Charcoal (art)

Artists' charcoal is a form of dry art medium made of finely ground organic materials that are held together by a gum or wax binder; which can also be produced without the use of binders by eliminating the oxygen inside the material during the production process. These charcoals are often used by artists for their versatile properties such as the rough texture that leaves marks less permanent than other art media. It can produce lines that are very light or intensely black while being easily removable and vulnerable to leave stains on paper. The dry medium can be applied to almost any surface from smooth to a very coarse. Fixatives are often used with charcoal drawings to solidify the positions to prevent erasing or rubbing off of charcoal dusts.

The method to create artists' charcoal is much similar to that of charcoal used throughout different types of fields such as producing gunpowder and cooking fuel. Therefore the type of wood material and preparation method allows different variation of charcoal to be produced.

There are various types and uses of charcoal as an art medium, but the commonly used types are: Compressed, Vine, and Pencil.

Compressed charcoal (also referred as charcoal sticks) is shaped into a block or form of a stick. Intensity of the shade is determined by hardiness. The amount of gum or wax binders used during the production process affects the hardiness. Soft hardiness leaves intensely black markings while Hard hardiness leave light markings.

Vine charcoal is a long and thin piece of charcoal stick that is the result of burning sticks or vines in a kiln without air. The removable properties of vine charcoal from dusting and erasing is favored by artists for making preliminary sketches or basic composition. This also makes vine charcoal less suitable for creating detailed images.

Charcoal pencils are compressed charcoals that are wrapped with a layer of wood. The design of charcoal pencils are similar to that of graphite pencils while keeping intact with the properties of charcoal. Often used for fine and crisp detailed drawings while keeping the user's hand from being marked during its use.

Other types of artists' charcoal such as charcoal crayons were developed during the 19th century and used by caricaturists.Charcoal powders are used to create patterns and pouncing, a transferring method of patterns from one surface to another.

There are variation of each types of artists' charcoal that range in shading and hardiness. Production from different companies varies due to additional materials that are included such as clay.

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