Basic Drawing

Lesson #14

Drawing Outdoors with Charcoal

Just as we took a pad and some office pencils out on our first sketching trip, let's now take the same pad and some medium grade charcoal pencils, a kneaded eraser, a rag, and a can of fixative. Charcoal is well suited to drawing outdoors. It's pliable and versatile, producing a wide range of tones and effects - from delicate to bold.

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF CHARCOAL Charcoal's ease of manipulation and simplicity in handling (no brushes, water, or other mediums are needed) are clearly advantageous when drawing outdoors. The only drawback is in charcoal's pliability. Because a charcoal drawing can be changed at the slightest touch, you must be careful when handling your finished drawing. Indeed, because a charcoal sketch is so easily disturbed, you should spray it with fixative the moment its finished. CAPTURING THE MOODS OF NATURE Because nature's forms are endlessly changing, the artist working outdoors must be prepared to quickly note her fleeting moods. Charcoal provides the speed necessary for such rendering. For example, you can quickly jot down the most fleeting aspects of light and cloud formations. You can quickly spread charcoal over a large area to produce a tone. The charcoal can be lightened by rubbing the tone with your fingers or a chamois, or you can easily eliminate it altogether.

RENDERING SPECIFIC OBJECTS Outdoors in nature, as indoors with man made objects, the simple, underlying geometric forms must be sought out first. Charcoal's ease of manipulation lets you quickly indicate the large shapes; then you can go on to judge the proportions and inter-relationships of these larger shapes to other, smaller ones. Once you've captured your tree or rock, etc. in the broadest terms, you can work down toward the smaller shapes and the intricate details. There's one danger to watch for when rendering the large shapes of a particular object, such as a rock. Because you're so engrossed in establishing correct proportions, you may forget about your placement or composition. The result might be a monotonous arrangement. However, the compositional problem is easily solved with some attention to form. ROUGH CHARCOAL SKETCHES I've done the rough charcoal sketches of illustrations (B) and (C) to emphasize charcoal's particular suitability for capturing the quick impression of nature. I also want to point out that most drawing on the spot (outdoors) produces these charcoal "roughs" or sketches rather than "studies". In the latter, you try to STUDY the character and detail of a subject. In the charcoal rough or sketch, you're trying to capture only the fleeting impression of the moment.

FINISHED DRAWINGS IN CHARCOAL In the rough sketch you establish the basic proportions and relationships of the elements in your landscape. The rough should be executed quickly in a simple, flat outline of the basic forms. Only minor attention should be given to rendering the particular tones or textures. They should merely be hinted at. When you're happy with this first impression, you can then concentrate on the edges of shadows, gradation of tonal values, and specific textures. As you work on your finished drawing or "study", you can erase your sketch's first broad, contour lines. I prefer to slip my charcoal rough, or outline, under another sheet of paper on my art pad, and then begin the final rendering. Drawing outdoors with charcoal is great fun and the ease with which one can render a quick drawing makes it particularly suitable for practice. Go out into the field and make 5 to 10 renderings each day for just 7 days and you will be astonished at the progress you will make. Students of drawing always fall into 3 categories: Those who will try it for a short time then give up deciding that they are unsuited for this type of activity; those who have a natural talent for drawing and who will do a few exercises and determine that they are as good as they wish to be; those who will diligently do 5 to 10 drawings every day for even longer than the prescribed time and who will become TRUE ARTISTS. I sincerely hope that you will become one of the latter! Good luck and until next time..