STEP ONE
Pencil drawing in sketch book.
STEP TWO
Using carbon paper, I transferred the drawing onto cream coloured velour paper, then drew over the outlines with “willow charcoal” followed by a paper stump (lightly dragged over the lines) to set the charcoal and stop it being smudged, then I proceeded to fill in some of the gear, once again with willow charcoal.
STEP THREE
I started from the top, usingmy finger and a small hog hair brush to soften the lighter areas where necessary.
STEP FOUR
I continued to fill in and blend with fingers, working left to right and top to bottom (as I am right handed).
STEP FIVE
A light application of charcoal was applied to the face and blended with fingers, lightest areas on the face were partially removed with a paper stump as I felt the paper was a little bright, the lights were picked out with a paper stump, e.g. rings and buckles on gear and highlight in the eye.
FINAL STEP
I altered the eye, adding lashes and pulled out the highlight with a sharp plastic eraser, then felt that he was finished, so I signed with a fine graphite pencil.
ARTIST’S HINTS AND TIPS
• A few hints on using soft “Willow Charcoal”
• Willow Charcoal is actually made from willow branches (burnt to a crisp so to speak) and being powdery when used it obviously creates a bit of dust, is messy and definitely not good for the nose! However a little care will solve these problems. (Same treatment as for pastels).
• I use an upright easel with a small ledge at the bottom of the work surface, and any dust just falls down to the ledge where it can be wiped straight into a bin with a tissue or rag etc. If an upright easel is not an option, a drawing board or table easel can be used, just use a firm piece of paper about 5 or 6cm wide and a little longer than your drawing paper then fold it lengthwise – half can be tucked under your drawing paper and the other half will form a tray which can be taken off and emptied into a bin,wiped as above or just thrown out.
• Sometimes a little bit of the charcoal stick is rough and scratchy. Just rub the rough bit on a separate piece of paper, a piece of sandpaper or an emery board and continue using as normal.
• I’ve had students who said that charcoal was scratchy and hard to work with, and found that they had been using cheap drawing paper with no texture (I agree it’s awful) when I provided them pastel paper to work on they all thought it was like using a different medium, and loved it.
• Charcoal is very forgiving (except for compressed charcoal, which is much denser, very black and hard to move once applied). To soften regular charcoal, just lightly touch with your finger, paper stump, tissue ,rag etc, and to remove completely – first remove the excess the same way then use an ordinary plastic eraser. For highlights it’s best to remove as suggested then use a small piece of plastic eraser (I cut off a corner and use the sharp edge).
• Large drawings can be quickly drawn with the side of a thick piece of charcoal and finer drawings can be easily achieved with a thin piece; the sticks come in various sizes and a pack of several sizes is very cheap. There is no excuse not to start soon and the main thing is to have fun!
