Charcoal is such a unique medium for expression. It's perfect for initial explorations of light, form, and line, and is also great to use for large-scale final pieces. In this article, we'll take a look at the history of charcoal, how influential artists have utilised it in their work, the different kinds of charcoal available, and how you can put it to use in your artistic practice.
What is Charcoal?
Pictured Above: Wooden charcoal painting from Pont d'Arc Cave (a copy of the Chauvet Cave). Photo Credit: Claude Valette, Wikimedia Commons.
Charcoal's origins in art dates back thousands of years, all the way back to the early Palaeolithic Era. Charcoal mixtures have been seen in use in multiple cave paintings dating back over 28,000 years, though most historians agree that the charcoal used for this work was not intentionally made, but rather was the by-product of a fire. The paintings present at the famous Chauvet Cave were created using charcoal. As the cave is now closed off to the public, the above image shows an exact replica from the Pont d'Arc Cave.
Charcoal was used widely during the Renaissance for the initial stages of artwork. Many of the era's most famous works would have been sketched out with charcoal, which was employed to create preliminary outlines and to define light and shadow. It was around the late-15th century when a fixative was developed for charcoal; illustrations would be dipped into baths of gum to fix the drawing to the surface. Naturally, over time, we've developed more convenient forms of fixative – nowadays, you can just use a spray! Artists like Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and Albrecht Dürer would use charcoal in the preparatory stages of their work, taking advantage of its often temporary nature.
Compressed charcoal was developed in the 20th century to strengthen the natural structural weakness of Willow and Vine charcoal. To create compressed charcoal, natural gum or wax binder is added to powdered charcoal, which makes it stronger to draw with and in turn produces less dust. Many grades of this compressed charcoal can be found in stick forms or in the form of charcoal pencils. During this era, charcoal artwork began to be seen as a medium in its own right, with artists like Pablo Picasso, Edgar Degas, and Henri Matisse employing it in their work.
Charcoal is still used by many fine artists, illustrators, and performing kinetic artists today. There are many types of charcoal on the market that can be used to create illustrations, sketches, finished drawings, used to lay out a painting on canvas, or work on large scale pieces and during performance art. It's a perfect tool for investigating line and form, and for exploring light and contrast, making it an indispensable tool for students of Art & Design, who often use black charcoal in introductory drawing classes to start their creative journeys.
Six Influential Charcoal Artists Throughout Art History
Many notable artists have used charcoal in many different ways to suit their particular styles and studies;
Vincent van Gogh
Vincent van Gogh was often drawn to studying ordinary hard-working farmers and their families, with charcoal often being the medium of choice for working onsite in the fields. The immediate nature of charcoal enabled Vincent to illustrate their emotions and fatigue through their weighted body language. The above study, titled Woman Peeling Potatoes, was illustrated in 1885 as a study for one of his most famous works, The Potato Peelers.
Henri Matisse
Henri Matisse is best known for his beautiful collaged paper cut outs and his sense of bold colour and stylistic patterning. His charcoal Nude studies, such as the one pictured above, show his prolific investigations into line and form along with investigating the limitations and potential of the media.
Edgar Degas
Edgar Degas was famous for his snapshot-like compositions of ballet dancers, such as the study seen above. Using charcoal as a primary medium, his many studies on paper encapsulate specific moments in time. Alongside being used for his studies, Degas often used charcoal as the foundation medium for his later pastel paintings.
Albrecht Dürer
Albrecht Dürer would often use charcoal for both initial development sketches, studies, and for final pieces. This drawing, titled Portrait of the Artist's Mother at the Age of 63, was created during a difficult time in the artist's life. His mother, with whom he shared an especially close relationship due to difficulties in their lives, was gravely ill, which is reflected in the emaciated appearance of her face. Despite this harsh depiction of the ravages of age, the portrait still has a sense of tenderness and love to it, and when his mother passed away two months later Dürer wrote; "I felt so grieved for her that I cannot express it. God be merciful to her".
Käthe Kollwitz
Käthe Kollwitz was an expressionist artist from Germany, and was a master of creating drawings that depicted the broken and emotional states of mankind. Similar to Vincent van Gogh, she was extremely empathetic and had intense compassion for the working class and downtrodden. Her beautiful charcoal drawings describe with minute detail the suffering and grief experienced by her sitters, combining techniques with feeling, soft transitions turning into dark black spaces at atmospheric landscapes. The self-portrait above was drawn in 1934 at the age of 67, shortly after she was forced to resign her place on the faculty of Akademie der Künste, her work was removed from museums, and she was banned from exhibiting future artworks by the rising regime.
Heather Hansen
Heather Hansen is a kinetic performance artist who uses her whole body with movement to generate one-of-a-kind symmetrical charcoal drawings on a large scale, pushing quite literally the boundaries of drawing and movement. Hansen has performed across the United States, Europe, and Asia.
For more information, visit Heather's website here.
