kamalki Laureano is a talented Dominican artist. He uses the technique of painting with acrylic paints on canvas. For him, work is not just an imitation of photography, but an imitation of life.
Paul Cadden
Thomas Arvid
Thomas has no formal education. Having developed skills in own system training, the artist came to his theme - the theme of wine. This is how “Thomas Arvid’s Wine Cellar” arose - a series of works depicting bottles, corks, corkscrews and glasses with sparkling drinks.
Brian Drury
Yulia Gavrilova
Charcoal drawing is very attractive to children due to its uniqueness. In progress drawing the child feels the force of pressure, learns to convey the volume of an object, shadows and develops fine motor skills hands Paint You can use charcoal sticks or a charcoal pencil. It is convenient to color with your finger, rub with a napkin or cotton pad. The child is studying paint and convey a plot or subject in one color. Paper that's better paint should be rough. Charcoal is easily removed with a kneaded eraser. You should draw carefully. In order not to leave dark imprints, you can learn with your children rule: "The left hand is always clean." Completed paintings should be treated with hairspray. Then the coal will not crumble. In addition to the usual way drawing There is a reverse way to use coal. The sheet is completely painted over, and " paint"They start on it with an eraser.
Creative success!
Publications on the topic:
“Drawing with charcoal” Summary of GCD in the senior group (using ICT) Abstract: This summary is directly educational activities By artistic creativity in the senior group “Drawing with charcoal”.
"Winter patterns". Drawing in an unconventional technique - drawing with a cabbage leaf“Winter patterns” (Drawing in unconventional technology– drawing with a cabbage leaf) Purpose: To introduce a new drawing technique – drawing.
Summary of educational activities for visual activities (drawing) for children 4–5 years old “Giraffe” (Drawing with a brush and fingers.) Abstract of GCD visual arts(drawing) for children 4-5 years old “Giraffe” (Drawing with a brush and fingers.) Purpose: Continue to introduce.
Summary of a lesson on artistic and aesthetic development for children in the senior group. Drawing flowers Topic: Drawing flowers. Goal: to develop children's aesthetic perception and sense of color. Learn to transmit characteristic features flowers.
V. A. Sukhomlinsky: “...Children’s drawing, the process of drawing is a part of the child’s spiritual life. Children don't just transfer something from paper to paper.
Golden autumn walks along the paths, She has yellow boots on her feet, She has forest leaves on her dress, And in her basket there are forest mushrooms! (A. Yaranova).
Unconventional drawing - drawing with semolina. Video Drawing with semolina is an interesting and exciting activity. You can engage in this exciting activity not only in kindergarten, but also at home.
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Plants are an invariable component of landscapes and most still lifes. Today we will look at drawing irises with charcoal. Follow the advice of the tutorial - from the location of the object on the sheet to the final touch - and you will be able to masterfully draw a flower
DRAWING WITH CHARCOAL
This drawing medium has many different forms. This photo shows from bottom to top: a stick of natural charcoal of a cylindrical shape; a rectangular stick of natural charcoal; charcoal pencil; Another type of charcoal pencil is in a paper frame, which you tear off little by little as the tip of the pencil wears off; and a cylindrical stick of coal in a metal frame. Natural charcoal for drawing adheres well to paper and is easily rubbed, so it can be used to achieve expressive top effects; A charcoal pencil can create sharper lines and strokes, but they don't rub off as easily.
The use of shading and soft matter.
Shading brushes of various sizes are designed for rubbing charcoal strokes and applying tone in narrow places. They are made from tightly rolled paper, with conical or sharp tips. Use the tapered end to work in small areas. Crumpled soft material can be used to erase unsuccessful places in a design made with natural charcoal. (Chalk marks are more difficult to erase.) Using a piece of soft cloth, you can also rub the tone over a large area of the design.
How to hold coal.
When a piece of natural charcoal breaks or wears down to a small piece, you can buy a frame and place the remaining piece in it. Hold the charcoal by the rim as if you were holding a brush; Your fingers should be positioned further away from the tip of the charcoal stick so that you get distinct lines. If you are working with just a carbon point, without a rim, hold it in the same way, but your fingers should be closer to the tip, otherwise the point will break. A charcoal pencil is held in the same way, but you can hold it. like a regular pencil.
Rubber bands (erasers).
Charcoal is easily erased, and when working with it, artists use a plastic eraser. In the store you can recognize it by its square shape. It kneads like clay or putty and takes any shape you like. You can roll a large ball for cleaning large areas of the design, or shape the eraser into a pointed shape for working on small details. By pressing and immediately removing the eraser, you will remove most of the tones. You need to rub with such an eraser as lightly as possible and only in extreme cases, since this leads to abrasion of the surface of the paper.
Drawing lines and strokes.
The simplest way to draw with charcoal is to combine thin lines with wider strokes on regular drawing paper. In this fragment of a landscape, the thick, blunt end of a charcoal pencil is used to apply tone in loose strokes to the trunks of three trees. The artist darkens the tones on the trunks using stronger pressure. Then, with the sharp, thin tip of a hard charcoal pencil, he draws the branches and twigs with clearer lines.
Paper intended for drawing with charcoal.
The paper, intended for drawing with charcoal, but equally suitable for working with chalk and pencil, has a slightly corrugated and very dense surface. On such a surface, shading perfectly produces soft, vibrant tones, as you can see in this fragment of the portrait. You will not damage the paper even by frequent erasing, which can be seen in the illuminated areas of the face. The surface of the paper is suitable for applying broad strokes, such as the hair, and clear lines, such as the eyes.
Drawing lines and tones.
