Drawing with Charcoal: Historical Techniques of 19th Century France

Getty Museum

22 Jan 201604:56

Summary

TLDRThe video script delves into the allure of charcoal as an artistic medium, highlighting its unique qualities such as dark, velvety, and grainy textures. It traces the evolution of charcoal art from its inability to adhere to surfaces to the 18th and 19th centuries when artists discovered methods to fix it, creating a golden glow. The script showcases French artist Timothy Mayhew's techniques, including using charcoal sticks, blending with cloth or feathers, and employing various tools for highlights and blending. It also touches on the protective measures of the era and the transition from ethereal landscapes to darker, more somber subjects, emphasizing the medium's integral role in art.

Takeaways

🎨 Charcoal is valued for its dark, velvety, grainy, and soft qualities, which appeal to artists for its tonal range and reworkability.
🌲 Charcoal originates from charred wood, but its large particles make it difficult to adhere to surfaces without binding techniques.
🕰 The use of charcoal in finished artworks became possible only in the 18th and 19th centuries with the development of binding methods.
🌅 French artists like Maxime Lalanne embraced charcoal, as seen in his 'Castle Overlooking a River', showcasing their techniques.
🖼️ Outdoor work with charcoal involves using an easel and a portable frame with textured paper that holds charcoal well.
🔪 Artists use various tools to apply charcoal, including the side of a charcoal stick for large areas and a cloth or feather for blending.
🖌️ A brush dipped in powdered charcoal can be used for smooth applications, while a pencil-like holder allows for detailed work.
💡 The key to charcoal drawing is to apply it lightly, allowing the paper's white to show through and facilitating easy erasure.
✏️ Highlighting in charcoal drawings is achieved by selectively removing charcoal, using tools like brushes or bread as erasers.
👐 Blending can be done with tools like stumps or fingers, contributing to the gradual emergence of a charcoal drawing.
🛡️ To protect their charcoal drawings, 19th-century artists used a resin-based fixative solution applied to the back of the paper.
🖼️ The 1850s in France saw the creation of soft, ethereal landscapes with charcoal, while later decades favored darker-toned drawings often depicting somber subjects or night scenes.
🧪 Experimentation with charcoal and similar materials like black chalk, conte crayon, and pastel highlighted the medium's integral role in art.

Q & A

What are some of the intrinsic qualities of charcoal that artists find appealing?
-Artists are drawn to the dark, velvety, grainy, and soft qualities of charcoal, which allows for a range of tones that are easily reworked.
What is the origin of charcoal as an art medium?
-Charcoal comes from charred pieces of wood and has been used by artists for its ability to produce a wide range of tones.
Why couldn't finished works of art be made with charcoal until the 18th and 19th centuries?
-Charcoal particles are large and do not readily adhere to a surface, requiring the development of methods to bind or fix it to paper in later centuries.
How did artists in the 18th and 19th centuries fix charcoal to paper?
-Artists used a resin-based fixative solution to bind the charcoal to paper, which also produced a golden glow.
Who is Timothy Mayhew and what does he demonstrate in the script?
-Timothy Mayhew demonstrates the techniques used by French artists who fell in love with charcoal, showing how they worked with the medium.
Can you describe the setup an artist might use when working with charcoal outdoors as per the script?
-An artist working outdoors with charcoal would bring an easel, a portable frame covered with stretched and textured paper, and a variety of drawing tools and materials.
What is the purpose of using the side of a stick of charcoal in charcoal drawing?
-The side of a stick of charcoal is used to put down large areas of tone, such as the foreground, middle ground, and sky, providing a base for the artwork.
How did 19th-century artists apply charcoal smoothly in their drawings?
-They applied charcoal smoothly using a brush dipped into a powdery form of charcoal or by blending broad strokes with a cloth or feather.
What tools did 19th-century artists typically use to make marks with charcoal?
-19th-century artists typically used a pencil-like holder for charcoal, which they handled like a small paintbrush to make marks.
How did artists create highlights in their charcoal drawings?
-Artists selectively removed charcoal to create highlights, using various tools including brushes, kneaded bread as an eraser, or a tapered end tool called a stump.
How did 19th-century artists protect their charcoal drawings?
-They protected their charcoal drawings by brushing a resin-based fixative solution across the back of the paper.
What changes in style and subject matter can be observed in charcoal drawings from the 1850s France to a few decades later?
-In the 1850s, French artists produced soft, ethereal-looking landscapes with charcoal, while a few decades later, darker-toned drawings representing somber subjects or night scenes were more popular.
What other materials did artists begin to experiment with alongside charcoal?
-Artists began to experiment with similar powdery materials like black chalk, conte crayon, and pastel, or combined them with charcoal.
How did experimentation with different materials affect the perception of the medium in art?
-Experimentation emphasized the medium itself as integral to a work of art, highlighting the unique properties and effects that could be achieved with these materials.

