Charcoal Drawing – tips for beginners
Getting Started with Charcoal Drawing
Charcoal drawing is a fun way to make art. You use a special black crayon-like thing called charcoal. It’s easy to fix mistakes, so it’s great for beginners.
Materials You’ll Need:
Charcoal sticks: These come in different forms like vine, compressed, and charcoal pencils. They vary in hardness and texture, make different effects in your drawings.
Paper: Choose a paper with some texture, like drawing paper or charcoal paper. This helps the charcoal stay on the paper.
Eraser: Get both a squishy eraser (kneaded) and a white eraser (for detailed erasing)
Fixative spray: This is a spray that helps set the charcoal and prevent smudging.
Tips
Hold the Charcoal: Hold it gently, like a pencil. You can hold it closer to the tip for finer lines or farther back for broader strokes.
Try Different Pressures: Lightly pressing makes light lines, and pressing harder makes dark lines. Practice using different pressures to see how it feels.
Basic Techniques:
Hatching and Cross-Hatching: These are ways to make your drawing look more 3D. Hatching means making lines in one direction, and cross-hatching means making lines that cross each other.
Blending: You can use your fingers, a soft tool, or even a piece of cloth to mix the charcoal. This makes the transitions between light and dark areas smoother.
Making Light Spots and Fixing Mistakes: Use your erasers to make some parts lighter or to fix any mistakes. The squishy eraser is really good for gently lifting off charcoal.
Starting Your Drawing:
Start with Light Lines: Use gentle and light lines to draw the basic shapes and forms of your subject.
Add More Charcoal Gradually: Put on more charcoal slowly to make some parts darker and create differences in light and dark.
Pay Attention to Small Details Last: Once you have the main shapes, focus on the tiny details.
Finishing Touches:
Use Fixative Spray: When you’re happy with your drawing, spray a thin layer of fixative on it. This helps keep the charcoal in place and stops it from smudging.
Keep in mind, practicing is the secret! Don’t worry about making mistakes, and above all, enjoy your charcoal drawing adventure.
