Sparrow - A Graphite drawing on Strathmore gray toned paper

 “A bird sitting on a tree is never afraid of the branch breaking, because her trust is not on the branch but on its wings”

If you are following me on INSTAGRAM , you probably must have already gone through my recent graphite drawings on “Sparrow series”. ( I have to admit that I have been more regular on my Instagram as compared to my blogging. I wish I could dedicate more time to writing in my blog. )

After having done watercolor medium for months, I suddenly felt the need to take a break and so decided to get back to my toned paper drawing and sketching. As far as stationery is concerned, I have enough of art materials for every possible medium. ( Over a period of time I have accumulated a whole lot of pencils, papers, paints and brushes and it helps because in COVID situations it is not easy to procure the desired materials easily. )

When it comes to toned paper, the two papers that I absolutely love and recommend to everyone are

1. Strathmore toned paper ( Gray and Tan shade )

2. Canson Mi Teintes paper ( Beige and Gray shade )

For my “Sparrow series” I decided to go with Strathmore gray toned paper as I wanted to create soft strokes of graphite and white pastel pencil. The smooth textured surface of the paper, I felt was ideal for these drawings.

“Just Relaxing”

Graphite/ Charcoal drawing on Strathmore Gray toned paper

Size 4” X 5.5”

“Sparrow on the tree”

Graphite drawing on Strathmore Gray Toned paper

Size 4” X 5.5”

pencil

The Strathmore pad with

Gray toned papers

Purchased from Art Lounge

These days I try to limit myself to using minimum art stationery in order to keep my working process simple. In both the above drawings I have used 3B, 6B and 9B graphite pencils and Creatacolor and General white pastel pencil. 

Pencils used 1. General white pastel pencil

2. Cretacolour white pastel pencil

3. Camlin 3B graphite pencil

4. Camlin 6B graphite pencil

5. Camlin 10 B graphite

In addition to the above, I also keep a simple pen pencil which I normally use in the beginning to create a very faint outline of the subject. If you are a beginner, my suggestion is to practise using simple materials available at home and once you feel you enjoy working on toned paper then go ahead and add a few products. When I first got into toned paper artworks, I remember using simple handmade coloured papers with rough surface and it cost me just about 20 to 30 Indian Rupees a sheet. CLICK HERE  to browse through my initial experimental works on handmade paper.

Thanks for visiting my blog and if you wish to purchase any of my original artworks, you can mail me at manjupanchal5@gmail.com and I shall get back to you as soon as possible.

Charcoal and Graphite Portrait drawing of a boy

"I am interested in art as a means of living a life; not as a means of making a living."
Robert Henri

Some months back I had purchased Canson Bristol paper from "Art Lounge" with an intention of trying it out for my graphite and charcoal artworks. It is an extra white paper with a very smooth surface. I used it initially to do my "Eye studies" and later started a portrait of a young boy which for various reasons never got completed. Therefore I decided to put in a few hours on it and finally completed it. In this particular drawing I have used a combination of both graphite and charcoal medium.

In conclusion, I love the Canson Bristol paper for its extra white colour. However since I have not worked much on a very smooth surface, I am feeling a bit uneasy at this stage. In fact all the papers that I have used in the past have a textured surface and so I have got very comfortable using them. But at the same time, I do not want to give up on this paper and may try one or two more portraits to make a final conclusion ie to keep it as a preferred choice for future or to let it go.

CLICK HERE to know about the papers that I use for my charcoal drawings.

Young Boy

Charcoal drawing on Canson Bristol paper

Size 5" X 7"

Posted below is the image of the Bristol paper by Canson

I enjoy doing both landscapes and portraits. However landscapes take much lesser time as compared to doing portraits. My portrait drawing happens in stages. I never complete it at one go. I take my time and as and when I am in the right frame of mind, I sit at it and little by little I add the layers. It is interesting to see the portrait develop and when it finally completes it seems like a big achievement. 

 If you wish to purchase any of my artworks, you can browse through them on my INSTAGRAM page. I shall communicate with you regarding the availability of the painting, the shipping procedure and other details.

Thank you for visiting my blog.

