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Help, help, I've gone mad!
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Message
Posted
I have just bought - bought, mind you! Me! The man with sewn-up pockets - a brush pen; three drawing pads with different papers; a Fude pen; and ink cartridges.
I've been doing rather more drawing than painting over the last few weeks, and wish to expand my range - in particular, inspired by the artist Andrew Barrowman's experiments with liquid charcoal, I've been using charcoal, and carbon pencils, with water, and a touch of ink: the water fixes the drawing, protects it from smudging, and you can virtually paint, with carbon or charcoal, both offering slightly different results. I'll also have a go with conté crayon and water. I recommend it: it's fun - to persuade me to part with cash, it MUST be fun...
Posted
I’ve got a tube of the Nitram liquid charcoal, and a tub of charcoal powder… both great for experimenting with, mixed with the Nitram charcoal batons, as well as the more popular willow charcoal. Water added to these gives you another dimension…
Conte chalk and water blends so well, let’s see what you manage to turn out… be it good, bad, or downright ugly!
Posted
Ugly? MY work, ugly?
YES - it often is; so should it be, and I like it like that. James Fletcher-Watson, normally a painter of limpid and transparent watercolour, referred to his "dirty pictures" - those in which he used his chalks, graphite, crayons, and charcoal. The word we need here is "FUN" - I'm rarely happier than when playing with inks, conté crayon, charcoal, carbon, a bit of oil pastel, water with soluble ink, water with waterproof ink - it may not sell (sometimes it does: my nephew David bought one of my murky ink pictures) but I like them!
(Just to be quite clear here, because so much nuance is lost in cold print - I'm happy with Alan's post and not playing the Deeply Offended of Chorlton-cum-Hardy: Oi loikes a bit o' smut, Oi do - preferably, though, with sooty materials, inky blacks, strong marks, lines, edges, masses, rather than the morally dubious which we all, of course, abjure.)
Posted
That sounds great Robert. I've been doing a bit more drawing recently and some carbon pencils were delivered yesterday. Haven't had a chance to try them out yet. Looking forward to seeing what you create. I'll be interested to know how you go on with the liquid charcoal, something I've been looking at.
Posted
Denise, I haven't yet got liquid charcoal - but I have used water with charcoal, carbon pencil, and conté crayon: I will get liquid charcoal, but for the time being, I'm more than happy with combinations of ink, watersoluble and water resistant, charcoal, carbon, water, slicing into it all with a cut-off credit card, white charcoal and conté, Indian ink, water-based ink, Chinese ink - so many media here, leading to so many and various effects. I'm sure that you, an experimenter in chief, will have tried many of them. Try 'em all - in combination with Indian ink, Chinese ink, Acrylic ink, watercolour, plain water, oil pastel, regular pastel, Mars Lumograph 8B pencils, coloured pencils, conté pencils - obviously (?) using these materials for what effects they can achieve, not because they're a bit different.
Go for those strong strokes, the deep darks, also the subtle touches of tracery over lighter patches: slow down - stop and think: add these strong strokes thoughtfully and gradually: don't get carried away by the understandable desire to add deeper and deeper tone: use the eraser, Tombow or putty-rubber, moulded to a fine edge.
Posted
I have experimented Robert and I do remember using water with charcoal and using the eraser as an important part of creating marks with charcoal, especially creating grasses. I'll be interested in that very article Alan. Here is my collection. I don't have powder or liquid. I find the Derwent pencils are better for blending, yet I also like the Faber-Castell as you seem to get a stronger line and deeper tone with them, that's what I've come across anyway, so I use both.
Posted
Denise, Robert, I bought a tube of the Nitram Liquid Charcoal last year, but was really disappointed with it - according to the description, it should have the consistency of oil paint, but the tube I got was very runny. I put it to one side and haven’t used it. Didn’t want to just throw it away as it was so expensive - if either of you would like it, you’re welcome to have it.
Posted
I've got a tube of Schmincke Liquid Charcoal Peach Stone Black. It makes a great underpainting but did not do anything that India ink does for me without the cost. I thought (in my ignorance) I could erase it like normal charcoal but no. Shocking the price of it today. I paid just over half the price of it now in 2021. I'm keeping my tube as an investment!
Posted
Denise, happy to concede this one to you - I've used water with charcoal, carbon pencil, and crayon for many years - yet don't really feel an urge to try it in liquid form when I can get most of the effects I want without it.
Don't know if you've tried this, but you can get interesting results just by dippin the tip of a carbon pencil in water, then applying it: a lovely play-time awaits!
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