There’s something truly elemental about drawing with charcoal. It’s likely one of humanity’s oldest art materials, connecting us back to cave paintings and ancient sketches. If you’re drawn (pun intended!) to its rich blacks, expressive marks, and forgiving nature, you’re in the right place. Getting started isn’t nearly as daunting as you might think, and the results can be incredibly rewarding, offering a depth and atmosphere quite different from graphite pencils.
Unlike precise pencil work, charcoal encourages a looser, more gestural approach. It’s brilliant for capturing light and shadow, creating dramatic contrasts, and covering large areas quickly. Yes, it can be messy, but embracing that is part of the fun. Let’s dive into what you need and how to begin your charcoal journey.
Gathering Your Tools: The Charcoal Starter Kit
You don’t need a huge investment to start exploring charcoal. Focus on getting a few basic, quality items first. You can always expand your collection later as you figure out your preferences.
Types of Charcoal
Charcoal isn’t just one thing; it comes in several forms, each with its own personality:
- Vine Charcoal: This is the lightweight champion. Made from burning sticks of wood (usually willow or vine) without air, it creates soft, powdery, light-to-mid grey marks. It’s incredibly easy to blend and erase, making it perfect for initial sketching, blocking in large shapes, and creating subtle tones. It lifts off the paper easily, so don’t expect deep blacks from vine alone.
- Compressed Charcoal: Think of this as vine charcoal’s bolder cousin. Powdered charcoal is mixed with a binder and compressed into sticks (square or round) or pencils. It delivers much richer, darker blacks and is harder to erase completely. It comes in different hardness grades (like graphite pencils – HB, 2B, 4B, 6B), with softer grades being darker and smudgier. Great for strong lines and deep shadows.
- Charcoal Pencils: These are essentially compressed charcoal encased in wood, like a standard pencil. They offer more control for detailed work compared to sticks and are less messy on the hands. They also come in various hardness grades. Ideal for adding finer details, sharp lines, and controlled shading.
- Powdered Charcoal: Less common for beginners, but useful for toning large areas quickly using a brush or cloth. You can even make your own by sanding down vine or compressed charcoal.
Choosing Your Surface: Paper Matters
Charcoal needs some texture, or ‘tooth’, on the paper to grab onto. Smooth printer paper won’t cut it; the charcoal will just slide off or won’t adhere properly.
- Sketch or Drawing Paper: Look for paper specifically labelled for drawing or sketching, ideally with a bit of texture. A weight of around 70-100 lb (100-160 gsm) is a good starting point.
- Charcoal Paper: This paper is designed specifically for charcoal and pastel. It often has a noticeable texture (like a laid or woven pattern) which helps hold the pigment. Comes in various colours too, which can be fun to experiment with (drawing white highlights on grey or tan paper, for example).
- Pastel Paper: Similar to charcoal paper, often with a good tooth. Canson Mi-Teintes is a popular choice.
Start with a decent quality sketchbook or a pad of drawing paper with some tooth. You don’t need the most expensive paper right away, but avoid anything too smooth or flimsy.
Erasers: More Than Just Fixing Mistakes
In charcoal drawing, erasers are creative tools as much as corrective ones.
- Kneaded Eraser: This is your best friend. It looks like a grey lump of putty and works by lifting charcoal off the paper rather than rubbing it away. You can shape it to a fine point for detailed highlights or use it flattened to lift broad areas. It doesn’t leave debris and gets dirty over time – just knead it clean! Essential for subtle lifting and blending.
- Vinyl/Plastic Eraser: A harder white eraser, useful for removing compressed charcoal more aggressively or creating very sharp, clean edges. Use with caution, as excessive rubbing can damage the paper.
Blending Tools: Softening and Smoothing
While fingers are the traditional blending tool (and very effective!), dedicated tools offer more control and keep your hands slightly cleaner.
- Tortillons & Blending Stumps: These are tightly rolled paper sticks, pointed at one or both ends. Tortillons are usually smaller and more tightly wound, good for finer details. Stumps are larger, softer, and better for broader areas. They allow you to blend charcoal smoothly without using your fingers, pushing the pigment into the paper’s tooth. They get dirty quickly but can be cleaned with sandpaper.
- Chamois Cloth: A piece of soft leather used for gently blending large areas to create smooth, subtle tones.
- Brushes/Cotton Swabs: Soft brushes or cotton swabs can also be used for delicate blending effects.
Fixative: Protecting Your Masterpiece
Charcoal smudges. Easily. Very easily. A fixative is a spray varnish that helps bind the charcoal particles to the paper, reducing smudging.
- Workable Fixative: Allows you to spray a light layer to ‘fix’ a section of your drawing, preventing smudging while still allowing you to draw over it or erase slightly. Useful for building layers.
- Final Fixative: Provides a more permanent, protective coating for finished drawings. It usually darkens the values slightly.
Always use fixative in a well-ventilated area, preferably outdoors, and follow the instructions on the can carefully.
Heads Up: Charcoal is Messy! Be prepared for black dust on your hands, your table, and potentially your clothes. Work on a surface that’s easy to clean, keep wet wipes or a cloth handy, and consider putting newspaper down. Don’t wear your best white shirt while learning charcoal! Using a final fixative is crucial if you want your drawing to last without becoming a smudged mess.
