Lesson video

Hello everyone.

How are you today? I hope you're feeling really great.

My name's Miss Absal and I'll be your art teacher for this lesson.

I'm excited about it because we're going to be working with one of my favourite materials.

This is charcoal.

Have you used charcoal before? How do you find it, do you like it? It's a bit messy, but it's fun.

Today's lesson is called Experiment with Dry Media, Charcoal.

It comes from the unit of work, foundation workshops and introduction to the areas of study.

So you'll need some charcoal, some enthusiasm, some focus.

And with all that, I think we are set to begin.

The outcome for today's lesson is I can use charcoal to create expressive drawings that show contrast, texture and emotion using a range of techniques.

Yes, we are gonna get right into using that charcoal and expressing ourselves.

We have some keywords in our lesson today.

Let's go through them.

Dry media, contrast, smudging and rework.

So what do these words mean? Dry media means art materials that do not use water to activate.

For example, pencil, charcoal, chalk, pastel.

Contrast, this is the difference between light and dark areas in a drawing.

Smudging, it's a technique used to blend charcoal to create soft edges or smooth transitions and rework is to go back into an artwork to change, improve or fix parts of it.

These are our keywords, dry media, contrast, smudging and rework.

Let's look out and listen out for them.

They'll be coming up in today's lesson.

Our lesson is called Experiment with Dry Media, Charcoal, and it consists of two learning cycles.

Record expressively from observation and apply contrast and tone in a drawing.

Let's begin by recording expressively from observation.

Sofia is drawing Jacob, what are the advantages of her selecting dry media like charcoal? Pause a video and share with someone.

I wonder what answers you came up with.

Let's see what we have here.

I can work quickly with charcoal, moving my arm and wrist rather than just my fingers.

Great point, and I like wiping away marks and charcoal and reworking it so the drawing is refined.

I wonder if your answers were similar to these or maybe something different.

Dry media like charcoal allows for loose and expressive marks, ideal for capturing movement and emotion.

Check for understanding.

Which of the following best explains why dry media like charcoal is good for expressive drawing? Is it A, it allows for controlled technical line work only.

B, it cannot be changed once applied to the paper, C, it dries quickly and gives a shiny finish.

Or D, it makes loose marks that show movement.

Pause a video while you decide which of these best explains why dry media like charcoal is good for expressive drawing.

Well done if you selected D.

Indeed, charcoal makes loose marks that show movement and that's why it's great for expressive drawing.

Charcoal lends itself to smudging.

We can achieve smooth tonal gradients through smudging and also depth and mapping of form, as we can see in this detail of a portrait.

Smudging can create smooth gradients and depth, particularly with charcoal.

Pause video and share with someone.

Have you used charcoal before? And if so, did you use smudging as a technique? Thanks for sharing your experiences.

Check for understanding.

What does a smooth tonal gradient show in a drawing? A, a gradual change from light to dark.

B, a sharp line between black and white.

C, a sudden change in colour, or D, a repeated pattern or texture.

Pause video while you decide what a smooth tonal gradient shows in a drawing.

Well done if you select answer A, indeed, a gradual change from light to dark is what a smooth, tonal gradient shows in a drawing.

Take a look at this sketch.

How has smudging been used in this sketch? Have a good look and then share with someone.

Thanks for sharing your responses.

Unwanted parts of the figure have been removed and drawn over and some details have been smudged away, leaving a suggested shape.

So many possibilities for smudging.

Artists can use smudging of dry media to quickly rework a drawing, great sentence with three of our keywords there.

This can help gain more accurate shapes, form and proportion in a drawing.

Dennis Creffields and Denzil Forrester both employ smudging and reworking in their dry media drawings.

And now it's time for your first task.

I would like you to use charcoal and smudging to create and rework a drawing.

So first of all, I'd like you to use vine charcoal to quickly draw your subject.

You should only work for five minutes.

Avoid using a rubber.

Use the charcoal tip and you can select any subject that suits your project or theme.

So pause here while you have a go at using vine charcoal to quickly draw your subject.

So how did you get on with that task of using vine charcoal to quickly draw your subject? there are many possible outcomes, but you might have created something like this.

Look at this quickly drawn sketch of the banana.

Love that, you can really see the expressiveness in those lines.

And here's Jacob, "This is a great start Lucas, I'm impressed by how much you understood and recorded in five minutes." Great point, Jacob.

"I see how your choice of a banana links to your theme of growth and decay." For the next part of your task, I would like you to reflect on your work and smudge away any areas you will refine, think about and respond, are all the shapes and forms accurate? Are all the elements in proportion to each other? Do any specific parts need to be improved? So pause here while you, for the next part of your task, reflect on your work and smudge away any areas that you will refine.

I'll see you when you're finished.

It's good to be back with you.

How did you get on with that part of your task? Reflecting on your work and smudging away any areas that you will rework.

There are many possible outcomes, you might have created something like this.

Really like those smudge marks.

Here's Lucas.

"I need to rework the proportions on a banana and we'll remove those areas with smudging.

I also need to work on the shape of the banana peel." And now for the next part of your task, I would like you to rework your drawing.

You should rework any smudge areas by drawing on top to create accurate shapes, forms and proportions.

Add more details and information into your sketch.

So pause here while you rework your drawing.

All right, how did you get on with reworking your drawing? There are many possible outcomes, you might have created something like this.

I'm loving all the detail on this drawing.

It's really come to life, and here's Sam.

I really like how you've been able to correct the proportions and that the smudging creates a sense of depth.

