Making my own Drawing Charcoal

If I had known how simple it was to make my own drawing charcoal I would have done it from the start instead of buying some from Art supply shops. Just a few minutes on a search engine and I had all the info I needed to get going on my own.

Basically, you need a tin can, such as an old bean can, pack it full with vertical cuttings of your chosen sticks, such as apple wood, or cherry tree wood etc. and cover it over with some tin foil. Make a small hole in the tin foil for the gases to escape and pop it in a fire or wood burner, where you can see it. Keep an eye on it, until it stops producing smoke through the hole, or flame (as this is the gases burning off). When this completes, take it out of the fire and turn it upside down to block the small hole in the foil and let it cool down on its own.

You can vary things a little, like the type of wood, how packed the can is etc, but the principles are the same. I usually do it in my wood burner and let it cool over night, I’ve not had a big fail yet. For more detail and information there is a great book out there by Kate Boucher, called Making Charcoal – A practical guide for Artists, It features some great comments by artists who make there own as well as Kates experiences.

It’s been great fun, experimenting with different types of wood or stem and what they produce, I could easily get caught up in it to the eighth degree but am doing my best to keep it art focused. Getting some twigs from the place where the picture is being made or the place it depicts is especially pleasing. Bark on/bark off, soft woods or hard woods etc all make a difference.

Exhibition in Somerton, Somerset

I had a fantastic time at my first Solo exhibition in Somerset. I rented the space off ACE Arts in Somerton, it was well equipped and maintained, a great space all around. Tea making area with toilet out the back and great light in the main area with two front facing windows.

I’d been planning it for some time, hoping I would have enough pieces ready to show as well as enough people to come a see it, I didn’t want to be on my own in the space with no visitors. I made posters and distributed them locally and sent a fair few emails as well as inviting all my friends to a preview evening.

Sheila and Lupin helped me out with some bits, Lupin did all the work for drinks and nibbles and Sheila with hanging and gallery etiquette, I couldn’t have done it without them. The Preview evening with friends was a real pleasure, surrounded by wonderful, kind people and a glass or two of bubbly is always good fun. We feel so lucky to have such great people about us here in Somerset. Then the week went from very quiet on Monday through to very busy as the week went on. I met so many great people and chatted about Art all week as well as demonstrated my drawing and showed my homemade charcoal. In the end the best advert was word of mouth, with more people coming as the week went on. We had some great feedback to, particularly about the hanging and professional look of it all, as well as the wonderful and helpful compliments about my work.

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• Solo exhibition at Bruton, Somerset

  Arranged in advance, after finding the venue on Instagram, and then seeing it for real when we visited Bruton in the summer, No. 6 Bruton High street was a great venue and a great experience. It is an unusual venue as the owner, Clare, has kindly aloud artists to use it for free. She passed the management of it over to Ali who communicates and arranges things.

  Having sold a fair few originals at the show in Somerton just before Christmas it was a worry that I wouldn’t have enough pieces to fill the space, but it turned out to be okay, as I had framed a few Limited Editions of the ones that had sold. I did the hanging myself as well as the manging and take down, all without major incident I’m glad to say. The space, as you can see from the pictures had a large front window, it easily fitted three of my pictures, the main one being the now sold ‘Through the windscreen’ with kind permission of the owners, it proved to have been a good move as it directly drew in a few visitors. Inside it was fairly small, with two hanging walls and a fireplace on another. The owner has her office in the room behind so we agreed that I would be quiet if I saw the lights on and she was using it, but she didn’t and I was able to have gentle music on while there.

  

  I had a fair few visitors after a very poor start. I was open Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the two weeks. On the first Friday I only had two visitors, but it meant I got a lot done on a pastel drawing I’m currently doing, but the rest of the days I had between 15 – 30 visitors each day. Surprisingly though, no sales, not event a Limited edition, so I’m not getting something right or my work isn’t good enough. I will ponder that over the next few weeks. But I did meet wonderful people, artists and collectors and passers by. I got a load more followers on Instagram and a lot of hits on my web site, so it was well worth it. So far though, nothing converting to a sale! A lot to think about.