Many people think of charcoal as something to be used to achieve a quick sketch or to put the basic outline of a painting on canvas before the real picture begins. I would like to draw your attention to this sensitive , atmospheric medium and encourage you to return to it if you have not used it for a while, try it if you have always avoided it or if you are a purchaser rather than an artist, consider the quality of pictures produced by it.
During the pandemic, unlike some of my artist colleagues, I struggled to find a desire to produce work. I did bread and butter commissioned pieces such as artist impressions but found myself unable to pursue the many ideas I had planned in my head. When we came to the winter everything just felt so bleak and stark.
It was at that point I picked up my charcoal. It lent itself perfectly to portraying the Dorset landscape at its most grey and perhaps it also helped process what I was feeling.
Smoothing the burnt wood across my paper to show the grey landscape and finding the little bits of light that I could lift with my putty rubber seemed a lot like an explanation of where I was in my world.
I loved using the charcoal. The images that it produced helped me find a way through a difficult time.
However I’m enjoying the colour coming back!
