Kati Nowack Charcoal is one of my favorite drawing mediums. I greatly enjoy using it in my portrait art. Let me give you four reasons why I love charcoal.
- The look and feel: Charcoal can bring real drama and emotion to a drawing by creating a paint-like feeling without the added distraction of color. I can also achieve darker shades more easily to create rich black tones (for instance, in comparison to graphite pencils).
- It’s versatility: Charcoal is available in a wide variety like willow or vine sticks, compressed charcoal, charcoal pencils or powder. With brushes, erasers, blending stumps or even cotton balls I can apply charcoal in many different ways to create a painterly look or looks that range from soft and smooth to expressive and dramatic. In addition to the really dark values that charcoal can create, I can add acetone to use charcoal like watercolor.
- It’s a natural tool: I love the fact that charcoal is made from organic resources like burnt wood from the willow tree or branches of vine. This makes charcoal more environmentally friendly than, for instance, oil paint.
- It’s history: Charcoal is probably one of the oldest art materials. Dating as far back as to pre-historic cave drawings, charcoal has been used for thousands of years all over the world. Furthermore, the old masters like Leonardo Da Vinci used charcoal as one of their primary drawing mediums.
These are my four reasons why I love charcoal. What about you? Do you love creating with charcoal? If not, what is your favorite drawing or painting medium, and why? Please let me know in the comments.
