Charcoal: Expression and Depth

I recently bought some liquid charcoal from Schmincke. I had had my eye on it for a long time and really wanted to try it out. What can I say, an old love was rekindled.

Charcoal has something unique, lively and direct about it. I love it because it cannot be planned down to the smallest detail and because it is so multifaceted. Delicate or deep black, almost heavy. For me, charcoal always embodies both transience and expressiveness.

From Soot on Rock Faces to the Art Studio

From the very beginning, charcoal has been part of the artist's toolbox. Prehistoric cave painters used materials they found in their surroundings, depending on their location. Red and yellow tones were created from iron oxides (ochre), while black rock paintings were made from charcoal, soot or manganese.

In caves such as Chauvet in southern France, many of the black drawings are actually made of charcoal (mostly pine). Today, it is even possible to date them: tiny charcoal particles from the drawings have been radiocarbon dated. They date from an early phase of the Ice Age (Palaeolithic) and are between 37,000 and 25,000 years old.
At Lascaux, the picture is more mixed: black was often produced there with manganese oxides; charcoal also occurs, but is less common overall.

Even after we humans left the caves, charcoal remained a widely used drawing material. In ancient Greece and Rome, charcoal was mainly used for preliminary sketches on wooden panels or plaster. Pliny the Elder mentions charcoal as a sketching material. It was easy to obtain, but hardly intended for the final work. Rather, it was a tool for drawing lines.

In Pompeii, too, preliminary sketches in charcoal have been found that were later plastered over or painted over. Even in stained glass and sculpture, charcoal was used for preliminary sketches on stone or panels before the actual work began.

Spolvero 

During the Renaissance, a completely new application for charcoal was discovered. It continued to be used for sketches and underdrawings, but a new use was added: cartoons (full-size preliminary drawings), which were transferred to the actual painting surface using spolvero, a transfer technique that was very common during the Renaissance.

The word spolvero comes from the Italian polvere = dust. The artists first created the cartoons on sheets of paper, often joined together. Then they pricked the contours of the drawing with a needle at short intervals. The perforated sheet was placed on the fresh painting surface.

A small cloth bag filled with the finest charcoal dust, often mixed with ash, was then dabbed or rubbed over the holes. A dot pattern of charcoal remained on the surface – the outlines of the composition.

This technique made it possible to transfer an image to scale, even in large dimensions – e.g. for frescoes in churches. In addition, a cardboard could be used several times. This was practical for workshops where motifs were varied or copied.

Michelangelo used spolvero for parts of his painting of the Sistine Chapel. The technique is also documented in the work of Raphael. Many of his cartoons have survived to this day, e.g. the famous Raphael cartoons in London, and the tiny charcoal dots can still be seen on some frescoes.

Medium with Intrinsic Value

In the 19th century, coal became established as a medium for producing finished works. This was aided by a number of technical innovations, which the art world was keen to adopt. In 1799, Nicolas-Louis Robert invented the first paper machine. From 1807 onwards, it was brought to market maturity by the Fourdrinier brothers in England.

Until then, only handmade paper had been available. But instead of coarse, irregular sheets, there was now large-format, uniform, firmer paper, often with special surfaces – rough or satin. Charcoal adhered better to rough paper, while smoother surfaces made it easier to smudge. This allowed artists to consciously play with texture and density: fine lines, uniform surfaces, deep black saturations.

The kneaded eraser was also invented in the 19th century. It differed fundamentally from the classic eraser. As its name suggests, the kneaded eraser is malleable. Depending on your needs, you can knead it into a point or a flat surface. Instead of scraping off material, it absorbs particles when pressed into the charcoal pigment.

Until then, charcoal had been primarily a workshop material, but in the 19th century it was confidently used as the main medium. Artists experimented with everything charcoal could do:

• Tone values: from delicate grey to deep black.
• Blurring: with fingers, paper stumps or cloths – flowing transitions instead of hard lines.
• Reductive techniques: drawing with an eraser, bringing light into darkness.
• Texture: charcoal powder was dusted, rubbed, sometimes mixed with water or oil to achieve new effects.

During this period, the status of drawing changed overall. It was no longer just ‘preliminary work’ but was taken seriously as an art form in its own right. Charcoal became one of the standard materials used in art academies.

To this day, students practise ‘light and shadow’ in charcoal, precisely because of its versatility. Then as now, charcoal is ideal for quick tonal and compositional studies, gestures and the creation of large areas, thinking in terms of light and shadow (chiaroscuro), but also for the finest transitions.

Material Studies Charcoal: Black in Many Forms

Alongside pencils, charcoal was one of my first means of expression in art. Both are inexpensive, easy to use and forgiving of mistakes. This is precisely what makes them perfect media for beginners. But while pencils allow for very controlled drawing, charcoal forces you to let go. It crumbles, it smudges, it leaves traces that are often unintended. This is also where its expressive power lies.

Charcoal can lie on the paper like a veil or have an almost physical presence. This depends not least on the type of charcoal the artist uses. Because it comes in many different forms.

I will introduce these forms here and explain what they are each good for.

