Avoid THESE PROBLEMS With CHARCOAL! // Tips & Techniques For Beginner's!

I’m Kirsty Rebecca and I create easy-to-follow, realistic art tutorials so you can relax and enjoy creating professional fine art that you feel proud of!
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● ● ● SUPPLIES USED ● ● ●
Click this link for a full list of all the supplies I use - including individual links to each product on Amazon US/UK/AU and other art supply stores
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*These are affiliate links
▶General’s Charcoal Pencils
AU amzn.to/3VaqZda
US amzn.to/3T7Up9X
UK amzn.to/3Mc2R5E
▶Faber Castell Pitt Charcoal Pencils
AU amzn.to/3rDkzWc
US amzn.to/3SZgLLf
UK amzn.to/3fLcI6m
▶General’s White Charcoal Pencils
AU amzn.to/3SYpzAm
US amzn.to/3VmkCDJ
UK amzn.to/3T0ulNQ
▶Surface - Clairefontaine Pastelmat
AU amzn.to/3eaUWcc
US amzn.to/3rAqqvt
UK amzn.to/3CF2P31
▶Surface - Arches Hot-Pressed Watercolour Paper
AU amzn.to/3Cd72tj
US amzn.to/3CEw0Dj
UK amzn.to/3CFIomC
▶Surface - Fabriano Hot-Pressed Watercolour Paper
AU amzn.to/3rzBbOK
US amzn.to/3T06DBi
UK amzn.to/3eb9JDY
▶Surface - Canson Mi Teintes (NOT Touch/Tex)
AU amzn.to/3RO5b3P
US amzn.to/3RIRnYo
UK amzn.to/3ynZvXt
▶Surface - Strathmore Bristol Vellum
AU amzn.to/3V6FTRw
US amzn.to/3xuBRrU
UK amzn.to/3ymSSF2
▶Surface - Daler Rowney Heavyweight
AU amzn.to/3rD8X5F
US amzn.to/3fSRSBS
UK amzn.to/3rB1hka
▶Charcoal Powder
AU amzn.to/3rAeWrQ
US amzn.to/3T63FuW
UK amzn.to/3MbHbGW
▶Kneaded eraser/Putty Eraser (to help lift up mistakes)
AU amzn.to/3Ceet3p
US amzn.to/3frNHwS
UK amzn.to/3e802WU
▶Tombow Mono Eraser
AU amzn.to/3eeC9wO
US amzn.to/3ekWGQ6
UK amzn.to/3yjJUs0
▶Faber Castell Eraser
AU amzn.to/3RJE7mD
US amzn.to/3T6pgDx
UK amzn.to/3e8k8Al
▶Battery-Powered Eraser
AU amzn.to/3V8s596
US amzn.to/3Esss8y
UK amzn.to/3SKkM60
▶Derwent Superpoint Sharpener
AU amzn.to/3fE0jku
US amzn.to/3T26HR1
UK amzn.to/3ypaekt
▶Masking tape/Scotch tape (taping your work down)
AU amzn.to/3CdLFZ6
US amzn.to/3Cgy6Ir
▶Soft Makeup Brushes
AU amzn.to/3eb79xA
US amzn.to/3ypSgyl
UK amzn.to/3rF7NGW
▶Blending Stumps
AU amzn.to/3T3X4kR
US amzn.to/3CBgKHn
UK amzn.to/3EjPcHU
▶Cotton tips/Q-tips/Earbuds (for blending)
AU amzn.to/3VaClxt
US amzn.to/3y3H3Ds
UK amzn.to/3SKzk5o
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[@lenacraib1549]

Great help and beautiful art work. ❤

[@KirstyRebeccaFineArt]

Thank you so much 😀

[@GuyArab]

Thank you Kirsty, for some great tips; they should be useful to us all.

[@KirstyRebeccaFineArt]

Glad it was helpful! 😊

[@LesleySatchell]

That's so beautiful Kirsty. I haven't used charcoal very much and the thought would not have entered my mind to try pastlemat even though I use it most of the time. Thanks for the tips. I love the way it looks on that surface. 😍

[@KirstyRebeccaFineArt]

You are so welcome 😊 It does tend to stick quite well, which means it is a little harder to erase charcoal to bring out the highlights, but I still definitely like it! (you could always use a white charcoal pencil to help with highlights as well!)

[@EvertPieterseArt]

Nice drawing! I like how the textures came out, and the blurred background.

