At the very first open studio, or “drink-n-draw”, that I attended in Nashville, TN, I truly had no clue what to bring or what to do. The moderator at the the Channel to Channel Studio and Gallery, where it was held, was a very kind and patient artist named Dustin Hedrick, who gave me some sketch paper and a couple pieces of compressed charcoal. Before the next session, I made sure to run to Hobby Lobby and get my own sticks of compressed charcoal, as well as some other supplies, and with the exception of experimenting occasionally with some other mediums, like graphite pencil, charcoal pencils, etc., the compressed charcoal has been my primary medium ever since. That changed recently when I enrolled in the Introduction to Pencil Drawing class, where, obviously, our only medium is pencil, but I still like to have fun with charcoal when I have the chance.
At the open studio workshop at The Plastic Club tonight, I decided to run down the street to Blick Art Supplies before the session started to pick up some vine charcoal. After a recent conversation with another artist, he suggested using vine instead of compressed charcoal because it had a more “painterly” feel and texture. HE also mentioned that it was much easier to erase, smudge, and manipulate. So, I thought tonight would be the perfect time to try it out, and, after only using it one time, I can honestly say – I’m in love.
It took me by surprise how easily the vine charcoal went on, and off, the page. I could erase a line simply by rubbing it off with my finger. That became a problem when I would frequently and unintentionally lean the side of my hand on the page, taking off half the drawing. But, after a few minor adjustments to my drawing style, I fell in love with the dark, contrasty look of the strokes, and the ease of creating different values with just one piece of charcoal, as opposed to needing a whole set of graphite pencils in order to get a broad set of values with that medium. I have very limited experience with painting, but the charcoal did feel much like paint would feel going on to the page.
I was somewhat happy with the results tonight, but I know, like any other artistic medium, vine charcoal requires a great deal of practice in order to create a finished product that exhibits the skills needed to create a work of art.
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