And now we're onto our next learning cycle, apply contrast and tone in a drawing.

Charcoal is great for expressive, bold lines and rich blacks, perfect for dramatic contrasts and blending.

How can you create a dramatic contrast using charcoal? Pause the video and share with someone.

Well done for sharing your ideas.

Perhaps you said something about those bold lines, rich blacks, perhaps using a rubber to bring out some highlights and create some more of that contrast.

Let's have a check for understanding, why is charcoal well suited for creating dramatic and expressive drawings? Is it A, it can't be blended or smudged.

B, it creates bold lines and deep blacks.

C, it's only good for technical detail or D, it produces faint delicate colours.

Pause the video while you decide, why is charcoal well suited for creating dramatic and expressive drawings? Well done if you selected answer B.

Indeed, charcoal creates bold lines and deep blacks and that really supports us in creating dramatic and expressive drawings.

Large differences between very dark and very light tone can create dramatic high contrast imagery.

Tone can be achieved by pressing firmly.

Crosshatching, crosshatching is where we have lines going in one direction and then in the other direction.

So both vertical and horizontal, and smudging.

What other ways can you create high contrast tone? Pause the video and share with someone.

Thanks for sharing your ideas.

Charcoal can come in different forms, pause the video and share with someone, do you know any of the different forms that charcoal can come in? Thanks for sharing your ideas.

Let's take a look at some of these different forms of charcoal.

Perhaps you talked about this fine charcoal, which creates soft, smudgable marks.

Compressed charcoal achieves very dark tones, which are harder to remove.

And charcoal pencil allows for fine details.

So these are some of the different forms the charcoal comes in.

Many artists use high contrast in their drawings to create mood, including Kathe Kollwitz's "Self-portrait", 1934, is a high contrast charcoal work and showcases her mastery in using deep blacks and stark whites to convey intense emotion and psychological depth.

Toyin Ojih Odutola's "The Listener", 2021, uses white and pale tone sparingly on a black background to create an evocative portrait.

Do you know of any other artists employing high contrast to create mood, pause the video and share with someone.

Thanks for sharing your ideas.

Some believe that charcoal is not suitable for detailed work.

However, charcoal can also be controlled for fine detail.

Fine detail is added with thin charcoal tip.

Smudging creates smooth tonal ranges and a rubber can remove tone for highlights.

So we really can create fine detail using charcoal.

Let's have a check for understanding, true or false? Charcoal can only be used for loose, messy drawings and it's not suitable for detailed work.

Pause the video and decide if this is true or false.

Well done if you selected false.

And now I'd like you to say a little more about your answer.

Pause the video while you do this.

Perhaps you said something like this.

With practise, charcoal can be controlled to create fine detail as well as expressive marks.

Think about using a rubber to remove marks, rotating the charcoal to gain different thicknesses or masking areas with paper.

And now it's time for the next part of your task.

I would like you to rework your charcoal drawing, applying tone and contrast to express mood.

You should add fine detail with a thin charcoal tip.

Apply charcoal techniques to build a broad tonal range and blend charcoal with smudging to create smooth tonal ranges.

Use a rubber to remove tone to create sharp, clear highlights and use compressed charcoal for dark tones.

Pause here while you rework your charcoal drawing, applying tone and contrast to express mood.

It's great to be back with you.

How did you get on with reworking your charcoal drawing, applying tone and contrast to express mood.

There are many possible outcomes, you might have created something like this.

Take a look at this piece of artwork and can you share with someone any places where you've noticed fine detail being added with charcoal tip, pause the video while you do this.

Fantastic, thanks for sharing.

Perhaps you can see areas like the skin of the banana that's got some fine detail on it.

Pause the video and share with someone.

Can you see any areas where the charcoal has been smudged and blended to create a smooth tonal range? Pause the video and share with someone where you can see this.

Well done if you spotted how the charcoal has been smudged around the outline of the banana towards the top of the image on the right hand side.

And now can you share with someone where a rubber has been used to remove some of the charcoal and create highlights.

Pause the video and share with someone.

Thanks for sharing your responses.

Perhaps you talked about highlights on the surface of the banana and there are some highlights on the plate as well.

And finally, can you share with someone where compressed charcoal might have been used to create some darker tones? Pause the video while you do this.

Thanks for sharing your responses.

And here's Izzy, "Lucas, this high contrast drawing communicates your theme of growth and decay as the detail in the peel and black spots are really effective." Great feedback from Izzy there and well done for all your observations about this drawing as well.

And I hope you enjoyed giving feedback to each other about your drawings.

In a lesson Experiment with Dry Media, Charcoal, we have covered the following.

Dry media like charcoal allows for loose and expressive marks ideal for capturing movement and emotion.

Smudging can create smooth gradients and depth, particularly with charcoal.

Artists can use smudging of dry media to quickly rework a drawing.

Charcoal can create expressive, bold lines and rich blacks, which is effective for dramatic contrasts and blending.

Charcoal can also be controlled for fine detail.

Well done everyone for joining in with this lesson.

It was great to explore and experiment with charcoal together.

I love how you built up your drawing in stages until you got to this place of using smudging, the tip of the charcoal for fine detail, perhaps adding darker tones through compressed charcoal and creating highlights by rubbing away some of the tone with a rubber.

It's been a great lesson.

I've really enjoyed spending time with you, and I hope you've enjoyed experimenting with charcoal.

I look forward to seeing you at another art lesson soon.

In the meantime, stay creative.