Drawing is a creative expression for humans since cave paintings of prehistory. In art, anything making a mark is a drawing tool. Anything that takes a mark is a drawing surface. Here are eleven favorite artistic drawing media for artists and art lovers.
1. Graphite
Origin and Historical Facts
In the 4th millennium BCE, during the Neolithic Age in southeastern Europe, the Marița culture use graphite in a ceramic paint for decorating pottery. As it occurs naturally in metamorphic rocks it's sometimes used in ancient glazes for a pearly shimmer.
Graphite emerges as a prominent drawing medium in the late 16th century, with origin and notable developments in England. Discovery of a large graphite deposit in Borrowdale, Cumbria leads to its use for marking sheep.
As no one knows what it is, locals call it "black lead" and the name sticks. This ultimately evolves into the drawing media of today. There is no lead in graphite; it's made of carbon.
Properties and Creation
Making of graphite for drawing is done by mixing powdered graphite with clay and firing it in a kiln. The ratio of graphite to clay determines hardness of the pencil or drawing stick.
Soft pencils have higher graphite content and produce darker lines. Hard ones have more clay and make lighter marks. They can be found in a wide range of hardness for artists.
Suitability for Drawing
Graphite is praised for versatility. It allows for precise lines, shading, and detailing, making it ideal for technical drawings, sketches, and realistic portraits. Graphite is a leading drawing medium today. Artists use graphite for detailed sketches and drawings.
Graphite drawing is straightforward. With a pencil and paper, artists can experiment with different hardness levels to produce varied textures and tonal qualities. For example, using a 2B pencil yields darker lines, perfect for deep shadows in portraits, while an H pencil can create fine, light lines, ideal for delicate details.
2. Charcoal
Origin and Historical Facts
Charcoal use goes back to prehistoric times. Charcoal gains significant popularity during the Renaissance, with artists using it for preliminary sketches.
Properties and Creation
Charcoal is made by burning wood in low oxygen to create a blackened carbon material. The resulting medium can be soft or hard, allowing for various depths of darkness.
Suitability for Drawing
Charcoal is especially well-suited for expressive drawings due to its rich, deep tones and ability to blend smoothly. It’s often employed in life drawing and expressive portraiture.
It produces rich, deep blacks and a broad spectrum of tones, making it a historical favorite.
Artists like Edgar Degas use charcoal for its expressive capabilities. Its suitability for sweeping gestures and deep contrasts can evoke powerful emotions in art.
To create a charcoal drawing, artists use charcoal sticks or pencils, blending and layering to achieve depth. For instance, a layered approach can create a lifelike depiction of a figure in motion, where spontaneous strokes convey energy and dynamism.
3. Red Chalk (Sanguine)
Origin and Historical Facts
Red chalk, or sanguine, is used since the 15th century during the Italian Renaissance. Artists like Raphael and Michelangelo favor it for its warm tone enabling realistic human skin tones.
Properties and Creation
Red chalk is made from iron oxide and clay, it produces tones from golden orange to red to reddish brown, with a soft, rich texture when applied on paper. It can be easily blended, making it ideal for detailed work.
Suitability for Drawing
Red chalk excels in life drawing and portraits due to its warmth. Its versatility allows for both fine lines and expressive shading. Artists like Raphael and Michelangelo used this medium for its ability to create both soft and bold lines.
This medium lets artists sketch quick ideas or depict the subtleties of human musculature. For instance, layering red chalk can convey volumes in figure studies, allowing artists to portray the play of light over the body.
4. White Chalk
Origin and Historical Facts
White chalk has been used for centuries, primarily in conjunction with other media or dark papers. In its clay form, kaolinite, it's ground into white powder or made into chalk sticks. It becomes prominent during the Renaissance for highlights and mixed media techniques.
Properties and Creation
White chalk is a soft earth material often used in its naturally occurring form or processed into sticks. White chalk pairs well with black charcoal, offering striking contrasts in figure drawing and portraiture, or red chalk in highlights.
Suitability for Drawing
White chalk is ideal for creating highlights and contrasts on colored paper, enhancing the visual impact of various artworks.
Artists such as Giovanni Battista Tiepolo employed it to create luminous highlights. Unlike regular chalk, the transparency of white chalk adds a unique quality when layered over other media, enhancing the artwork's depth.
5. Chalk Pastels
Origin and Historical Facts
Chalk pastels emerge in the late 16th century, particularly in France. Artists sought a medium that provided the softness of chalk while delivering vibrant colors. Chalk pastels gain popularity in the 18th century for their vibrant colors and soft application.
Properties and Creation
Chalk pastels consist of pure powdered pigments mixed with a binder and compressed into sticks. This combination results in rich, vibrant shades that can be blended easily.
Made from powdered pigment and binder, they allow detailed work and smooth blending. Artists like Edgar Degas and Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin use them to achieve a painterly quality in their drawings.
Suitability for Drawing
Chalk pastels are suited for expressive work, allowing for smooth gradients and soft edges. They are popular in portraiture and landscape paintings.
