Category Archives: Drawing Tools

Fixative

Posted on July 17, 2011 by | Leave a comment

If you’ve ever drawn with charcoal you know it can get messy.

The charcoal that leaves such a great mark on your paper will also leave marks on your hands, and the charcoal dust will drift down the page, onto your easel and the floor. Because the charcoal powder is not fixed on your page you can use it to great effect by using an (already dirty) finger, or cloth or tissue, to smudge and smear the charcoal to create tone and shading.

But if you want to preserve a drawing, or even make your drawing easier, you may want to consider using fixative.

Spray fixative for fixing charcoal drawings

Fixative comes in spray form. You simply point and spray over your picture. The instructions on the can recommend you spray from side to side, ranging over your picture, and then repeat at a cross angle to ensure coverage. It dries in seconds, and the charcoal on your picture is then “fixed”. You can draw your finger over the drawing but the charcoal remains in place.

You may want to consider cleaning up your drawing before fixing. Not too much cleaning though, as the mess often adds to the character of the drawing! I fixed a few old drawings recently, and used a kneadable eraser just to clean up some of the margin area which had become smudged.

You can also use fixative to help keep a drawing clean and fresh while you are working on it. For example, if you had some dark lines or tone on your drawing, and you were concerned that your hand was going to smudge this as you continued drawing, you could fix that part in place before continuing. If you’re in a class make sure you ask first – this stuff has quite a strong (but not unpleasant) smell.

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Figure Drawing Tools # 2 – Shading your Paper

Posted on March 16, 2011 by | Leave a comment

When learning how to draw figures we often start with a blank sheet of white paper, and something to draw with.  That approach will take your drawings in a particular direction, perhaps making you focus more on line, than tone.

The figures you draw will be in differing surroundings and in differing lighting arrangements.  The model may be well lit, or have a lot of shadow.  You may wish to emphasise the shadows on the model, or a dark background.

Preparing your paper with a background of tone can help you take your drawing in a different direction, helping you to focus on tone first, rather than as an afterthought.  The darker tones can become a more integral part of your drawing – before you even start drawing the model.

To do this, use the side of a piece of charcoal to scrub tone all over your paper. Try using willow charcoal to do this.  Willow charcoal has a lighter tone than compressed charcoal.  This will allow you to use compressed charcoal to create line and darker tone on your drawing as it develops.  You can also use your kneadable eraser to pull the light willow charcoal off the page to reveal highlights.

Your aim here is provide a background on which you can build other tones.

Preparing your paper this way will not be right for all drawings, but it is one of the tools in your artists toolbox you can call on when needed.

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Figure Drawing Tools # 1 – Kneadable Eraser

Posted on February 14, 2011 by | Leave a comment

The kneadable eraser was something of a mystery to me until I attended my first life drawing class and learnt how to use it.

The kneadable eraser works exceptionally well with charcoal. It operates in a different way to the kind of rubber pencil eraser we have probably all used. The pencil eraser abrades away the pencil marks, and perhaps some of the underlying paper, and some of the eraser itself. The kneadable eraser operates by absorbing the charcoal – the particles of charcoal are lifted from the paper, and stick to and become embedded within the eraser.

Over time the pristine white eraser will become black with the charcoal it has lifted. But you can continue to use the eraser for a surprisingly long time. I tend to use some of my older, grubbier pieces for any heavy duty work, and use a newer, cleaner piece for cleaning up lighter areas.

Why kneadable? Because you squash and re-squash the eraser in your fingers until it is soft and the shape you want it to be. When you have used it to clean an area of your drawing, knead the eraser to absorb the charcoal, and re-use.

Because the eraser is malleable you can shape it as you please – for example you can shape a fine point to clean a small area.

And the eraser is not just there to correct mistakes. (I hope you’re not correcting mistakes in your drawings anyway!). Use the eraser as a drawing tool. It is perfect for cleaning up areas of highlight on your figures, revealing the clean paper underneath. Used this way you can create stark contrasts.

Here is an example where a kneadable eraser has been used to clean up any stray charcoal to create clean white highlights:

So, if you haven’t used your beautiful, square, mint-condition eraser, now is the time to have fun tearing it up, squishing it, kneading it, and getting it dirty!

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