Charcoal Pencil Techniques and Workshop Samples

Wildlife Workshops that feature the shaded charcoal technique

Below are some wildlife workshops where the drawing tutorial has focused on charcoal pencils and the charcoal /carbon dust techniques.

Watch the Florida MANATEE workshop on my YouTube Channel.

Other Resources

Below you'll find a list of suggested art media.

Suggested Materials for this technique

  • Light sketching pencil (like a 2H).
  • Fine-tipped permanent ink pen.
  • Willow charcoal sticks or charcoal/graphite pencils (such as General’s carbon sketch pencil or Wolff carbon pencil).
  • Opaque white media such as pencils, pastels, pens.
  • Emery board/nail file or preferably ultra fine-grained sandpaper sheet (like 600 grit).
  • Erasers – preferably a fine-tipped eraser pencil in pencil form like the Tombow mono zero eraser and/or the Tombow mono sand eraser.
  • Blending stomp – preferably in small and medium sizes.
  • Soft watercolor brush or makeup brush for gently brushing away errant dust.
  • Brushes in a variety of sizes and styles for applying and blending the carbon/charcoal dust.
  • Scrap paper for protecting your drawing from the oily palm of your hand (wash your hands thoroughly before beginning your carbon dust drawing).
  • Handout (value scale and viewfinder template) that you can download at bottom of the page.






viewfinder and value scale template2022.pdf

Complete and Continue