Joanna James
Charcoal drawing is a very satisfactory and enjoyable medium. Besides, charcoal drawing has been a fascinating medium for the best, with even Da Vinci having indulged in more than a few sketches in the medium. Check out these expert tips on charcoal drawings to improve your skills.
The main subject or 'essence' of your drawing must remain the main focus, even in a charcoal drawing. This simple rule applies to all drawings. Focus on what you are planning to convey through the image or what it is about. And you will be able to establish its theme. Thus, adding more detail and elaborating on your drawing but having the main objective in focus. Follow this guideline and your drawing will create the impact you had in mind. Take a look at Sri Lankan paintings, for example, and you will understand how the medium works across varied genres and themes. Check out the online galleries from the comfort of your home; for example, the Sri Lankan Art Gallery.
Value, in the artists' world, refers to the depths of light and dark one achieves. It can be established on a scale of 1 to 10 with the lightest starting at 1 and the darkest being a 10. Hence, you would achieve a halftone at a range of 5 or in other terms 50%, which would be a grey tone area in your charcoal drawing. To improve and practise your toning skills, start your toning from the centre of the image. Keep your darkest shading within the range of 6 to 7 and the lightest at 3 or 4. Work your shading outwards, from light to the darkest shadows. Practice makes perfect, and dabbling in different value ranges will give you an understanding of their effect.
Using darker or lighter tones can help draw the eyes of the person viewing your picture to a specific spot. It will also be the highlight of your subject. For example, keeping the outer parts of a drawing in darker shades will subdue these areas while you can use lighter shading or tones to act as highlights to draw the viewers' eyes to the immediate subject. A person's face, for example, can be lighter-toned, while the rest of the image is subdued in darker shades. The viewer then first notices the face, and maybe the smile, which is the subject your sketch is based upon.
What the above heading means is that we don't need to take in too much detail of a subject to capture its essence on paper/canvas. So, what you do is alter your vision. Maybe, take off your glasses, or squint. The idea is to see the subject in less focus. By subduing the main view, you will see the part that stands out. And that is what you sketch; the 'essence' of your subject, which you will be able to focus on.
To bring a charcoal drawing to life, you can learn to manipulate the thickness of lines. Thinner lines can be used at the top layers to indicate light filtering through. And thicker lines will add more mass and body. Explore the effects and you will get the hang of it.
A true believer that the pen is a mighty weapon, ventures into reaching the minds of every reader with the earnest hope of leaving an indelible stream of thought.
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