Which Charcoal to Use - Willow or Compressed?

I’m going to explain which charcoal to use - willow or compressed, when drawing the figure or drawing from life. The best charcoal for drawing figures, and the types of charcoal for figure drawing, are willow or compressed. In this video, I’ll talk about using charcoal for figure drawing, which charcoal would be best for drawing the figure. Charcoal allows yout to create expressive drawing, so if you want to know how to use charcoal for drawing figures,or how to do daily gesture drawing from home, using willow charcoal or compressed charcoal, watch this short explainer :)
Side note: sadly, I don’t have any Nitram Charcoal to demo for this video, but plan to do one soon, so check back for that!
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Here is a list of my preferred drawing materials. These are affiliate links, so if you pick up any of these items via my links it means you'll be supporting this channel, and that you are awesome ❤️
Fixative
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Newsprint Paper
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The Compressed Charcoal that I use:
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Alternative Charcoal (I don't use but also popular):
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Willow Charcoal
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The ROLLS ROYCE of Charcoals (Nitram):
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Kneaded eraser
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For drawing a longer, more finished piece I use good quality paper such as:
Fabriano Paper
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Hahnemuhle Paper
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[@jaimecolodro1588]

Thank you so much! Ive used willow charcoal since ever and I felt I was missing something. Compressed looks pretty different !

[@Drawing-Life]

Ah great! glad you found this interesting, let me know what you think if you switch it up. Compressed is great for drawing from life, on newsprint ... can get a bit messy if you're working in a sketchbook though, just to keep in mind . Thank you so much for watching! :)

[@HimanshuMauryadesigners]

Why this channel has so few subscribers? Such wonderful content 🥰

[@Drawing-Life]

Ah thank you so much! That's very kind to say, i'm amazed at the subs that I do have!! :) Thanks for watching!

[@spartakip9507]

Blame the algorithm. Hit that hat trick. Like, Comment and Share!

[@Drawing-Life]

Hi! Thank you for watching - hope this clears up any confusion between willow/vine and compressed charcoal. Let me know if you have any comments or questions! p.s. stay tuned, I'm hoping to do a Nitram video sooooon :)

[@Diegocorrea_ingles4ever]

I'VE JUST come across your channel as I'm improving my drawing skills, I have to say you are wonderful, I loved your content, all the success and happy new year to you dear.

[@Drawing-Life]

Ah that's a wonderful comment to get!! Thank you so much, that means the world, I appreciate you watching these videos. I'm very interested to hear you are working on your drawing practice! Exciting times :) good luck and let me know how your journey progresses.

[@松浦智子-s9e]

先生のビデオ毎日、毎日繰り返し見ています。 少しずつ🤏薄く描いて行くさまは、とても勉強になります。 普通の木炭を使用していましたが、ザラザラして、とても描きにくく、思うように書けませんでした。 圧縮木炭の事初めて知りました。 日本では圧縮木炭売っていません。🥲 何とか手に入れて試してみたいと思ってます。 これからも新しい投稿楽しみにしています。☺️

[@kontrolincorporated-gaming9015]

Great tutorial! Being the art klutz that I am, I hear "charcoal" and immediately start thinking about grilled steaks. 😮 I haven't used charcoal since wayyy back in my art school days. Since I'm washing my hands so much lately anyway, I should give it another go. 🙂

[@Drawing-Life]

Haha!! that's hilarious :) yeah, you might as well with all the hand washing going on! And anyway, when you're grilling steaks you can also use the coals for drawing.... same thing! Let me know if you do wade into charcoal drawing :)

[@allencampbell1058]

@@Drawing-Life is using charcoal pencils ideal for making a realistic art?

[@pumpkinspice1456]

Super helpful & on point! Thank you.

[@KarenDodo9]

Outstanding tutorial!

[@Yeellena]

Just what I was looking for! Will get the compressed one. Thank you!

[@anastassiyakim7041]

I kind mentally fear of compressed charcoal because it makes deep dark marks that hard to erase. But after ur video I think I will give it a try. BTW, I love a piece of art on ur wall behind - very minimalistic, but gorgeous

[@Drawing-Life]

Thank you Anastassiya! Let me know how you get on, if you try compressed charcoal! :) thanks - drawing on the wall behind, is in ink from a life drawing session, one of the few worth framing!! 🙏

[@stoneiecloudnine]

If you press light they aren't that hard to erase. Plus you never will be good with something till you practice. :)

[@Aficionados9]

Really love to come back to these videos. Also I am using shazam to find out the music you put here. :)

[@Drawing-Life]

Thank you sooo much :) I'm so glad you watched this! Did you find the info for the song? I use Epidemic Sound for the music, this track is called Epoch by Dye O ...

[@Aficionados9]

@@Drawing-Life Thank you. Yes I found it! :)

[@halatmothership6969]

This is awesome info you have in this video. Thank you so much

[@sersipahi]

thanks

[@GeneArts]

Thank you for this tutorial, i've not yet tried to use charcoal but sooner i wanna try it.

[@Drawing-Life]

Thank you so much! I just subscribed to you, really appreciate you watching this! :)

[@GeneArts]

@@Drawing-Life i just subscribed also ma'am, let's stay connected, i want to learn using charcoal. Keep on sharing!

[@rolfarnquist8343]

Thanks again! Yet another great, helpful video!

[@Drawing-Life]

Thank you Rolf! So glad you watched :)

[@philipvaughan-mould4433]

Following your videos, I have been experimenting with charcoal and white or skin tone pastels on dark paper. I have had some very pleasing results but subsequently almost ruined my drawings by spraying fixative with the result 'darkening ' down ruining some subtle tones. Have you any advice on most suitable paper and spray fixative . Phil. ps thank you for great videos.

[@Drawing-Life]

Hi Phil, I haven't really experienced fixative affecting my drawings in the way you describe, although I've heard others say similar. (usually it darkens as soon as I spray, but that evaporates or disappears after a while). I know from my perspective that I tend to buy expensive fixative (Grumbacher or Windsor and Newton are brands I've used in the past), because the cheaper quality stuff is not great, so maybe check the brand you used and check if it's a good quality one. Then also the other thing to note is that paper does matter - if you are drawing on newsprint paper, that could cause some issues as it is very thin and non-archival (having said that, I have used fixative on newsprint and it's been fine). Lastly all I can recommend is to always test your spray on a separate piece of paper before spraying your drawing to make sure. It's a pity to lose a quality that you love in a drawing through fixative, but don't worry, there are more and better drawing to come!! :)

[@allartbyramona]

Hi i am from the netherlands and years ago i bought 2 types of charcoal 1 were round sticks 1 was square stick now i have willow and thats even softer can you tell me what i bought years ago i seems a kind of mid kind of charcoal

[@Drawing-Life]

Probably compressed charcoal by the sounds of it

[@allartbyramona]

@@Drawing-Lifethe square is hard the round are soft so i thought willow but now i got willow that wayyyyy softer. And can i ask what you prefer as paper

[@Drawing-Life]

@@allartbyramona for charcoal, i like to use Newsprint paper