• This charcoal drawing is a negative space drawing of the forks on a bike I photographed with a reverse out of the tread pattern before it disappeared into shadow. Unfortunately, I didn’t really think out my composition all that well and the tread looks odd.

This type of drawing is really challenging due to the fugitive nature of charcoal. I posted three “work-in-progress” photos to show how the charcoal tends to chip or fly about with a breath or a movement made in the drawing process. You have to be careful to regularly take the drawing outside and quickly flip it upside down and whack the back of the drawing board to dislodge stray crumbs of charcoal or you will likely end up with a very messy piece. Using a workable spray fixative is absolutely necessary if you don’t have a really, really safe place to store the unfinished piece away from drafts, cats and slamming doors. A permanent fixative is used when you are absolutely sure the piece needs no more work done on it.

I actually thought I would never get this drawing done well. I had several mishaps, aside from struggling to get the perspective right and keep the outline drawing accurate enough that it would translate convincingly when blocked in with the charcoal.

The first warning that things might not go well for me was when I tripped on my threshold entering the house after whacking excess charcoal off early in the block in stage. I went crashing done with my drawing board in hand and managed to save it from hitting the floor and jarring loose dust. It would have been messy. My knee however, did not fair so well. It looks the size of a grapefruit.

Then, again outside for a good whack, the handle on my drawing board breaks and the board goes crashing into the rusty fence on my porch. Fortunately, I caught it before landing face down in the dirt. Lots of dust was jarred loose that time which had to be painstakingly lifted off with a kneaded eraser, being careful not to drag the dust across the paper.

And, of course, the occasional breath that escapes your mouth when filling in large areas with big charcoal sticks can really cause a dust storm.  I was so happy to have come this far, I am going to wait to spray fixative. I want to have a new day with its new positive energy. Spraying can be hazardous as well…