Sanguine (red chalk) drawing

...in the Masters footsteps...

Before the invention of the modern graphite pencil the most commonly used drawing medium used by artists were natural occuring chalks/earth pigments. Sanguine (Hematite) is a red-brown iron oxide chalk that is often used and was a favourite tool of the Renaissance masters. When teamed with toned papers and touches of black and white you can create wonderfully sculptural forms.

My students and I will be exploring these techniques this term. Although I have many different sanguine, sepia and umber pencils already I couldn't resist this set of Staetdler Mars pastel pencils currently on special at Eckersley's.

Now having purchased a set I had to try them out! 

For this exercise I choose to do a sketch drawing of a skull. Hamlet lives on top of my supplies cupboard, so I took him down, dusted him off and set up my drawing station:

You can see how I have put Hamlet on white paper and behind him so I have a clean veiw and nice shadows cast by the direct lighting set up. Also, my tools are to hand, the Stadtler pencils as well as some conte blocks, a tortillion, kneadable eraser and white pvc eraser pen. Additionally, I did a quick sketch in my visual diary in pencil to make sure I understood the proportions correctly.

I am drawing the final on Strathmore 180gsm tan toned paper. 

Some steps along the way showing you the progression:

And the final result. This took approximately 2 - 3 hours from initial pencil sketch to this final result:

Because this was a fairly quick sketch, it is a bit rough and ready. However, I enjoyed exploring these pencils and like the result. Using a toned paper means that all the mid-tones are established at the start and the drawing is done in the highlights and dark areas. I am going to use these pencils again and try a more refined drawing next. 

Great fun!