Characteristics of Charcoal
Charcoal is an odourless, dry, lightweight, black substance, in the form of porous solid or powder. Charcoal produces a matt dark grey or black line on the surface with softer edges and depending on what type of charcoal you use, the mark you make can range from a very dark intense black to a light grey with many shades in between. Charcoal is an incredibly easy medium to use and is an excellent medium for all abilities, providing a wide tonal range within the same stick or pencil. See below the list of different charcoal products. Tinted Charcoal is also available in both the sticks, blocks, pencils and now even water-soluble paint pans.
Willow and Vine Charcoal
Willow and Vine charcoal are the most traditional forms of charcoal. They come in assorted lengths and don't contain any binder, so they're very smooth during application and can easily be erased. However, this lack of binder also makes them incredibly brittle. They may need a fixative to secure the drawing onto the paper, but be aware that this will darken your work slightly. Willow and Vine charcoal provide a medium-to-light grey line, but aim to test a few different brands as they may differ slightly in colour and tone.
We recommend trying out Winsor & Newton Artists' Willow Charcoal, as it baked to a high quality and can produce both fine lines and bold, broad strokes. This set features 12 pieces of charcoal in assorted lengths.
Powdered Charcoal
Powdered Charcoal is finely-milled Willow or Vine charcoal. You can apply this fine charcoal dust with either a brush or a piece of fabric rag or soft paper towel. Blending the powdered charcoal on paper can create large areas of atmospheric perspective or soft focus backgrounds.
Nitram Extra-Fine Powdered Charcoal is milled to an extra fine, uniform 100μ particle size. It is smooth, velvety and very high-quality. It has no coarse or grainy lumps that will mar the surface of your paper, ensuring a consistent finish.
You can use a brush or a paper stump to create shapes and tones quickly and easily. Nitram Powdered Charcoal comes in a sturdy, reusable aluminium tin with a lid that can be sealed tightly to avoid messy leaks.
It has a functional recessed reservoir insert that allows you to control the amount of Charcoal Powder available. It can be easily removed to access and refill the tin. Please note: a dust mask is highly recommended during use.
Liquid Charcoal
Liquid charcoal provides a unique way to work with charcoal. Liquid Charcoal is water soluble, so you can adjust the values from very light to a deep, rich black. This versatility opens up a broad spectrum of textures, giving artists a new way to work with sketch-like applications. Straight out of the tube it is as thick as oil paint, allowing you to draw with a brush or even use a palette knife to apply it.
Nitram Liquid Charcoal dries very quickly and has excellent lightfastness. It can be used wet or dry.
Compressed Charcoal and Tinted Charcoal Blocks
Compressed charcoal are hard brittle sticks made from charcoal powder and a binding agent – usually a natural gum or wax. This mixture of charcoal powder and binder is then shaped into a mold, to create a stick form. These sticks can be held like a pencil or like a crayon and all parts can be used to create a mark. For a fine line you can use the tip, or side of the charcoal. For a broader mark, you can use the whole side of the charcoal to block out areas. Some of the moulded compressed charcoal sticks come in a cylinder shape or some can be found with square shaped sides. They are much stronger than the thinner Willow or Vine charcoal sticks. They also come in various grades from hard to soft.
Derwent XL Charcoal blocks combine the natural qualities of charcoal with the strength and body of a chunky block. There are 6 colours in the range: 1 natural black, 4 traditional drawing colours and white.
Charcoal Pencils
Charcoal Pencils are similar to the compressed charcoal sticks and blocks, in that they are made from charcoal powder and binder. The only difference being they are in a pencil format. And just like compressed charcoal they usually come in a range of grades from hard to soft. They provide more scope for achieving small and detailed work whilst still using a traditional charcoal medium.
The tinted charcoal pencils offer the dramatic beauty of charcoal with a gentle hint of colour. Natural charcoal particles and a small amount of colour pigment are combined with the finest clays then encased in wood to produce a wonderfully expressive drawing tool. Derwent tinted charcoal individual pencils are available in 24 fabulous shades, including white for highlighting, the colours smudge and blend beautifully to produce deep, rich tones.
Techniques and Tips for Using Charcoal in Art
Charcoal is an incredibly easy and versatile medium to use, however there are some precautions you could take to make it a more successful experience and some techniques you can use to achieve the results you want.
Charcoal and graphite are generally non-toxic mediums, unless large quantities are consumed or inhaled. Charcoal does crumble more easily than graphite and may leave a lot of dust on the paper. If you are particularly sensitive to dust or if you are proceeding with a large charcoal drawing, it may be useful to wear a dust mask so as not to inhale the small dust particles. If you are working with charcoal powder, we highly recommend that you wear a dust respirator or mask.
Don’t Blow the Dust Away – Lift Your Artwork and Tap!
Whilst working, aim to lift your drawing from time to time to let the dust fall onto a damp towel or mat. Don’t be tempted to blow your dust away as you may inhale some of the dust, which can cause great harm to your respiratory system. You could also gently brush the dust away with a soft brush, through be careful not to smudge your artwork!