(This section also contains links to the brands and products I work with myself. I have tried many different ones over time. I have chosen these products because I trust them. The links are affiliate links, which means that if you buy something through them, I receive a small bonus. This does not make it any more expensive for you.)

Natural Charcoal

Natural charcoal is produced by ‘charring’ thin twigs in a closed container (without oxygen supply). The wood glows at moderate heat, allowing the volatile components to escape, leaving pure carbon. After cooling, the sticks are sorted by diameter and, depending on the manufacturer, by degree of hardness. The feel and blackness may vary slightly from batch to batch, as this is a natural product.

In principle, almost any wood can be charred and thus theoretically used as drawing charcoal. But not all wood is equally suitable. Very hard wood becomes brittle, wood that is too soft disintegrates, and wood with a lot of resin or coarse pores burns unevenly. In practice, willow wood and vine wood have become the standard because they offer the best possible combination of workability and expressiveness. It is rare to find natural charcoal made from other types of wood in art supply stores.

Willow charcoal is soft and velvety. You hardly feel any resistance when applying it. The tonal values range from a delicate grey veil to a rich black, although this is rarely as deep as it could be.

Vine charcoal is coarser, grainier and more irregular. Strokes can be darker than those made with willow charcoal. They are rougher, heavier and, in some cases, more lively. However, if you take the pressure off, the application can quickly become grey and brittle.

Both types are easy to smudge. With your fingers, a paper wiper or cloth, lines quickly turn into areas. Incidentally, a chamois leather also produces very interesting structures.

Both types of charcoal are also brittle, vine charcoal slightly more so than willow charcoal. This forces you to draw in a loose, gestural manner. You have to give up control.

I often hold the charcoal far back so that the movement comes from the arm and the line remains looser. For surfaces, I place the sticks sideways. While drawing, I turn the stick slightly so that the abrasion is distributed more evenly.
Broken fragments are not a loss, but small tools with their own signature. That's why I like to break off small pieces with fresh edges for lines. Natural charcoal cannot be sharpened because it is too unstable. However, I also like to use this whetstone from Nitram, but a piece of sandpaper works just as well.

Vine charcoal is usually slightly more expensive than willow charcoal. However, this has nothing to do with quality, but rather with the more complex production process and the fact that vine stocks are less readily available than willow rods. The difference is not very significant anyway.
I like to use both types myself. For airiness, mist and atmosphere, I like to use willow charcoal, while for physicality and heaviness, I prefer vine charcoal. But that's just a preference. Both types are suitable for both purposes.

Charcoal Powder

Carbon black is obtained from wood or other plant fibres. These are carbonised and then ground, sieved and, in some cases, further processed. More on that later.
Here we will focus on the charcoal powder

I use charcoal powder, for example, for large areas and atmospheric backgrounds. The powder can be applied with a soft cloth, a cotton ball, a brush or simply with your bare hands and literally massaged into the paper.
Depending on the tool used, this creates either an even surface or a cloudy, lively texture. The powder can also be used to make the transitions in other charcoal drawings even smoother.

I also find the reverse method particularly exciting. Light and shadow can be modelled using a kneaded eraser or eraser pencil, a piece of leather or a paper wiper. This creates a kind of negative drawing. I have included a video below.

However, charcoal powder is very volatile. Even the slightest breeze can blur traces or scatter the dust. It is therefore not particularly suitable for outdoor work.
You can fix your charcoal work, including the intermediate steps, if necessary for your work. There are even special intermediate fixatives available for this purpose.

It is important to work sparingly. A spray layer that is too thick would lie like a heavy blanket on the picture, darkening the colours and changing the character of the drawing.
It is better to spray in several fine layers, in a criss-cross pattern, i.e. first horizontally, then vertically, and at a distance of 30 to 40 cm.
Spray only enough so that the surface no longer smudges immediately when touched – no more. Works that are framed and protected (a passe-partout helps to prevent contact between the charcoal and the glass) usually do not need to be fixed at all.

In art forums, I often read the tip that charcoal and pastel drawings can be fixed in place inexpensively with hairspray. In theory, this works, but hairspray is not resistant to yellowing. If you want to preserve your artwork for a long time, you should therefore invest in a proper fixative.

Pressed Charcoal

As mentioned above, charcoal powder can be further processed. When mixed with a binding agent, it can then be pressed into sticks. These are harder, more stable and easier to control than natural charcoal.

Overall, the structure and blackness are more uniform. The application is denser and deeper in colour. This makes it particularly suitable for precise lines, hard contours and strong shadows. The long side of pressed charcoal can be used to fill areas cleanly, while the tip can be used to work out details.

Pressed charcoal is much easier to handle. It can be sharpened precisely or even pointed with a suitable sharpener. And you can work more cleanly; your hands don't look like you've been working underground, and the binding agent means there isn't as much dust.

It is less suitable for quick, atmospheric gestures. When I'm playing with fragility and lightness, I prefer to use natural charcoal. But when it comes to clarity, contour and depth, I like to use pressed charcoal.

