Drawing people plus figure art is thrilling and challenging in some medium – in this short art lesson we will produce a fairly small rendering of the female nude in vine charcoal.

Charcoal is characteristically a medium to be loved or loathed. In an instant it can create those rich blacks that any graphite artist will envy, having squandered hours to achieve the same consequence. However, there come a price, and that price is dust. Charcoal (particularly vine charcoal) will do its utmost to deal out itself wherever it can: on fingers, under nails, unwanted smears across your page, more often than not everywhere except the very place you wanted it.
My own brief experience with this ill-behaved medium have met against some resistance, until recently and somewhat ironically, I found dust to be a solution. I tried an experiment by grinding charcoal into fine form and then painting it onto the paper, with right away better results, and it is these techniques I would like to share with you now…

How to sketch People – Human shape in Vine Charcoal

Tools

1. Sandpaper- Ideal for grinding down charcoal, or sharpening it to a point.

2. Vine Charcoal -mixed sizes. (Note: vine charcoal is made from the willow hierarchy).

3. Vine Charcoal -This came from the backyard of John Ruskin, and was formed in larger sticks, though essentially it is the same as B.

4. Chamois- Bought from a car shop and can be used to blend.

5. Color Shaper -A rubber tipped tool designed for blending and determining pastel/charcoal and paint (available in art shops and on the Internet).

6. Charcoal/Pastel Pencils- Charcoal can be bought in pencil form. It saves fingers from becoming blackened, and can be easier to control. The white pastel pencil can be second-hand for highlights.

7. Compressed Charcoal- Not as untidy as the vine charcoal sticks, but is harder to erase.

8. Putty Eraser- A crucial piece of gear that removes charcoal without leaving a mess.

9. Container- An old tic-tac sweets container to hold the charcoal dust. Use whatever you like, but preferably amazing with a lid.

10. Brushes -Two cheap brushes that can be second-hand to push the dust around on the paper.

Left-Fixative- Brushing dry charcoal powder around with a brush make it difficult to apply a dark tone in one take; spraying fixative allows me to build up two or maybe three layers to obtain the darker tone. The better can was the cheapest I could find, and as a consequence I have to spray three times as much to get some use from it. My recommendation would be to invest in something half-decent. The Windsor and Newton fixative may be smaller, but it is much more effective and ultimately lasts longer.

Right: Paper- You be able to use any paper from pastel document (Canson is particular good from my previous pastel painting efforts), watercolor paper to bristol board. For the purposes of this article I have bought a pad of Charcoal Paper made by Daler-Rowney. It is ‘laid’ paper, giving it a feel that helps hold the charcoal, and is slightly colored.

Creating powder

This is the untidy (and fun) part! By means of your vine charcoal in hand, sand it down over a piece of folded paper (I’ve used an old envelope). If you do not have any spare sandpaper, you be supposed to still be able to make dust by rubbing your charcoal on a piece of paper. Take caution not to breathe in the dust.

You determination probably need to obliterate two sticks, and once complete carefully pour the powder into a container for safekeeping.

Creation a Point

at what time drawing people, facial details can be very fiddly when working small and working in charcoal as it do not have the pinpoint accuracy of a sharpened pencil. If you rub it down you can form a sharp edge for more full work. Do not expect the sharp edge to last long although.

Go to next part……….

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