To create soft, delicate tones, the artist works with hard and medium-hard charcoal pencils, rubbing strokes using shading. First, he applies lighter colors to the tree trunks and rubs the strokes, then darker ones and rubs them again. On thick branches, the strokes are rubbed with the tip of a shading brush, while thin branches are drawn with a charcoal pencil and not rubbed. It's important to know when to stop shading, otherwise your drawing will look messy.
Paper with a rough surface.
Paper with a rough texture, with even more so-called teeth, is also excellent for drawing with charcoal. Thanks to the uneven surface of the paper, shaded areas look more alive - pay attention to the texture of the shadow on the skin. The broad strokes used to draw the hair are even more distinct on this type of paper. And the sharp, sharp lines that depict eyelashes and eyebrows look uneven and alive.
Drawing with charcoal, pastels and chalk is fun. Perhaps because charcoal drawing is so quick and lightning fast, or because the end result looks amazing, people really enjoy learning charcoal drawing techniques. Even the great Michelangelo created a number of charcoal drawings.
Whatever the reasons for the medium's popularity (and there are many), there are certain charcoal drawing techniques used by many artists every day. In this article, I'll go over the most important aspects and show you little tricks to help you. Watch the video below and then follow your path to success.
You can use any type of charcoal for these techniques. Just ask your local craft store and they will help you (see point 09 on different types of charcoal). If this article inspires you to explore the topic yourself, why not check out Schoolism.com for a variety of courses, workshops, etc. This is just a great way to learn new things with professionals.
1. Make the main thing the main thing
The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing. Speaking as an artist, the main thing is called essence. This is just as important when drawing with charcoal as it is in any other technique. What your drawing is about and what you want to say is the main thing when creating it. Once you settle on a “big idea” or essence, everything you do from that point on, every move and every detail you put in or choose to take away, should act to strengthen that aspect.
2. Learn the value of contrast
The word contrast is used all over art, and seems to be a bit confusing. Contrast is the simple transition from white to black (light to dark) on a scale of 1 to 10. 1 is white sheet, and 10 is black. Thus, 5 is 50% or a “halftone”, gray, something between white and black. Any drawing consists of contrasts (shadow and light), regardless of color.
To help you with this, I suggest working from the middle outwards. Save your most dark color dark (shadows), no darker than 6 or 7 on the contrast scale; and the lightest (light and everything in the light) is 3 or 4. Move towards dark (accents) and light (highlights).
Think of accents and highlights as twins living in different neighborhoods. They are not the most important element of your drawing. But they are important overall.
3. Use a hierarchy of contrast
There is no doubt that a successful drawing is read quickly and touches emotionally. Using contrast or tone, highlighting different areas of a charcoal design can be very helpful when drawing.
The drawing above, based on a photograph by Josiah Buys, uses dark contrasts. Notice the light on his cheek and the shadow on the rest of his body.
The use of hierarchies of contrast allows the viewer to see what he needs first. In this picture, Steve is smoking his pipe. Everything else becomes less important. He is the essence of the drawing.
4. Squint
Sometimes 100% vision doesn't help. When we watch what we draw, something passes through our eyes. large number information. And because of this, the drawing is filled with many extraneous details that worsen the effect of the image. The goal is to edit and simplify.
Squinting blurs big picture, and we see a simplified version of the whole picture, clearly noticing all the simple shapes. Reproducing these simple shapes helps in creating the essence of the entire design.
5. Explore thick and thin lines
Applying thick and thin lines – interesting idea, and it's funny that many artists don't use this useful technique in their work. If every line is the same width and is drawn with the same amount of pressure, a charcoal drawing will look like a regular coloring book, making it look boring. The use of thin and thick lines brings the image to life.
So how will you apply this technique, and what do you need to know? The general rule is that the top lines of objects are thinner because light falls on them, while the bottom lines can be thicker because of shadows. This is all. And it's very simple. Look at the smooth lines and their thickness in the drawing of the dog above. Now you know.
6. Use an eraser
The cool thing about charcoal is that it can be easily controlled. You can move it without any problems. Once you draw something with charcoal, you can remove it or erase it where it is not needed. In the picture above, the erased part shows where the light hits the model's head.
7. Buy a tool kit
Artists usually have a whole set of tools, and charcoal drawing tools look cool. The picture above shows some of them: a very small eraser that erases with a fine line; a kneaded eraser that can be kneaded and crushed; and a hardcore eraser pen for tough, heavy-duty erasing jobs.
Using charcoal or pastel requires us to apply it, and there are many ways to achieve this goal. The most obvious is your finger, but it may leave streaks or be too small. Wipe Webril wipes are a great option when working with charcoal.
8. Put on a glove
Did you know that oils and fats on our hands can ruin the cleanliness of paper? Oils can soak into the paper and push away the charcoal. To solve this problem, use a glove or place another sheet of paper under your hand to protect your work.
9. Try charcoal pencils
Coal may be different types, from pencils and sticks to large pieces. The choice is yours. The photo above shows three examples of charcoal pencils. Be aware that they can create a mess, so after using them it's worth spraying your drawing with charcoal fixative to be sure.
10. Keep improving
Remember that drawing is difficult and can sometimes be tiring. Don't be upset. Art is extremely difficult and it can take time to feel happy at it.
Training and development always go together. Connect with artists you admire. Be humble and ask them for advice about your work. Ask about your weaknesses, how you can get started, and what you should focus on. Ask them to be honest. These are good questions.
We all have moments when we feel unhappy. Even now I feel doubts and sometimes inspiration overwhelms me. So continue your work, spread your wings and catch the wind.