Charcoal Demo Works created during "Art Workshop"

"Life is pretty simple. You do some stuff. Most fails. Some works. You do more of what works. If it works big, others quickly copy it. Then you do something else. The trick is the doing something else." Leonardo Da Vinci

In today's post I am sharing a few small charcoal "Demo works" that I created during my recent "Charcoal drawing workshop" that I conducted for two private students.

All of them are sized 5" X 7" and have been created on cartridge sheet, Fabriano Academia and Canson paper. I spend roughly around fifteen minutes or so to create these small works. For a bigger charcoal drawing I use a whole lot of different drawing tools, however for these small works I simply use a Camlin charcoal pencil and willow charcoal.

Charcoal drawing, Demo work

A beach scene from Maldives

Charcoal drawing, Demo work

A scene at Zero point, Sikkim

Charcoal drawing, Demo work

A scene from Langkawi

Charcoal drawing, Demo work

A seashore at Phuket

Charcoal drawing, Demo work

A tree from Dubare forest, Coorg

For every workshop that I conduct, I try and do a different demonstration, step by step, which helps the participants to understand the technique I follow in order to create a simple Charcoal drawing. 

I have used my personal photographs of places that I have visited in the past, to create the above drawings. I may refer to these study works to create a few "Water colour paintings" in future. 

Apart from charcoal drawings I am into other mediums as well and to browse through my other artworks you can follow me on INSTAGRAM. Thanks for visiting my blog.

Rearranging my Charcoal drawing tools in a new box

"Without good drawing, the foundation of a painting will collapse." Ken Danby

As mentioned in my last post I am getting back into my "Portrait drawing". So I decided to rearrange and organise all my "Charcoal drawing tools" in a new cardboard box ( This sturdy little box with one inch height came with ipad keyboard ).

Charcoal tools in a new box

This new box easily accommodates my basic drawing tools that I use on a regular basis. I keep the willow charcoal in a tissue paper as it smudges a lot and makes the whole area messy.

Prior to using the new box, my pencils and few other tools were in a very old stationery box which I have been using since probably 2000. The image of the same can be found below. When I got started with charcoal I used just about three to four tools namely Ambassador charcoal pencil, blending tools, charcoal powder and an eraser. So a small box was a pretty convenient option.

Old charcoal tool box

To view the images of all the different tools that I use in my present day drawings CLICK HERE.

I have also posted about the "Different papers" that I use for my charcoal drawings.

Thank you for browsing through my blog and if you are a person who is passionately into art, I hope that my blog and the information that I share is of help to you. 

A Figurative Charcoal drawing from the past

"As a child I drew like Raphael but it has taken a lifetime for me to draw like a child." 
Pablo Picasso

I have been organising my paintings lately and while doing so came across some of my old artworks created in charcoal medium. When I first began using this medium, I had limited tools, namely charcoal powder and a charcoal pencil named AMBASSADOR. Using these two mark making tools and a set of beautiful tortillons I went on to create many charcoal artworks.

Today I am posting one of the old works, which needed little touch up. It is a charcoal drawing inspired by the loving relationship between father and son. It is the time spent with the children that creates beautiful memories.

Moment of Joy

Charcoal drawing on paper

Size 8" X 10"

I have titled the above painting as "Moment of Joy" because this image conveys a feeling which probably we have all gone through while we were growing up. It evokes our childhood memories and we try to recollect what it was like to be out with parents and the precious moments that we spent with them. Time moves ahead and we are left with these beautiful memories.

I have been juggling between the charcoal and the soft pastel medium. Both are dry mediums and being self taught, I have experimented and explored both and come up with my own way of handling it. As we continuously work with a medium, we develop a mark making technique that keeps evolving with time. The way I create each stroke be it in charcoal or pastel, now defines my works. 

Portrait and figurative works have always appealed to me and I am glad that I am finally making a serious attempt at restarting it. So my paintings now will be inspired by "People and Places". I will continue my landscape painting as well.

Thanks for browsing through my works.

Charcoal study - Using willow charcoal and charcoal pencil

"The day is an empty canvas, the shapes and colours are yours to choose." Alex Noble

A value study is a great way to prepare for the final painting. It helps me understand the subject better and enables me to pay attention to the focal element. As a routine I almost always prepare a value study using either a graphite or charcoal medium.

