Compressed Charcoal Videos for the Arts North West Micro Grant

 

These two videos show how I build up darkness with compressed charcoal and below is the finished drawing. Compressed charcoal is much darker and richer than ordinary charcoal and extremely messy so use newspaper or a drop cloth under your easel. It will also make your hands very black. If this could be a problem I suggest using a disposable rubber glove. The charcoal will wash off with soap and water but it takes a bit of scrubbing. 

 

Some artists use a mixture of compressed charcoal, charcoal pencil and graphite in their work in order to get really dark areas. I am still experimenting with cross hatching graphite into areas of compressed charcoal in a way that gets a believable blend, the drawings below show such a work in progress.

Videos of knead-able graphite.

Here are two videos I made of myself trying out a product called knead-able graphite. It is very messy but lots of fun. These were my first videos and I didn't think about actually talking about the product while I used it. The materials were purchased courtesy of a micro grant supplied by Arts North West.  

 

Arts North West micro grant for a home-based residency.

 

In May this year I was the lucky recipient of a micro grant from Arts North West that enabled me to undertake a home-based residency exploring issues of loneliness and isolation generated by the Covid19 lock down. I have found it to be the most exhilarating experience and have  had a couple of extremely productive months. I have experimented with new materials and started working on a major theme revolving around Dante's dark and savage wood. 

I have made some mini videos of myself trying out the new drawing materials and aim to get these all posted to this blog over the next week or two to give people the time to see them without feeling they are being overwhelmed by the number of them. All of the videos have been posted to Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/123fionadolls

Creative New England also did an interview with me about the project which you can find here: https://www.unelife.com.au/blog/2020/06/30/fiona-mcdonald

Here are some photos of the works in progress and some of the finished pieces.

Thank you Arts North West!