The sticks come in square or round shapes. Although the lines are slightly more precise with the square sticks, it is more a matter of personal preference as to which one feels better in your hand. There are also pointed leads that can be used on their own or with a chalk holder, and if I want to add a little colour, I also like to use Derwent's tinted charcoal.

Charcoal Pencils

Essentially, charcoal pencils are nothing more than compressed charcoal in pencil form. They combine the visual effect of charcoal with a cleaner and more controllable tool. They are available in typical wooden pencil form or wood-free as solid pencils. However, compared to pencils, the abrasion is more archaic, and the colour is deep black and matt.

Charcoal pencils can be sharpened, fit comfortably in the hand and allow for precise lines, sharp edges and tightly spaced hatching. The lines remain narrow and the edges clear. And both your hands and the paper remain dust-free. Well, not quite. But almost.
Charcoal pencils are not very easy to erase. They are worse than natural charcoal or charcoal powder and certainly not as residue-free as a pencil. Nevertheless, the abrasion can be lightened.

Charcoal pencils are particularly suitable for details, hard edges, densification and clear hatching – wherever you want to work more precisely and with greater control. Most pencils are available in soft, medium or hard. The intensity of the colour can be varied by applying pressure.
And the lines can be blended with a paper stump or cloth.

Classic sharpeners work, but soft leads can break easily. I therefore first peel the wood-coated charcoal pencils generously with a paper knife and then sharpen them with a whetstone or sandpaper. This also works well with solid lead pencils. This allows you to form long, razor-sharp points that can be used to draw thin, very fine lines.

Liquid Charcoal

But now, finally, to my new acquisition: liquid charcoal. Nitram also has liquid charcoal in its range. It is said to have a consistency similar to oil paint. However, as I have not tested it myself, everything I write here refers to the liquid charcoal from Schmincke. 

Here, the consistency is more like watercolour paint and it can also be handled in the same way. Perhaps a little like granulating watercolour paint. In any case, the more water you use, the more transparent the paint becomes. When wet, the pigments can be moved around wonderfully. On the other hand, the pigments also remain more or less where you move them and do not run uncontrollably.
Of course, you can also apply the charcoal undiluted with a painting knife.

Once dry, the colours have a light texture. You can't erase much, but the colours can be dissolved again later with water and thus lightened. For me, it feels as if someone has thrown charcoal and watercolour (my two favourite media) into a pot and created something that combines both, the earthy depth of charcoal and the lightness of watercolour.

Schmincke produces the charcoal from charred fruit pits from the EU. It is vegan and follows the sustainable concept that Schmincke also implements in other products. The liquid charcoal even won the ‘Sustainable Product of the Year 2023’ award at the Creative Impulse Award in 2023.

There are three different varieties. I treated myself to the set of three because I wanted to test the differences, of course. All three charcoal types are the same in terms of handling. They only differ in colour. The charcoal made from peach pits has a neutral black hue, the grape pits give the charcoal a cool blue undertone, and the cherry pits give it a warm reddish undertone. This charcoal looks almost like a dark umber.

I am very happy to have discovered this product, and I already have some initial ideas about what I could do with it floating around in my head.

Supplementary Materials

Instead of pressed charcoal, you can also use Conté chalk. It behaves similarly, but is harder and more colour-intensive. It is available not only in black, but also in various shades of grey, white and earthy red and brown tones.

Speaking of earthy red tones, red chalk is also one of my all-time favourites. Basically, it is nothing more than a naturally occurring iron oxide pigment, a type of red claystone that has been used for drawing for thousands of years. Especially since the Renaissance, it has always been a popular material for nude studies.

Red chalk works in much the same way as charcoal and is available in similar forms: as a powder, pressed, as a stick – but not, of course, as a charred twig. It is also available in liquid form. Schmincke has brought out liquid earth pigments – I couldn't resist this set either. It contains red chalk, sepia and white chalk.

As is almost always the case when working with a particular medium, you also need a few tools. Everyone probably has their own favourites or insider tips when it comes to these. Basically, you can use almost anything to apply or remove charcoal. But I would consider the following to be the minimum equipment required:

• a kneaded eraser
• something for sharpening or pointing
• something for smudging and
• a fixative

When it comes to paper, things get exciting again. It is at least as important as the choice of tool. Its surface determines how the charcoal works and fixes. Rough paper has more tooth, which means that the charcoal has more grip, the blacks appear rich, and the structure itself becomes part of the drawing.

Smoother surfaces allow for fine, cloudier transitions, but give less depth in the dark values. Matt paper, i.e. with a slightly grainy surface, is a good compromise. It allows for depth, gives some texture and allows for good smudging.
Pastel papers are also suitable. They often have a rough, almost sandy texture – ideal for layering.

For me, watercolour paper is a good choice, even when I work with dry media. I like thicker paper. It also gives me the option of working with water later on.

More than Black and White

Charcoal does not force control; it opens up space for spontaneity. For me, this makes it the ideal medium for artistic expression. A stroke of charcoal is a thought on paper that is allowed to develop further. It does not have to remain alone. In combination with watercolour, chalk or even acrylic, charcoal is even more versatile.
Which media do you prefer to combine charcoal with – or are you currently drawn to the pure black-and-white contrast?