When it comes to charcoal medium, I love using the willow charcoal as it helps cover a large area in a short time and with a little touch up with charcoal pencil the drawing gets completed.

Posted below is a recent charcoal study work that I created using one of my holiday photographs from Coorg. It is a muddy pathway going uphill towards one of the private Coffee Plantations. I loved the scene as it had distant trees and a great composition for a landscape painting. I shall some day create a soft pastel painting referring to this value study.

Going uphill

Charcoal drawing on Fabriano Academia 120gsm paper

Size 6" X 8"

On my Table Top Easel,

The initial stages using willow charcoal.

I enjoyed doing this quick study in which I used willow charcoal in the beginning to block in the values and later used my charcoal pencil to get the foliage, rock, soil textures etc. Small study works, I feel are a good way to get the feel of the subject before starting a final coloured painting on the same subject.

To view some more of my charcoal study works CLICK HERE.

If you wish to attend my art workshop or wish to purchase one of my artworks please contact me and I shall get back to you as soon as possible.

Thank you for browsing through my artworks.

Charcoal workshop at Dr D Y Patil College of Architecture ( Nerul )

Art workshop at College

Dr D Y Patil College of Architecture is an institution dedicated to D. Y. Patil Group's mission of imparting modern updated education. It was established in 1992, is recognized by AICTE and affiliated to the University of Mumbai.The institute has made its name in a short period of time. The main emphasis is given to integrating science and technology for the development of student's aptitude towards architecture. The college has excellent infrastructure. Academic excellence is ensured by experienced faculties and facilitated by art facilities.

Dr D. Y. Patil College of Architecture

Dr D. Y. Patil College of Architecture

On the 28th of Deccember I was invited to do a Two hours Charcoal Workshop with forty students who had registered their names for the same as a part of the ongoing Student's annual festival "SRUJAN" Students Annual Festival.

I normally take my Art workshop over a period of two days in which I teach about the tools, techniques and do several demo's. ( Total of six hours ). Therefore to complete the "Basics of charcoal workshop" in a two hour period was a challenge and I had to plan and work on it. For me it is important to teach, discuss and then help the participants in creating a few works as a warm up exercise.

Prior to the workshop I had sent a list of topics which I had planned to cover during the workshop such as the following

• Use of drawing tools
• Design and composition 
• Significance of values
• Blending and shading
• Making a mark using pencils and willow charcoal
• Techniques involved in creating grass, clouds, sky, rocks, mountains, sea, waves, bushes, trees, foliage, door, wall etc
• Creating an original painting
• Advantages of regular practice
• Use of fixatives
• Framing of paintings
• Care and preservation

During the workshop I discussed in detail about the tools that I use as an artist to create the Charcoal drawings. ( I have blogged about it earlier with images ). Today there are umpteenth variety of tools available in the market but one has to be selective and decide to use only those which work for his/her kind of work.

 In order to have a better understanding of all the above mentioned topics I demonstrated in bits and pieces ( Different elements such as foliage, door, bushes, door etc ) and the participants followed the same exercise in their drawing sheets. This helped them to get to know their tools for charcoal medium.

Using willow charcoal for mark making

( Similar explation was done for using

charcoal pencil as well as charcoal powder )

After getting accustomed to the charcoal tools like the pencil, willow charcoal and the charcoal powder I showed them one of my recent demo works and we discussed the steps involved in creating it.

A demo work that I recently created during

 a charcoal workshop ( Photo reference Courtesy: Geotripper )

In the last hour I started a Charcoal drawing using a photograph as a reference ( Maya Bay ) explaining the steps involved in creating the same. The participants worked along with me and they too created the same work in their Art Book which comprised of cartridge sheets.

As the drawing progressed there was a lot of discussion about the do's and don'ts in charcoal medium and exchange of ideas. I emphasized a lot on creating "Original Drawings" using still life subjects or personal photographs as a reference.

Charcoal drawing and sketching demo

in forty five minutes

To understand the value study, techniques

involved in creating sky, clouds, mountains and rocks,

water and waves.

The workshop went pretty well and I was satisfied as I could cover all the topics as I had planned earlier. It was a great pleasure to share my techniques and style with students of Architecture and I am sure this medium will be of great benefit to them in their future work.

The staff and students were very cordial and I was touched by the hospitality extended to me.

