Blog Post #4: Charcoal (Pencils)
For this blog I chose to compare two, charcoal pencil brands. One of which is professional quality, while the other is more so on the introductory level type. I’ve personally worked mainly with straight charcoal and chalk, so I thought it would be a neat experience to try using them in pencil form; I wanted to see if there was any particular difference(s).
Derwent vs. Art Alternatives
Derwent
Price: $7.91
Package: Comes with three grades of charcoal pencils: light, medium, dark. Additionally, a tinted charcoal (white) pencil is included.
Quality: Professional
Age Level (suggested): High School and Up; 15+
Experience: This brand of charcoal pencil was very smooth and very easy to blend. For the price of this product, I believe it is worth, especially since it comes with a white, tinted charcoal pencil that helps with shading/value study; similar to how charcoal is used with chalk.
Throughout this exploration, three different types of paper was used: charcoal (brown/tan), pastel (light, gray-blue) and bristol board (white).
Art Alternatives
Price: $12.99
Package: Comes tin, three grades of woodless, charcoal pencils (soft, medium, hard), two compressed charcoal sticks (soft & hard) and a blending stump
Quality: Beginner
Age Level (suggested): Middle School (possibly); 12+
Experience: I personally found this brand to be a little more difficult to work with and blend. As I was testing out the material, it seemed as if there was a kind of resistance which made me apply more pressure onto the pencils, compared to the Derwent brand that did’t require much pressure application. However, with that being said, I think this would be a good starting kit for early ages to explore with. Due to its durability, waste would be limited and the kids would still gain a decent amount of experience with [the] charcoal media.
Overall Experience
Working with charcoal pencils has shown me quite a few similarities and differences from other, various materials that I’ve previously used; like in [my] Blogs #2 & #3. While testing this media, I referred to Mary Hafeli’s, Exploring Studio Materials, as a guide on how to execute these processes. Through these videos, you’ll see that I’ve even attempted to apply water onto the charcoal through a rough sketch, drawing, and shading exercises which felt similar to when I experimented with watercolor pencils; main difference was color. Additionally, I tried two different erasing/subtracting methods; using a kneaded eraser and a chamois. For those of you who enjoy using chalk & charcoal, I would definitely recommend giving charcoal pencils a try. It’s definitely less messy, and it may change your media preference. Personally, I would stick to straight chalk & charcoal because, for me, it feels less constricted due to its fluidity; it’s less resistance compared to the pencil version.