I’m continuing with explorations in charcoal. This one is done on Strathmore 400 series drawing paper. Of the 3 surfaces I’ve used (pastel paper, watercolor paper, and drawing paper) I like this one best because of its smoothness, although the watercolor paper was really nice for creating textures in the landscape.
I am using vine charcoal and compressed charcoal to create these pieces.
Charcoal is a wonderful medium, well-suited to the kind of work I like to do. Similar to pastel in the way it flows onto the surface of the paper, it is very simple to use. This painting was done on a sheet of Canson aquarelle watercolor paper using 2 kinds of charcoal, vine and compressed. I love all the textures and depth you can create and plan to do more pieces like this.
This landscape depicts a small brook flowing through dried winter grasses and weeds with cedar trees and berry brambles on the hill rising above.
A detail from the charcoal landscape I am working on. Winter Tapestry is 16×20 inches.
I’d forgotten how much fun charcoal can be. Work in progress–Winter Tapestry.