How do I do grave rubbings?

Question

To get rubbings off gravestones and such, how do I do it? What do I use? Charcoal sticks and wax paper??? Tracing paper? Vellum?
???

Answer 1

A great varity of materials will work.

Paper: Should be thick enough to travel well and rolled and unrolled and stand some abuse. A roll of bond would work. Newprint works well but is extremely acidic and will yellow and break down in a short time. Notice a rolled up newspaper in the front yard one morning by afternoon it is already turning.

Rubbing material again can be almost anything. There are specific sticks for rubbings. They look a lot like a block of conte crayon. But a stick of graphite works well. A wide carpenters pencil is good. You need something wide and easy to hold. Not a regular pencil (not enough coverage and can punch hole in paper) If in a pinch, push you hand in the dirt and rub away.

Sprays can be fixatif or hair spray. Not the greatest thing to do but will stabalize for travel. At it's very best doing rubbings is a messy business so understand that going in and you won't be disappointed.

Travel: Take tubes with you labeled clean paper, finished drawings. Take as many tubes as you think you will process. Several drawings can be rolled on one tube. Tissue paper which is acid free can be placed between rubbings when you roll.

STOP: do no damage. these rubbings look fun to you but are the memories of someone who was a Mother, Father, son or daughter to someone. Be respectful.

Also, there are some fun rubbings to be had from the side of buildings, manhole covers, old carved signs.
Look around you!

Answer 2

This will sound odd, but it does work. I was on a field trip once with some 5th graders, and we used regular printer paper, and crayons. You can also use #2 pencils. I did a rubbing off the Vietnam Wall in D.C. with printer paper and a pencil, and it worked fine. The paper doesn't need to be too thick, because that makes rubbing the stone more difficult. but tracing paper might be a little too thin and delicate. Good luck.

Answer 3

Be careful. Some cementaries have had massive damage to their grave stones because of this hobby. So my first suggestion is to get permission at the begining. Second is to use any kind of bond paper and even a black crayon will help with making a rubbing. Practice a bit with other types of signs to get the technique all down and you'll be okay.

Answer 4

newsprint and charcoal stick will give you a good result. crayon will also work. if you use charcoal, put a clear fixative spray on it when you are done so it won't smear. you can get this spray in any art store, as well as large pads of newsprint paper. (i used to go to a local newspaper and they gave me the endrolls of newsprint for free).