Charcoal powder is a very exciting and versatile medium that can create a number of different effects. But it can also be pretty messy if you are not careful. Let look at some different ways of drawing with charcoal powder.

Background Effects with Powdered Charcoal

Powdered charcoal is one of my favorite ways of creating abstract or impressionistic background for a realistic subject. The idea is to carefully draw something realistic, such as a portrait, and then create an exciting abstract background that really functions as a means to enhance the primary subject.

In this case, powdered charcoal will not be applied until the end. It can be applied in any number of ways, including a chamois, a charcoal sachet, a soft brush, a hake brush, a paper towel, a make-up sponge, or even your finger.

Each technique will give slightly different results. You can also combine application techniques. A chamois will tend to pick up as much charcoal as it lays down. Brushes and sachets will lay down a nice amount of charcoal depending on how much pressure you use. For ultra-smooth applications try a makeup sponge dipped in powdered charcoal.

After you lay the charcoal down you can soften or even erase different areas until you arrive at the background design you desire. You can also spray alcohol or acetone onto the charcoal for wet effects.

Positive Drawing with Powdered Charcoal

You can use powdered charcoal to draw your subject, especially subjects that have soft edges such as clouds or hair. The application methods are the same as listed above or any others that you can think of. Loading a brush with powdered charcoal allows you to paint the charcoal onto the paper, brush marks and all.

This technique works well for subjects that are defined by dark values such as trees or dark hair. And charcoal is great for dark subjects because soft or compressed charcoal can achieve very dark values that remain flat, without the glare you get with graphite.

For precise subjects lightly sketch or draw the subject with a vine charcoal, then process by applying the powdered charcoal with a brush or make-up sponge. As long as the vine charcoal was lightly applied, you should be able to easily blend it into the powdered charcoal.

Negative Drawing with Powered Charcoal

This technique involves applying powered charcoal lightly to a larger section of the paper and then erasing parts of the charcoal to reveal the lighter values of the subject. You can use almost anything to apply the charcoal, but just make sure you don't rub the charcoal into the paper too much and make it unerasable. Gentle applications are the name of the game.

My personal favorite application method is a charcoal sachet. I like to lightly tap and spread the powder onto the paper, creating an interesting abstract pattern. The sachet is perfect for this technique as it doesn't rub the charcoal into the paper, so it remains easy to erase.

At this point, I'll use a badger hair brush (or imitation badger hair) and a kneaded eraser and start erasing charcoal to reveal the light parts of the subject. The eraser is good for complete removal of the charcoal and the brush works well for subtle erasing and lightening of the values.

Depending on your subject, you will want to refine the shapes are you erasing and creating with some vine or even compressed charcoal. Just be aware that once you put compressed charcoal down, it's almost impossible to completely erase. An electric eraser is great for erasing thin shapes or for precise drawing with an eraser.

As you proceed, you should start to see the subject emerge from the darkness. Consider stopping before you have the subject completely rendered. This will add a bit of mystery and interest to your drawing.

Powdered Charcoal as Paint

You can use powdered charcoal almost as you would paint. Just dip a soft brush into the jar of charcoal and begin applying beautiful, dark strokes that are very easy to manipulate, soften and erase. You can also sprinkle some powder on the paper and use the brush to spread it around. Just be aware that no matter how much you brush or spread around, some of the powder will not adhere to the paper. To get rid of this, just blow it off the paper, or fan it off with another piece of paper.

The sky is the limit as to what you can do. If you want precision, you can combine this technique with vine or compressed charcoal as well as wet techniques by applying acetone.

Creating Your Own Powdered Charcoal

While there are plenty of good brands of pre-made powdered charcoal on the market, you can also create your own charcoal powder by rubbing a piece of vine charcoal on some sandpaper and placing the powder in a clean, dry jar. The nice thing about this approach is you can create different tones of powder depending on the type of charcoal you use, whether it be soft, medium, hard, etc.

I recommend using a fine sandpaper when creating your own powdered charcoal so that the results are as fine as possible.

Subjects that Work Well with Powdered Charcoal

Powdered charcoal lends itself very well to certain subject matter. Let's look at a some of these subjects.

Drawing Atmosphere

Given its incredible ability to create soft edges and gradients, powdered charcoal is perfect for atmospheric effects such as fog or haze. Try blending with a hake brush or for ultra-smooth gradients try a make-up sponge.

Drawing Smoke

The next logical subject would be drawing smoke. Dark smoke would require just applying the charcoal and smoothing it out to your liking, but what about white smoke? Try applying a light layer of powdered charcoal to the area that will surround the smoke, then use a kneaded eraser to erase out the smoke, softening and blending with a stump, brush or sachet.

Drawing Clouds

Similar to smoke, but with more structure. Powdered charcoal can work great for clouds. You can use the same technique described above for how to draw smoke, or if drawing on toned paper you can carefully combine white and powdered charcoal. Click here to see my article on how to draw clouds for more ideas.

Drawing Grass

You may not think of grass as something to draw with powdered charcoal but it actually works really well! When you look at grass, you rarely see the individual blades, but rather a mass with some texture made up of an assortment of lines.

Use powdered charcoal to create the mass of tone, apply with a hake brush, then use sharpened vine charcoal to indicate some dark lines and/or an electric eraser with a sharpened tip to erase light lines into the charcoal. Click here to check out this video I made showing this technique.

Drawing Hair and Fur

Similar to the technique used for drawing grass, powdered charcoal can be used to draw hair or fur. The great thing is that you can imply the lost edges you will often get with hair that borders an area with the same value, or fur that gets very soft and undefined in certain areas. Once again, try applying with a hake brush, then use vine or compressed charcoal for dark lines and an electric eraser for light lines.

Drawing Soft Skin Tones

Vine charcoal be get pretty soft, but powdered charcoal applied with a makeup sponge gets about as soft as I've seen with any dry media. Apply the charcoal with a small or large makeup sponge.

Drawing Fast

Powdered charcoal can cover a large area of paper very quickly and easily, much more than pencil. The effects you can achieve are much greater than what most graphite can offer.

Jason Tako is a nationally known fine artist who specializes in western, wildlife, plein air, and Historical Native American subject matter. He spent his learning years sketching the wetlands and wooded areas of rural Minnesota. He has been featured in Plein Air Magazine and Western Art Collector Magazine and he was the Featured Artist for the 2020 Southeastern Wildlife Expo. See his work at www.JasonTako.com and his demonstrations on his YouTube Channel.