My Favorite Medium

One of my favorite mediums is to use charcoal and conte crayons on toned paper. The toned paper is nice as the middle tone is already there and all that is necessary is to add some value with the sepia color of the conte and the black of the charcoal. At the every end, and the best part, is to add those highlights with the white conte.

Tools that I use for this process are a piece of cotton cloth, a leather chamois, and many different types of erasers as well as various grades of charcoal. I also will use a piece of paper to put under my hand if the work is being done while I am at a table. (It is important when you do work this way to stand back from the drawing as things can easily get out of whack.)

I also will use a drawing board with newprint or other paper under the drawing paper. The drawing paper is also taped in place with masking tape or a tape that can easily be removed. I will tape about a 1/4 inch along all the edges. This fulfills two purposes...the first is that the drawing paper stays in place and the second is that when the tape is removed there is a nice clean edge for a border.

Tonight I am going to start a drawing of my grandson and I will take pics of the process to share with how I actually do it.

Stay tuned....MaryAnn