Charcoal Studies

 Playing with charcoal is fun... messy, but fun. Here are some demonstration works from my recent Thursday morning classes:

Reductive drawing of Sunflowers by Linda Weil ©

Reductive charcoal drawing (or reverse/negative drawing) is a creative method where you first darken the entire sheet of paper with the side of a charcoal stick, then smudge back with your hand or rag to create an even grey tone. Your eraser then becomes your drawing tool and you use a white eraser to define the main forms. A kneadable eraser or blue tack or even tape can be used to further define white highlights. Darker elements are added with soft charcoal. It is a very malleable and almost sculptural way of drawing - but make sure your paper can handle the process.

Positive charcoal studies with white charcoal highlights on toned paper by Linda Weil ©

Drawing in a positive method is often more intuitively comfortable for students, and charcoal is a quick and expressive medium for fast studies. By using a toned paper and white charcoal for highlights you can get some good effects. The top page are all studies where each was done in under 3 minutes. The bottom studies took a little longer, each shell between 5 to 15 minutes.