[@KirstyRebeccaFineArt]

Thank you so much 😀

[@nicolejulien4545]

Fantastic; so perfect.

[@KirstyRebeccaFineArt]

Thankyou 😊

[@haidersart429]

Grate video.i love charcoal.It’s actually my favourite medium to work in.But sometimes it can be a bit messy.I have ruined so many drawings in the past, because of this problem.But now that I watched your video, I now know how to avoid this problem.

[@KirstyRebeccaFineArt]

Thank you, glad it was helpful 😊

[@lunaazul5244]

Beautiful!!!

[@KirstyRebeccaFineArt]

Thankyou 😊

[@PegaGunawan]

Thank you for sharing 💌💌💌

[@KirstyRebeccaFineArt]

No problem 😊

[@angiewright-artist8246]

Great video! I've only used the pencils but would like to try the powder someday so I greatly appreciate the mess tips! For a long time I wouldn't use it because of the mess but over the last two years I've been playing and using it more and have some good tools like the tombo eraser ect. And I've been enjoying them more and more. Oh yes... baby wipes I thought was such a great idea I haven't thought of thank you. Ps. I laughed at the put the container in a container in another container haha its funny but great tip!! Cheers from Canada my friend

[@KirstyRebeccaFineArt]

I'm glad it was helpful! Haha I have learnt the hard way! The more containers, the better 😂

[@PurpleMusicProductions]

I am a beginner and have some charcoal pencils so thank you for the video.

[@KirstyRebeccaFineArt]

You’re welcome 😊

[@lisa4471]

What i love about charcoal you can get so much faster realistic drawings, its so much faster than with colored or graphite pencils. But i have a question: many people say you should draw fur (with colored pencils) in clumps and not every single hair but how do you that, especially with short fur?

[@KirstyRebeccaFineArt]

That's a hard question to answer! I guess for me, I try to start with blocking in the main shadows/highlights that I can see and also the main colours (which all make up the "clumps") and during that process, my strokes are all going in the direction of the fur, but I'm not necessarily drawing every single strand Then as the layers progress, I'll blend each layer with solvent so the strokes fade into each other a bit, then add a little bit of texture/detail in the final layers to create the general gist of the fur direction, rather than adding every stroke of fur If you stand back and look at the artwork from a distance, the viewers eye will automatically fill in the gaps and assume that ever strand of fur is there, when in reality, you've just drawn some texture in the right direction I'm not sure if that helps haha If you watch my other videos on animals with shorter hair, you may be able to see what I'm talking about!

[@lisa4471]

@@KirstyRebeccaFineArt thanks for your answer!

[@DMCART9]

👏👏👌

[@lalystar4230]

Just started using charcoal and i've got a question on erasing. after erasing there's obviously crumbs. usually too sticky or heavy to blow away like charcoal dust. so how do you get rid of those without smudging the drawing? I've tried a large soft make up brush (kabuki brush) but that still (slightly) smudged the drawing. wiping it by hand or tissue is obviously gonna be an even larger mess... >.

[@KirstyRebeccaFineArt]

I usually just brush it away lightly with a brush anyway, but that's because I do most of my erasing during the middle of the process so I can then fix any smudges etc in the next layer (I also usually cover the entire paper with charcoal, so the smudges kind of blend in with the background etc) If you're erasing on a final layer, or you're not doing a background that might hide any smudging, you could try just turning the page upside down over a bin and tapping the excess dust off! You could also try an air puffer/blower thing (the kind they use to clean dust from camera lenses) to blow away the excess dust - I'd suggest doing that outside so there's not too much dust in the air! PS: I wouldn't recommend blowing it with your mouth because you could accidentally spit on it It also depends on the paper you're using because there are some papers like Clairefontaine Pastelmat that really "grip" onto the charcoal and it's harder to remove the dust (you'd probably need the air puffer), whereas a smoother paper like a watercolour paper would work by tapping it upside down Hope that helps 😊

[@lalystar4230]

@@KirstyRebeccaFineArt thank you! So far I've been drawing with a white background ( I really like how that makes the drawing (portrait) stand out) Usually on a rather smooth paper (haven't tried something coarser yet) I'll go try out those tips of yours! including adding some tones to the background!

[@aaymjen]

What paper did you use?

[@KirstyRebeccaFineArt]

This is white Clairefontaine Pastelmat 😊

[@sajjad_alsakr]

🍬🍬🍬🍬🍬🍬🍬🍬👍