Making Your First Marks: Basic Techniques
Okay, you’ve got your supplies. Now, let’s make some marks!
Holding the Charcoal
Don’t hold charcoal like a writing pencil all the time. Experiment:
- Writing Grip: Good for details and controlled lines, especially with charcoal pencils.
- Overhand Grip: Hold the stick or pencil loosely from above with your palm facing down. This encourages using your whole arm and shoulder, leading to more fluid, expressive lines and shading using the side of the charcoal.
- Underhand Grip: Hold the charcoal stick flat against the paper with your palm facing up or sideways. Excellent for covering large areas quickly and creating broad tonal values.
Exploring Marks and Values
Grab some practice paper and just play. See what happens when you:
- Use the point versus the side of a vine or compressed stick.
- Vary the pressure – light touches for pale greys, firm pressure for darker marks (especially with compressed).
- Draw lines: straight, curved, zig-zag, thick, thin.
- Try hatching (parallel lines) and cross-hatching (overlapping lines) to build tone.
- Use the side of a stick to block in large areas of tone quickly.
- Create a value scale: Draw several squares side-by-side. Leave the first white, then try to make each subsequent square progressively darker until you reach the richest black your charcoal can produce. This is fundamental practice for understanding light and shadow.
The Art of Blending
Blending softens edges and creates smooth transitions between values.
- Fingers: Quick and intuitive, but oils from your skin can affect the paper over time, and it’s easy to over-blend into a muddy mess.
- Tortillons/Stumps: Offer more control. Use the point for small areas and the side for larger ones. Blend light areas into dark, or vice-versa. Remember to clean them when they get too loaded with charcoal.
- Chamois/Soft Cloth: Best for very large areas where you want a subtle, even tone.
Experiment with how much you blend. Sometimes sharp edges are desirable, other times soft transitions work best.
Lifting Out Highlights
Your kneaded eraser is key here. Instead of drawing white highlights, you often ‘draw’ them by removing charcoal.
- Shape the kneaded eraser to a point to lift thin lines (like strands of hair or whiskers).
- Flatten it to dab and lift broader highlights (like the shine on an apple).
- Press firmly to lift more charcoal, gently to lift less.
- Use a vinyl eraser carefully for very bright, sharp highlights, but be mindful of the paper.
Tips for Successful Charcoal Drawing
Start Simple
Don’t try to draw a hyper-realistic portrait on day one. Start with basic shapes – spheres, cubes, cones. Practice shading them to make them look three-dimensional. Move on to simple still life objects like fruit, cups, or boxes. Focus on capturing the forms and the way light falls on them.
Embrace the Mess (Seriously)
We mentioned it before, but it bears repeating. If you’re constantly worried about smudging, you’ll be too timid. Accept that smudging happens. Learn to control it or use it to your advantage (for soft edges, atmospheric effects). Keep a spare piece of paper under your drawing hand to minimise accidental smears.
Work Light to Dark (Usually)
It’s generally easier to add more charcoal to make areas darker than it is to erase dark areas completely back to white paper (especially with compressed charcoal). Start by sketching lightly with vine charcoal, establishing the main shapes and light/mid-tones. Then, gradually build up the darker values and shadows using compressed charcoal or pencils.
Use Your Arm, Not Just Your Wrist
Drawing from the shoulder and elbow leads to more confident, flowing lines and prevents drawings from looking stiff. This is particularly important when blocking in large shapes or using gestural marks.
Consider the Paper
Pay attention to how the charcoal interacts with your paper’s texture. A rougher tooth will grab more charcoal, resulting in darker darks but potentially a grainier look. Smoother (but still textured) paper might allow for easier blending but won’t hold as much pigment for the deepest blacks. Experiment to find what you like.
Verified Tip: Layering Works Wonders. Don’t be afraid to build your drawing in layers. Start with a light vine charcoal sketch, blend it softly, spray with workable fixative if needed, then add darker tones with compressed charcoal or pencils. You can even lift out highlights through multiple layers using your kneaded eraser. This layered approach adds depth and richness.
Experiment and Play
The best way to learn is by doing. Try different charcoals, different papers, different techniques. Draw from life, draw from photos, draw from your imagination. Don’t be afraid to make ‘bad’ drawings – every mark you make teaches you something. Copy master drawings to understand their techniques. The goal is to become comfortable and familiar with the medium.
Protecting Your Finished Work
You’ve poured your effort into a drawing, don’t let it fade or smudge away!
Fixative is Non-Negotiable: Once you’re happy with your drawing, take it outside or to a well-ventilated space and apply a final fixative. Hold the can about 12 inches away and spray in light, even, sweeping motions (horizontally, then vertically). Let it dry completely. Several light coats are better than one heavy coat which might cause drips or excessive darkening.
Storage: Store charcoal drawings flat if possible, perhaps in a portfolio. If you must stack them, place a sheet of clean paper (like glassine or even just newsprint) between each drawing to prevent rubbing and smudging.
Embrace the Process
Charcoal drawing is a wonderfully tactile and expressive medium. It allows for bold statements and subtle nuances. Getting started requires just a few basic tools and a willingness to experiment and get a little dusty. Don’t be intimidated by the potential for mess; see it as part of the medium’s charm. Practice regularly, observe the world around you in terms of light and shadow, and most importantly, enjoy the process of creating with this timeless material.
