Compressed charcoal is made by mixing charcoal powder with grease and wax binders. It produces dark, bold marks that cannot easily be erased. It varies in texture according to the blend of charcoal, clay and fillers used. If you’re working with charcoal you may come across tinted ‘White Charcoal’ pencils. Technically these aren’t ‘true’ charcoal as they are made up of white pigment and binder, but they can be used alongside charcoal in your artwork. If you are working solely with charcoal, try out as many types as possible to see what types of marks you can achieve with them. Using combinations of natural and compressed charcoals will allow you to explore a broader range of shades. Graphite turns out to be an excellent conductor of heat and electricity, even in small quantities. In fact it's often used in motors. And because of its hexagonal molecular structure, graphite slides easily across other graphite molecules, making it an excellent dry lubricant. Graphite is found in artists' materials and pencils, in various ratios of graphite to clay (which binds it together); a 2H would have a higher clay content, while a 2B would have more graphite. Standard traditional graphite is by far the most common choice for most artists. Coloured graphite pencils are also available, and allow you to add a hint of colour to your sketches. Manufacturers make these pencils from a blend of graphite powder as well as small amounts of pigment. Both the Derwent Graphitint and Caran d’Ache Technalo RGB are examples of tinted graphite. Typically these pencils create subtle colour that retains the reflective quality of graphite. Water Soluble Graphite

A variety of graphite tools are available – each bringing their own unique working properties to your art. Graphite Pencils Liquid graphite is an exciting media to use for creating wash-like effects with your drawings. Diluted with water, very effective and beautiful tints can be layered to darken tones. This was created en plein air. Different types of drawing media explained Ancient Hawthorns – Honister Pass, The Lake District, mixed-media drawing with Wallace Seymour Liquid Graphite on Canson Moulin du Roy Not 140lb (300gsm), (51x56cm) Graphite is an allotrope ( different structural form) of the element carbon. Although both Graphite and Charcoal are carbon based, the atomic structure of each varies quite dramatically. In graphite, carbon has a uniform arrangement, in distinct layers. Between these layers are very weak chemical bonds. As you draw, these weak bonds break allowing each layer to effortlessly leave the main graphite crystal. This property is how pencils glide so easily over your paper. They leave marks from tiny shards of graphite sheared from the main crystal. How do you make Graphite?

2. Art Graf Water-Soluble Graphite

Robert Dutton is a UK ambassador for Canson papers and Nitram Charcoal and an associate artist for Unison Colour pastels and Derwent. He has won awards for his work and is a popular tutor, leading a number of creative painting and drawing holidays and short breaks in the UK and Europe. For more information, visit www.rdcreative.co.uk Working with graphite and charcoal can be a really rewarding experience. Here are some hints and tips to help you get the most out of these mediums: Liquid charcoal (see above). Without doubt one of the most exciting media for artists keen on exploring expressive drawing techniques is liquid charcoal. Wallace Seymour Original Liquid Charcoal (60ml tube) and Nitram Liquid Charcoal (50ml tube) are both excellent. Use to create fantastic expressive drawings and tonal painting effects. Draw from life. Join a life-drawing class. There is nothing better to sharpen your creative drawing skills. It is much messier than Graphite to work with. Even if you use Charcoal pencils you will still find that they generate more dust than graphite.

Use an eraser wisely. There are no mistakes, only your thinking process. Enjoy your explorations and communicate what you see – let all your marks show. Autumn Woodland, Rydal Hall, Lake District, mixed-media drawing on white Canson Mi-Teintes Touch pastel paper, (50x65cm) They are found in the same variety of hardnesses as compressed charcoal ranging from extra soft to hard, also referred to as 6B to HB.Extra precision is maintained by keeping the pencils sharp. Derwent’s wonderful lightweight desk sharpener has not disappointed me yet and remains sharp. Since I’ve owned one I find I use far more wooden pencils, of all sorts. Charcoal has a considerably different chemical structure than Graphite, despite both being made from carbon. The make-up of charcoal is much more non-uniform and irregular. The structure folds in on itself, which gives charcoal its soft, crumbly texture. This structure not also makes charcoal a fantastic drawing tool, but also makes it suitable for other applications like filtering. How do you make Charcoal? When working from photographs make A4 print-outs so that you see all the detail – but don’t copy it all! Add to and subtract from the scene to make more drama. Remember why you took it in the first place. Evoke those feelings in your drawing.

Graphite Pencils are the most popular drawing and sketching tool. They have a wooden barrel which holds the graphite strip. This makes the graphite easy to control, sharpen and means you’re less likely to get messy hands. There are many ranges of graphite pencil available, with most offering a considerable range of grades. You can buy them both individually and in sets – sets are great for beginners, while individual pencils allow you to replace your favourites and tailor your collection to your specific needs. The word pencil comes from the latin ‘pencillus’ that means little tail and originally referred to a small brush used for working in ink during the medieval times. Our modern pencils earnt this name by having a wooden pencil and a small pointed tip like a tiny brush, or ‘pencillus’, would have.

What is Graphite

Limit your drawing periods to just one hour (or less). This will force you to focus on the essence of the composition and create freer, looser drawings filled with excitement. Mechanical and Clutch Pencils are plastic and/or metal barrels into which you insert a graphite lead. You feed through the leads to the tip of the pencil by repeatedly pressing the button at the top of the barrel. Charcoal and Graphite both bring different properties to your work. Beginners may find it useful to weigh up the pros and cons of using both drawing materials, before settling on one to start with. Charcoal Pros As you build up your confidence using graphite and charcoal separately, you could move onto combining them both in a drawing. Using both materials alongside each other can create an interesting contrast between matte and reflective areas.

Get straight to the point! Keep your pencils sharp with the Derwent Manual Super Point Helical blade sharpener. Sketch, sketch and sketch! The more you draw the more confident you will be as an artist. Good drawing means great painting. By combining different drawing media you can both draw and paint, keeping your options open and your work progressing in exciting directions. These ruins are in an area of the Pennines I know well and I never tire of them. Returning to the same motif is never boring – connections become deeper, drawings become stronger and emotional responses to the subject are all the better for it.Much easier to create broad, expressive marks, so may be more suitable for beginners working on a large scale.