Charcoal Drawing

This work has been around since around 1050 and has gone through several reprints which should validate its usefulness. It is one of those works that while "old" remains timeless. I have had a copy of this one since the mid 1970s and still find it quite useful. This is not a compete course in drawing, far from it. The author goes under the assumption that at least the basics are known to the reader. The emphasis of this entire work is on the use of charcoal and a media. Now everyone uses such books to their own advantage and for their own reasons. I paint and I photograph but I do not draw per se. I find though that the ability to use the media of charcoal makes me much more aware of shades. You are dealing in pure black and white and thousands of shades between. The book covers various exercises, kinds of charcoal, drawing surfaces, tonal values, light and shadows, one and two point perspective and gives several wonderful little lessons in drawing trees, greenery, water, rocks, skies, clouds, buildings, cities, interiors, people and animals. I personally do not use all these little lessons, but rather focus on the tonal values and light and shadows in relationship to trees, greenery, rocks and other natural objects. I find that if I set and draw say a group of rocks, over and over again during different times during the day, I become more and more award of the numerous (too numerous to count) shades in play at any given time. I do the same for a tree, group of plants or simply a hill side. The drawing itself is rather secondary for me, which is lucky, as I am not very good at it, but the lessons I learn about shading are invaluable when it comes to painting and photographing. I suppose I use this work more as an exercise book for awareness more than anything else. I do find the technical advice, such as types of charcoal and types of surfaces quite useful. The various techniques the author gives us is also most useful as it provides the knowledge as to how to get the tonal values you are seeking. This is a very good book. It is probably of greater use to the more advanced student but if the student has never used charcoal, then it is of value to any level. This is a good one to add to your collection. Don Blankenship The Ozarks