pencil we shall lose the freedom that is essential for the development of our art.
You will require a small box of Vine charcoal and Michelet paper; if you intend to use sheets of paper instead of sketch-books—and this I strongly advise—you must have also a drawing-board on which to pin the paper, and an easel. (Only by standing do we get perfect freedom for the handling of our large drawings.)
Charcoal has several irritating qualities. It snaps easily and crumbles, and it rubs away despite spraying with fixative. Nevertheless there is no medium more fascinating and more satisfying. It is equally useful for delicate effects and for those of a bold and vigorous character.
Charcoal can be used at arm's length; it is usually held—for quick sketching of big subjects—at the end and not at the middle of the shaft like the chalk or lead pencil.
It requires very little sharpening and never a point. A flattened side answers the purpose.
Rub the stick on sanded paper or shave with a knife, shaving not toward the tip and bearing away, but holding the charcoal in the left hand and along the first finger. Pare the charcoal inwardly with the grain of wood, for, as you probably know, charcoal is burnt wood.
The pith of bread (worked into the small pellets) makes a better eraser for charcoal than rubber, though putty rubber is often used.
When fixing a charcoal study stand not too near the easel, but a pace or two away, so that the spray falls in a light, even shower over your drawing. When standing too near the liquid falls in blobs and blots the drawing.