Looking forward to more such workshops in the year 2017.

Thanks to everyone who has been browsing through my blog on a regular basis and please do visit my DEVIANTART gallery and my FACEBOOK page.

Ending my post with a beautiful and inspiring quote

"Drawing is a vision on paper." Andrew Loomis

The charcoal drawing tools used by me for my charcoal art

Charcoal sketching tools

I have been wanting to this post since long as it is a common question asked to me by all those who love charcoal art. The participants who attend my art workshop too have requested me to post this information on the blog.

Being a self taught artist I have experimented with a whole lot of different pencils and blending tools in the past. However over a period of years I have zeroed in on a handful of them and they have been in my charcoal tool box since then. There are a few paper stumps which are almost sixteen years old and I dread misplacing them. The older they get the better they are at blending. 

Basically the charcoal kit consists of the pencils, blending tools and the erasers and a fixative.

The paper stumps ( Old collection, almost fifteen years old )

Rolled up paper

The blending tools  or Tortillons ( New ones as available in the market )

Old soft cloth for blending

Tissue paper  also can be used as an alternative, to blend the 
charcoal on paper ( I normally use only the cloth )

Camlin charcoal pencil
I almost use it for all my charcoal drawings and sketchings

Conte a Paris charcoal pencil

General charcoal pencil

A normal eraser ( Staedtler )

Kneaded eraser ( Faber Castell or Cretacolour )

Very helpful to create the highlights and can be moulded into any shape

Willow charcoal ( Chinese brand )
I have Daler Rowney willow charcoal too but I find this
particular one very soft and it covers the paper
very uniformly as a base value.

Charcoal powder
I use if for creating the darkest values in my charcoal sketching.

Cretacolour Chunky Charcoal
( Sparingly used )

General's Compressed charcoal sticks

This has been with me since last year and only very recently

I have started using it. I find it pretty good.

Masking Tape
Masking tape is required to fix the paper
on to some hard surface or an acid free board
before beginning the drawing begins

Blade Cutter
I normally a blade to sharpen the pencils instead of using a sharpener
 as the tips break off easily. It leads to a lot of frustation
especially if the pencil is very expensive.

Winsor and Newton Fixative

There are lot of different brands of fixative's in the market

but somehow I have always liked the one as above.

Apart from all the tools mentioned above, I also keep sand paper handy as it helps me to sharpen the pencil tips when I need to do the details. And I also forgot to mention a simple HB pencil ( Any brand ) which is required in the beginning to do the initial drawing on the paper.

I have also written a post about the PAPERS that I use for my charcoal works and you can CLICK HERE to browse through it. I hope this post is helpful to all those who are into charcoal drawing and sketching. 

If you are into charcoal art work and if you use any tool other than what I have mentioned above, then please do write and share with me. It will be a pleasure to be informed.

Thanks a lot for browsing through my works.

Sketching a landscape in charcoal medium

Charcoal sketching of a landscape

This charcoal sketching is inspired by the early morning scene at one of the trekking pathways at Karnala Bird Sanctuary. I loved the composition of the scene and selected this landscape as it helped me in understanding the tonal values of the complicated scene which had distant hills, sunlit pathway, bushes, trees, rocks, scattered leaves etc. 

The winding pathway

Charcoal sketching on Favini paper

Size 6" X 8"

Over a period of years I have collected a whole lot of art stationery which includes paints, brushes, pencils, papers and a miscellaneous collection of "Unused things". Among the not so used up paper is a "Favini" paper which I picked up from a Stationery shop at Thailand. ( I still have a whole lot of them with me ). Therefore for my present charcoal sketching I decided to put this paper to use. ( I have used it on earlier occasions for portrait sketching ).

In conclusion this paper is fine but I would prefer to use "Scholar" which I have started using pretty recently for my charcoal landscape works. Presently my stock of this paper is over and I am waiting to buy some soon. Unfortunately it is not available at ART STATION, the stationery store near my residence.

To view my soft pastel painting of yet another scene from Karnala Bird Sanctuary, CLICK HERE

I plan to use soft pastels to recreate the above scene on Canson paper.

