Total Art Soul - For Artists

It's been a while since we blogged as it suddenly got very busy round here :) We've just put a new exclusive range together for a bridal business, so lots of beading and taking of photographs. On top of that, we're appearing in two gift guides and have just opened a uk shop online !

Then there's the drawing- I'm still working on a range of licensed images, which brings me to the subject of this blog. I've been asked to do a series of black and white images, for which I've been playing with different mediums to show the client how many different effects can be achieved. So, thought I'd compare and contrast for you :) Some of you will have read the first bit before but bear with...

First up, my usual charcoal. I use charcoal pencil normally, as I can sharpen it to a needle point for fine detail and it still blends beautifully. I tried the posh ones that come in sets but didn't get on with them due to the colour change because of the binder. I now only buy the kind that cost about £2 for a pack of 12, as you can see here they are very versatile.



Then, I tried Wolff's carbon pencils, claimed to be the best drawing medium in the world. These cost around £2.50 for a set of 4.  Now, this is just a sketch and done from a photograph that had been blown up so not the best example but...


These were very interesting to work with- not as precise as the charcoal, on art paper close- up it almost looks like ink painting, but the blackest, blackest black you can imagine. It was almost more than my little gothic soul could take :)  Also, unlike the blended charcoal, the different grades showed no colour change, from b through to 6b.
It blends a little oddly too, you rub away like mad with your paper stubby to little effect then suddenly it decides it will blend after all and you nearly take the lot off. I've got the hang of that now, it's not really an issue but just thought I'd warn you.

In the event of you making a hash of it, the carbon is about as tough to rub out- possible but hard to remove all traces so take your time drawing in guide lines. Oh, and quick note- neither charcoal or carbon will go over graphite so don't use standard pencils when you're setting up.
I think I'll use a combination of the two for most images- charcoal for fine detail and carbon for heavy shadow, but I also think the carbon would be fantastic for flowers, the contrast you get is amazing and for the right subject, that slight fuzziness can be a good thing.

So, for those of you still using graphite, give these a go. They do everything graphite does and then some. Plus, you don't get that shine, which can be a pain especially if you've got to scan or photograph the image afterwards.
Go play :)

Karen
(the one without the beard)

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