They excel in color layering and capturing subtleties of light. For example, in landscape drawing, artists can combine varied shades to create realistic skies and water reflections.
6. Silverpoint
Origin and Historical Facts
Silverpoint emerges strongly in the Early Renaissance as a drawing medium. Although its use is traced back to antiquity, it's most popular in the 15th and 16th centuries in Europe. Artists turned to silverpoint for its fine details and subtle gradations.
Properties and Creation
Silverpoint is well-known for precision, subtlety of line and shading and compatibility with different surfaces. It's a favorite medium of da Vinci. When properly maintained, silverpoint drawings can last for centuries without fading.
Creating a silverpoint drawing involves preparation of the (usually wood) surface, choosing the silver tool or stylus, which can differ in width. As the artist draws, the silver stylus leaves a line where metal particles embed into the ground, creating a beautiful, shimmering effect.
Suitability for Drawing
Silverpoint is particularly well-suited for preparatory sketches to detailed studies. It can be incorporated into mixed media projects or experimental works. Silverpoint is slightly more labor-intensive than other media due to the preparation required in coating the surface.
7. Brush & Ink
Origin and Historical Facts
The brush and ink method traces back to ancient China, where ink was made from soot and water, leading to its use in painting and calligraphy.
Properties and Creation
Brush and ink techniques involve using a brush to apply liquid ink onto paper. The ink can vary in thickness and transparency, affecting the final outcome.
Suitability for Drawing
This medium lends itself well to expressive line work and detailed illustrations, often seen in traditional Asian art and modern calligraphy.
Brush and ink have been essential mediums for thousands of years, originating in ancient Persia and China. Using a brush to apply liquid ink allows artists to create fluid lines and dynamic strokes.
Renowned artists such as Katsushika Hokusai used this medium to deliver intricate details and evoke emotion. With careful control, artists can create stunning calligraphy or vibrant illustrations, showcasing both precision and spontaneity.
8. Fountain Pen
Origin and Historical Facts
Fountain pens gained popularity in the 19th century, providing writers and artists a more controlled way to apply ink compared to traditional dip pens. The fountain pen combines utility with artistic flair.
Properties and Creation
Fountain pens utilize a reservoir of ink and are designed to offer consistent ink flow through a nib. The line quality varies with ink flow and nib size, making it a favorite among illustrators and sketch artists.
Suitability for Drawing
Fountain pens are excellent for intricate linework, sketches, and detail-oriented projects. They can produce varied line widths based on pressure or angle.
Figures like John Tenniel elevated ink drawing using fountain pens, producing detailed, expressive work. The nib's fine point allows for intricate details, while broader strokes can be achieved with different nib types.
9. Conte Crayons
Origin and Historical Facts
Conte crayons are developed by Nicolas Conté in1795 in France. They're designed as an alternative to charcoal, while offering more color variety. In the 1880s, Georges Seurat uses Conté crayons to produce many of his studies.
Properties and Creation
Conté is composed of compressed powdered graphite or charcoal mixed with color and a clay base, square in cross-section. Conté crayons blend characteristics of graphite and chalk. Harder than graphite or chalk, they offer a broad range of colors and smooth application.
Suitability for Drawing
Conté crayons are ideal for both detailed works and broader strokes, making them popular among artists for figure drawing and other studies.
Artists such as Pablo Picasso enjoy the versatility of conté crayons to create textures and colors. Layering these crayons results in compelling visuals, ideal for shaded figure studies and expressive line drawings.
10. Pencil Crayons
Origin and Historical Facts
Pencil crayons or colored pencils appear in the 19th century, gaining widespread use among artists and illustrators.
Properties and Creation
Colored pencils are made from a mixture of pigment and wax or oil encased in a wooden barrel. Although once seen as a medium for kids, professional artists are creating wondrous works with them.
Suitability for Drawing
Pencil crayons offer fine detail and a variety of levels of shading, making them suitable for colorful sketches, illustrating, and mixed media work. Colored pencils have gained popularity since the 20th century.
Artists like Andy Warhol incorporate pencil crayons into their practices for their smooth application and layering capabilities. This medium is perfect for vibrant landscapes and intricate character designs.
Oil Pastels
Origin and Historical Facts
Oil pastels are developed in the 1920s as an evolution of chalk pastels, bringing the vibrancy of oil paint into a drawing medium.
Properties and Creation
Oil pastels are made with pigments and a non-drying oil and wax binder. This creates a rich, creamy texture that allows for various applications.
Suitability for Drawing
Oil pastels can be used for expressive art with bright, vivid colors. Their adaptability is perfect for drawing, painting, or layering techniques.
Oil pastels merge properties of crayons and oil paint. They consist of pigment mixed with non-drying oil and wax, producing a creamy texture that adheres well to surfaces. Artists like Claude Monet favor oil pastels for their rich colors and blending capabilities.
With oil pastels, artists can create everything from delicate lines to bold strokes. For instance, applying light pressure can yield soft color in a sunset, while added pressure creates vibrant flowers with distinct textures.
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