"There is no retirement for an artist, it's your way of living so there is no end to it." 
Henry Moore

I believe every word of the quote as mentioned above. Art is a way of life. It happens everyday. I am always looking out for new subjects, new plans to add to the day today excitement of creating and learning at the same time. Art is fun.

Demo works in charcoal and white pastel pencil

Demo works created during ART WORKSHOP

During my last workshop which was held on 3rd and 4th of December, I did a few demo's using charcoal and white pastel pencil. I am posting the images of two of them. Normally I try to cover as many subjects as possible including still life, seashore , landscape etc.

On the first day of the workshop the participants get accustomed to the tools required for the artwork and the different techniques to use them. It is more of a warm up session.  After getting used to the tools they go ahead and create two different small works and I guide them as they proceed step by step to complete their painting.

On the second day of the workshop the participants decide on their choice of subject and then proceed to do the same after creating a "Thumbnail sketch" or "Study work". I insist on getting used to doing study sketches as it helps in the initial stages to get the right design and composition. Rest everything falls in place.

A tree trunk with exposed roots

Demo work on grey hand made paper

Size 4" X 5"

Abbey waterfalls ( Karnataka )

Demo work on grey hand made paper

Size 4" X 5"

For the demo work I have used a grey hand made paper which I picked up from an art stationery shop. It has rough texture on both its sides and serves well for initial drawing purpose. When I am in town in Fort area I always make it a point to pick up a few hand made papers in different colours. Some of them turn out pretty good for drawing and sketching. 

I have made a collage of the works made by two participants and you can find them on my ART WORKSHOP page.

Ending this post with a beautiful quote by Salvador Dali

"Drawing is the honesty of art. There is no possibility of cheating. It is either good or bad."

Mother Teresa - A portrait study work on toned paper

Quotes by Mother Teresa

"Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless." 

" I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples."

Mother Teresa ( 1910 - 1997 ) was a Roman Catholic nun, who devoted her life to serving the poor and destitute around the world. She spent many years in Calcutta, India where she founded the Missionaries of Charity, a religious congregation devoted to helping those in great need. in 1979, Mother Teresa was awarded the Nobel Peace prize and has become a symbol of charitable selfless work.

Given below is a Portrait study work of "Mother Teresa" which I created using white pastel pencils and a charcoal pencil on a simple gray toned handmade paper ( It has cost just about Rs 30 for a full sheet ). In February I created a portrait study work of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore on black Strathmore paper. Working on coloured paper has its own challenges and I am slowly getting used to it.

 

Mother Teresa

Charcoal and white pastel pencil on gray toned handmade paper

Size 6" X 8"

I recently purchased a "Table top Easel" which is working real good for me. Now I can sketch at eye level which is very convenient and does not strain my neck. I will be posting about it soon.

Thank you all for visiting my blog and do watch my artworks in INSTAGRAM too.

Two landscape study works in charcoal medium

Two study works using the charcoal medium.

Composition, colours and value. They all play a very significant role in creating a good artwork. In order to get a better understanding of a landscape, I generally go for a thumbnail sketch or a study work which I create in different mediums. This time I decided to do a value sketch using willow charcoal, charcoal pencil and charcoal powder. 

Both these sketches are sized 4.5" X 5.5" and will serve as reference when I will recreate these subjects in colours using soft pastels. 

Tonal value sketch of a scene from Coorg

A study work

Tonal value sketch of a scene from Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary

A study work

"I sometimes think there is nothing so delightful as drawing."  Vincent Van Gogh

I totally agree with the words as quoted above. Drawing and sketching is the foundation to art. As the drawing gets better so does the painting. I enjoyed creating the charcoal sketches such as above and I may do my future "Thumbnail sketches" too in charcoal medium.

To view my selected artworks you can visit my gallery at DEVIANTART

Charcoal drawing of a bird in flight

"I don't say everything, but I paint everything." Pablo Picasso

The image below is a charcoal drawing of a bird in flight. I created this work quite some time back on Scholar drawing paper using a black charcoal pencil by Ambassador. I cannot find this pencil in any of the stationery stores these days.

Presently I am using Camlin soft charcoal pencil and charcoal powder for most of my charcoal art works.

Bird in flight

Charcoal painting on Scholar drawing paper

Size 7" x 10"

My works can be seen on INSTAGRAM and DEVIANTART too.