Outlines

00:00

🎨 The Charm of Charcoal Art

This paragraph introduces the unique qualities of charcoal as an artistic medium, highlighting its dark, velvety, grainy, and soft characteristics. It explains that charcoal is derived from charred wood, capable of creating a wide range of tones that can be easily modified. However, due to the large particles, charcoal was not suitable for creating permanent artworks until the 18th and 19th centuries when binding techniques were developed. The paragraph also mentions French artists like Maxime Lalanne who embraced charcoal, using it to create landscapes with a golden glow. The artist's setup, including an easel, textured paper, and various drawing tools, is described, along with the techniques of applying and blending charcoal to achieve a luminous effect.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡Charcoal

Charcoal is a drawing medium made from charred wood, known for its dark, velvety, and grainy qualities. It is valued by artists for its ability to produce a wide range of tones and its capacity to be easily reworked. In the video, charcoal's intrinsic qualities are highlighted as a major attraction for artists, and its history of use in art is discussed, particularly its evolution from being unable to be used for finished works until the 18th and 19th centuries when methods to bind or fix it to paper were developed.

💡Intrinsic qualities

Intrinsic qualities refer to the inherent characteristics of something. In the context of the video, these qualities of charcoal—dark, velvety, grainy, and soft—are what make it appealing to artists. The script emphasizes how these qualities are fundamental to the artistic process and the aesthetic outcomes achieved with charcoal.

💡Tones

Tones in art refer to the range of shades or colors that can be produced with a particular medium. Charcoal is capable of producing a variety of tones, from light to dark, which is one of the reasons it is favored by artists. The script mentions that charcoal can produce a 'range of tones' and is 'easily reworked,' illustrating the medium's flexibility in creating different visual effects.

💡Reworked

To rework something in art means to modify or revise it. The script points out that charcoal allows for easy reworking, which is significant because it gives artists the freedom to adjust and alter their drawings without the fear of ruining the artwork. This is an important aspect of the medium's appeal.

💡Binding or fixing

Binding or fixing in the context of charcoal art refers to the process of securing the charcoal particles to the paper to prevent smudging and to preserve the artwork. The script explains that this was a development in the 18th and 19th centuries, which allowed for the creation of finished charcoal artworks that could be displayed and preserved.

💡Golden glow

The term 'golden glow' in the script refers to the effect produced when charcoal is bound or fixed to paper, giving the artwork a warm, luminous appearance. This is an aesthetic quality that was achieved with the advent of fixing techniques, enhancing the visual appeal of charcoal drawings.

💡Timothy Mayhew

Timothy Mayhew is mentioned in the script as a demonstrator of the techniques used by French artists who were fond of charcoal. His role in the video is to showcase the methods and tools used in creating charcoal drawings, providing viewers with a practical understanding of the medium's application.

💡Maxime Lalanne

Maxime Lalanne is cited in the script as an example of a French artist who used charcoal in his work. His piece 'Castle Overlooking a River' exemplifies the techniques discussed in the video, serving as a visual representation of how charcoal can be used to create detailed and atmospheric landscapes.

💡Easel

An easel is a stand used by artists to hold their work, such as a canvas or paper, at a comfortable angle for painting or drawing. In the script, it is mentioned that the artist brings an easel when working outdoors with charcoal, indicating the setup for creating large charcoal drawings outside the studio.

💡Blending

Blending in art is the process of smoothing or merging colors or tones to create a gradual transition between them. The script describes how artists use a cloth or feather to blend broad strokes of charcoal, achieving a softened effect in their drawings, which is integral to creating the desired mood and depth.

💡Fixative solution

A fixative solution is used in art to protect and preserve drawings by preventing smudging and the loss of media. In the context of the video, 19th-century artists used a resin-based fixative solution to protect their charcoal drawings, ensuring their longevity and integrity.

💡Experimentation

Experimentation in art refers to the process of trying out new techniques, materials, or styles. The script mentions that artists began to experiment with charcoal and similar powdery materials, emphasizing the medium itself as an integral part of the artwork. This experimentation led to a greater appreciation and exploration of the artistic possibilities of charcoal.

Highlights

Charcoal's intrinsic qualities such as darkness, velvety texture, and graininess are attractive to artists.

Charcoal is derived from charred wood and can produce a wide range of tones that are easily reworked.

Charcoal particles are large and do not adhere well to surfaces without binding.

Artworks using charcoal as a medium were not possible until the 18th and 19th centuries due to the lack of binding methods.

French artists in the 19th century developed techniques to work with charcoal, including Timothy Mayhew's demonstration.

Maxime Lalanne's 'Castle Overlooking a River' exemplifies the charcoal techniques of French artists.

Outdoor work with charcoal involves using an easel and a portable frame with stretched, textured paper.

A variety of drawing tools and materials are used alongside charcoal for creating artwork.

Large areas of tone are applied with the side of a charcoal stick and then blended with a cloth or feather.

A brush dipped in powdery charcoal is another method for applying the medium smoothly.

19th-century artists used a pencil-like holder for charcoal to make marks like with a small paintbrush.

Charcoal should be applied lightly to allow the paper's luminous white to show through and for easy erasure.

Selective removal of charcoal is used to create highlights in a drawing.

Various tools including brushes, kneaded bread, and stumps are used for erasing and blending charcoal.

A charcoal drawing is built up over time with layers of soft and darker tones.

19th-century artists protected their charcoal drawings by applying a resin-based fixative to the back of the paper.

In the 1850s, French artists created soft, ethereal landscapes with charcoal, shifting to darker-toned drawings later on.

Artists began to experiment with powdery materials like black chalk, conte crayon, and pastel, emphasizing the medium's integral role in art.