Graphite is only one way to draw. Three other media are worth knowing early, because each behaves differently.
- Charcoal is soft, black and smudgy. Vine or willow charcoal is light and dusts off easily, so it is good for laying in a drawing. Compressed charcoal has a binder: it is darker and harder to erase. Charcoal pencils give more control for details.
- Ink is permanent once dry. You cannot erase it, so you build tone with lines and dots: hatching, cross-hatching and stippling.
- Colored pencil builds color in light layers. Several colors layered lightly mix on the paper. Pressing hard at the end (burnishing) gives a smooth, shiny finish, but then the paper will take few more layers. It is hard to erase fully.
Key idea
Charcoal is dark and smudges; ink cannot be erased; colored pencil goes on in light layers.
Why it works
Each medium sits on the paper in its own way. Charcoal is loose powder caught in the tooth, so a finger or a sleeve can move it. Ink soaks into the fibers and dries there. Colored pencil is pigment in wax or oil, and each layer partly fills the tooth until the paper is full.
Worked example: Planning an ink drawing
Jon wants to draw a tree in ink. How should he start?
- Ink cannot be erased, so mistakes stay.
- Light pencil lines can be erased.
- He draws the tree lightly in pencil, inks over the lines he wants, waits until the ink is fully dry, then erases the pencil.
Answer: Sketch lightly in pencil first, then ink.
Common mistake
People expect charcoal to erase cleanly and ink to be fixable. Charcoal smears and leaves a gray ghost; ink stays. With charcoal, rest your hand on a scrap of paper. With ink, plan in light pencil first.
For practice, any of these is fine on inexpensive paper. Save good paper for drawings you plan to keep.