Know where to get good charcoals?

Question

I like drawing, but am constantly using just mechanical pencils and I have no skill at shading whatsoever. So my question is, does anyone know of a good brand of charcoals for drawing or a good place to find them? Preferably something not so cheap that they fall apart or rub off too easily, and not so expensive that I go bankrupt buying them.

Answer 1

a store dedicated solely to artist materials
paints,brushes,canvas etc
will have them for sale
try a search for >retail artist materials uk/usa<
or wherever your country is
and narrow down your search to a store nearest to you

Answer 2

If you have a local college, do visit the bookstore where they will have supplies. Charcoals come in stick, condensed stick charcoals, willow-stick and also pencils. The pencils work great, but will break sometimes when you sharpen them. The willow will work ok, but they have a tendincy to leave hard scratches or lines on your paper. Of course you already know that they DO smudge and make a mess. Don't blow the dust, it will make your paper look bad and is sooo hard to remove! [experiment with tissues and a little piece of chamois to 'blend' your charcoal for shading practices, used fabric sheets will work in a pinch, too.]

There are a variety of 'helps' on the 'net if you look into how to do shading. Your best bet is to get some practical experience and 'doodle' with your charcoals on a variety of papers. Most charcoals will cost only a few $$, like under $7. The hairspray can work, but I've found it to stain my papers yellow for some reason and leave the paper wrinkled. Be sure that you use the spray outside and in a non-windy location. Becareful too, so that you don't 'blast' the charcoal dust with the spray, to protect your picture! Have fun!

Answer 3

I used to like working with charcoal pencils. They came with a paper wrapping, looking like big fat pencils. Less mess on the fingers and, as the charcoal at the tip got used up, the paper peeled off in curly strips, exposing fresh charcoal as it used up.

I have to say that they are a LOT more expensive than the cheap, irregualar shaped charcoal sticks.

As far as rubbing off, that is the nature of charcoal. The same qualities that make charcoal such a good medium is the fact that the artist can rub and blend for shading, and lift off excess with a kneaded eraser.

One suggestion is for you to explore conte' crayons, or oil pastels. Conte' crayon is a harder, very slightly waxy stick that works similarly to charcoal, but does not blend as easily. It can still be smudged, but not as easy. Oil pastels are like a cross between Crayola crayons and the chalk-like pastels.

Both of these solutions are more expensive than ANY charcoal products you can find. All of these can be found at art supply stores and most hobby and craft shops.

Answer 4

Charcoals rub off by nature. That is why they are so great for shading. A spray fixative (AquaNet Hairspray works great) will secure the charcoal when finished.

Every artist is different. Try out different brands and types.

Vine charcoal is good for a preliminary sketch. Conte is more solid , but does not blend as easily. Pencil charcoals are great for fine lines. Wolf black is the darkest black. A blender stub will help with your pencile issues. Lightly shade and blend with the stub. Darken with the wolf black pencil wherever needed.

Experiment! The very substance is by nature, rubbable.

Answer 5

The answers above are good ones, but you can also learn to shade with mechanical pencils with hatching, drawing short parallel lines close together to indicate darker shadow or spaced a little apart to indicate less shadow. Another method is stippling, this is a gazillion of dots. Placed very close together would make a darker shadow and so on.
Remember too, that you can buy mechanical pencil leads in different with degrees of hard and softness. The standard lead is 2H. An art supply store will have them in "B" for softness versus "H" for hard. The softer the B lead, the higher the number and so on.