The amount of dust produced all depends on the pressure you use and the repeated strokes you use, plus the softness of the charcoal. If this is your first time using charcoal, tread lightly – too much pressure and you will go too dark too soon! Too much charcoal cannot be easily erased or softened. Aim to work with a willow charcoal before working with compressed charcoal. You can also capitalise on this excess dust and work it into your drawing to create an atmospheric perspective or soft focus background!
Wear Protective Clothing
Charcoal dust will fall everywhere if you are working quickly or in large format. Some artists don’t mind the feel of charcoal on their hands, but it can irritate the skin of some. Others choose to wear protective clothing. Gloves can be worn to stop the fine dust particles becoming ingrained in your hands, and aprons can be worn to protect your clothing. Charcoal will wash out in the wash on almost all fabrics.
Light and Dark Mark-Making with Charcoal
To create a lighter tone or line, use Willow or Vine charcoal – especially if you're not familiar with the technique. If you want to try compressed charcoal, use a light touch on the paper using a grade ‘B’ or a grade ‘2B’.
To create dark areas within your composition, aim to use a soft ‘4B’ or ‘6B’ compressed charcoal with a slightly heavier pressure on the paper, but don’t go too dark too soon. Working over your drawing in layers will also darken your composition where it is needed. This will also help to control the degrees of value you are creating. Aim to work from light to dark in stages.
Creating Texture with Charcoal
Creating texture with charcoal can be achieved in many ways. Using a kneadable eraser will allow you to pull the charcoal off the paper. Before you use your kneadable eraser, warm it up in your hands and shape it to any shape you want, either drag it over the charcoal or push down then pull up. A block eraser will provide a much more precise or sharper line or mark as it is harder.
Water can be brushed over the charcoal to create a direct mark or sprayed onto your charcoal drawing to create more of an organic texture. Once your charcoal is dampened, it is then harder to erase but you can still work into it and on top of it whilst wet or dry. Applying water will darken the charcoal considerably but can provide very effective finishes.
Blending and Creating Tonal Gradation with Charcoal
Blending charcoal to create a gradient or to create a softer look can be achieved by using paper stumps. A soft fabric rag, or a soft paper towel can also be used. Small areas within a drawing can be blended by using the tip of your finger or a cotton bud.
Seamless gradations can be created by working over areas using a soft cloth in a circular motion, gradually building the tones from light to dark, layer upon layer. The powdered charcoal is also great for toning a whole surface area before you compose your drawing. Having a mid ground speeds up your drawing time considerably.
Creating Soft and Hard Edges with Charcoal
Soft and hard edges within your composition can be created by simply using the straight edge of a piece of paper or card. A soft edge can be created by blending using a soft cloth brush or your hand and by tearing the edge of a piece of paper then using powdered charcoal on a cloth over the edge
Using Charcoal on Toned Paper and Other Surfaces
Charcoal is mostly used on paper but can be used on most other surfaces such as canvas, wooden panels, cardboard, and toned paper. Paper with a slight texture is good to work on as it grabs the charcoal and the charcoal reveals the texture. Watercolour paper is good to use if you are considering wetting the paper or using mixed media. Smooth paper will allow for smoother blending and more subtle value gradation. Brown or toned paper can also be used to great effect, especially if you combine the darkest charcoal tones against the highlights using white chalk to create a chiaroscuro effect!
Using Charcoal with Mixed Media
Charcoal can be used with a variety of different media. You could try applying charcoal first then use inks over the top for example. If you don’t want your charcoal to smudge, you can fix it with a fixative first. Charcoal can be used over Acrylic paint or under Acrylic paint. Charcoal lends itself to working with chalk pastels or chalks. Powdered charcoal can be used to darken any paint or ink.
How to Fix Your Charcoal Drawings
Once you have completed your charcoal artwork and are completely satisfied with the outcome, in order to preserve your drawing and to avoid smudging you must fix your charcoal. There are several brands of spray fixative that are recommended for charcoal use, which you can find on the ARTdiscount website via the Fixative Collection.
It is advisable to give your charcoal drawing several coats of light fixative spray, and that you should wait a short amount of time in between each layer. Always go by the brand's own instructions for drying time as they do vary. It is advisable to wear a mask and fix your drawing in a well-ventilated room. When dry, you can place a sheet of transparent paper or acid-free tissue paper over the top for storing. Framing under glass will also help to maintain your artwork and hang somewhere out of direct sunlight. If properly cared for, your artwork should last for many years.
Charcoal's Well That Ends Well
We hope this article have given you a greater appreciation for this extremely historic medium! From the prehistoric cave paintings of the Palaeolithic Era, to the Italian Renaissance, all the way to today, charcoal has been an integral tool for human artistic expression.
At ARTdiscount, we stock a great range of charcoals in a variety of forms with some of the lowest prices in the UK. Why not check out the charcoal collection via the link below?
Check Out the Artists' Charcoal Collection Here
For further reading, check out the ARTdiscount Blog article on the history of pencils and graphite; "Understanding Sketching Pencils and Graphite".
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