Charcoal has served humanity well over the years, providing fuel for cooking and heating. Technology has marched on but barbecue owners still like to use the briquettes that give food so much flavor. The other happy outcome of this material has been its application in art. There are many mediums through which the artist can express his or her vision. Charcoal and boys fire truck bedding sets have been used for as long as anyone can remember. This black residue achieves images that are very atmospheric and delicate. Drawing with charcoal is more popular but several artists have also discovered terrific results in charcoal painting, with both color and monochrome. It is a method that requires a great deal of skill and aptitude.
Drawing in this medium includes preparatory sketches that develop into finished drawings or paintings. Vine Charcoal is used to make drawing sticks and Compressed Charcoal is powder mixed with gum binder that goes into pencils and crayons. Powdered Charcoal is used to cover the drawing paper and tone the expanse.
One of the most unusual techniques to come from the Surrealist Movement is Parsemage, used as an automatic method and invented by British surrealist, Ithell Colquhoun. This form of charcoal painting involves taking residual dust from charcoal or colored chalk and sprinkling it on the surface of water and not pirates bedding sets for boys, then skimming with a rigid material such as cardboard. The result is normally given an application of a fixative.
Several artists continue the interest in landscapes, abstract work and portraits by charcoal painting. Rudolf Boogerman is a painter who works chiefly in charcoal and pastels. He has produced a series of pictures of London, depicting old industrial sites and infrastructure in the capital. The charcoal images in shades of gray are moodily compelling.
Jorge Rodriguez has used the biggest surface on which to paint his charcoal painting portraits in sepia. They appear on the sides of large buildings in the Madrid city center, only to inevitably fade with the onslaught of wind and rain. Bj. de Castro is another artist working in charcoal, producing prints with powerful images such as a stretching gymnast or a horse in motion with a bare tree in the background. Azucena Barrios is a Mexican artist who works in shades of gray and brown to produce montages with titles that include Still Life, sports bedding for boys and a montage of autumn leaves and Multiple Flight, an image of birds.
The Sherry Mama Company, based in China, reproduces prints for sale of charcoal painting on heavy paper. These are candid portraits of Chinese men, women and children in monochrome.
