Charcoal drawing is riveting, mostly because they are very fast and immediate and give impressive results. In this post we'll run through some key charcoal drawing tips you should know before you create your first charcoal masterpiece.
1. Find the essence: whenever creating something, you need to establish what your image is going to be about or what you want to say with it. Once you settle on this main idea, make sure you stick to it and everything you from this point on should strengthen the essence of the piece.
2. Understand the significance of Value: Value is simply a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being the white page and 10 being Black. The best way to work this aspect is to start from the middle out- start by making 6 or 7 your darkest and 3 or 4 your lightest and once done with the sketch this way, start highlighting and darkening more and more.
3. Keep in mind the hierarchy of value: Using value or tone allows you to direct the viewer to what you want them to see first. Use both your lightest and darkest values on the subject, everything else becomes less important.
4. Squint: when trying to capture shapes and the outline of your subject, squint. This helps you look past the details and focus on getting the shape right, you can start adding details once the outline is perfected.
5. Experiment with thick and thin lines: Using lines of different width and pressures is a sure way of making your work much livelier. The rule of thumb to keep in mind is that lines on top of things are thinner since light is hitting them and lines underneath objects can be thicker since there are usually shadows sitting there.
6. Use an eraser: Charcoal is very easy to control- you can move it around easily and you can also remove or erase it where it's not needed.
7. Wear gloves: Graphite is one of those mediums which can be damaged by the oils in your hands and can ruin the paper too. to fix this, wear a glove or place another piece of paper under your hand to protect your artwork.
8. Stick at it: Charcoal media drawings are difficult and at times frustrating, it takes time to feel good about progress and the trick is to keep working on it and not giving up.
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