From time traditional charcoal has been used to create realistic & dramatic drawings. Charcoal has been a versatile medium of art for all artists around the world from the early, primitive cave paintings to the modern day art. When applied on canvas charcoal has an exclusive texture. It allows artists to get the required tone and shade with ease. A charcoal painting is incredible and realistic to the core. With this simple charcoal, people have created charcoal paintings that are stunning masterpieces.
Some of the latest and most interesting modern artwork is found on charcoal. Charcoal is a delicate medium to work with. The fineness and richness of the paintings made using charcoal and the fact that the particles of charcoal are barely attached to the surface – makes them seem almost alive.
A Charcoal Painting technique employs an implementation of charred wood. Charcoal paintings are an excellent way for any artist to practice gesture. By minutely varying the pressure of the fingers, a charcoal artist can create high and sophisticated levels of gradation. Furthermore, simple turning or rotating the charcoal stick can create a whole new kind of stroke on the canvas. Charcoal responds very strongly to the grain of the paper or canvas it is used on, as with many drawing media.
At first, Charcoal drawings might look similar to others like Graphite or Conte, but there are vast differences which you realize with experience and time.
Charcoal vs. Graphite
To the untrained eye, the media mentioned above are interchangeable. However, if you’re just starting out, you need to understand the differences. Graphite pencil is more suitable for smaller drawings and is, therefore, easier for drawing smaller details on sketchpads. With charcoal, one can make large-scale, rapid changes which allow the artist to explore and fix mistakes faster.
Charcoal is a powdery material that requires paper that has a more textured surface than the regular paper used with graphite pencil. Paper suitable for charcoal is too rough for graphite and makes too much of a noticeable texture. Paper suitable for graphite is too smooth to hold on to the microscopic charcoal particles.
Best paper for charcoal drawing?
Because charcoal is a dry medium, you’ll need a textured paper that will grab the charcoal and help it to stick. Look for paper with tooth – similar to the sort of paper you might need to paint with pastels.
Charcoal is a blackish remaining having impure carbons. These remains are obtained by removing water from the animal and vegetable substances. It is also utilised for making rough sketches before creating a final painting, by artists.
Generally, charcoal is utilised in three forms:
Let’s see all of them:
- Powdered charcoal
Sometimes, if the artist draws over the toned regions using charcoal, it may turn darker, but it may become lighter if the artist wants. The main difference between charcoal and pencil is that the charcoal creates a traces/line which is velvety, darker, and will easily spread. For multi-media painting, artists generally use both natural and artificial charcoal. Powdered charcoal leaves smudgy traces on the paper.
- Compressed Charcoal
The compressed charcoal is a mixture of powder and gum binder. It is compressed into the square and round sticks. The quantity of binder decides the robustness of the stick. To cover wide areas of the painting surface, charcoal that is finely powdered is utilised.
- Vine Charcoal
The Vine charcoal is made by burning wooden sticks in various types of assortments. Bamboo charcoal is the main tool in Japanese charcoal painting technology.
The most vital feature to utilise charcoal is its unique quality to spread over the drawing surface. The wine charcoal also facilitates soft transitions.
Storing and caring your artwork appropriately is an essential task. The surface of both, the pastel and charcoal are very fragile. All it takes is a puff of wind from a fan, a swipe of the hand to bruise the look of a painstakingly made artwork. Framing the artwork is useful for preserving it.The hand-drawn Charcoal painting looks classy and elegant. It can be a perfect personalised gift you can think of for any occasion. You need not be an artist to gift it to someone or to have one for yourself, for hanging it in your apartment. All you need to do is find someone who would do it for you. There are websites like Instapainting.com which can do it for you, additionally offering various customisationoptions.