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SUPPLIERS OF THE FINEST ART MATERIALS

Drawing Charcoal

Here at Pegasus Art we have a fantastic selection of drawing charcoal that includes a variety of sizes and types to suit your drawing needs. Find willow charcoal, charcoal pencils, compressed charcoal and even coloured charcoal sets.

What is Drawing Charcoal?

Charcoal is an organic material that consists of mainly carbon and ash and is made by burning the material, such as wood, under high temperatures with low oxygen levels. This creates a dark colour, lightweight, dry substance that normally comes as sticks or blocks for drawing purposes. Although charcoal has been made for 100's of years, for many uses such as fuel and even filtration, it has and still is very popular for mark making and drawing in the creative world.

Artist charcoal is generally a black to grey drawing material that can be used on its own, with other pastels or chalks and also used in mixed media artwork. Charcoal has a rich and expressive texture that is favoured by many artists for drawing and mark making. In general if you use charcoal sticks or blocks with more pressure you will get a heavier / bolder marks and if your use it gently you will get lighter marks; this makes it a great material for gestural drawing.

Willow charcoal is made from willow branches that have been turned into charcoal sticks and are still in a natural form. Willow is good for lighter powdery marks and smudging, and it is easy to erase. The sticks tend to have a slightly irregular shape due to the natural origins and can add to your mark making, as well as being a very useful material for preliminary outlines before painting or simply for sketching.

Compressed charcoal is made from charcoal powder and mixed with a binder to form blocks or sticks. This compacted charcoal comes in a variety of softness options and colours, and can be sharpened to get particular shapes. It is more resistant to smudging and also less easy to erase.

Working with Charcoal

Our range of drawing charcoal also features charcoal pencils which are fabulous for fine detail and keeping artists' fingers clean. Charcoal pencils are a handy essential to keep with you in the studio or a more practical option if you are out and about.

Working with a selection of charcoal can give you a range of textures and lines to build a image with more variety in your sketches. You can also adjust the marks charcoal makes on the surface by holding the charcoal flat to get broad softer textures for larger areas or hold it on its point or edge for more focused lines. You can work the charcoal into wedges or shapes on a separate piece of paper or with a sharpening tool if needed.

What Else Might You Need in Your Drawing Kit?

Some key things that you might want to include in your charcoal drawing kit are putty or kneadable erasers for clearing up mistakes or removing areas of charcoal for highlights, sharpeners, kitchen roll or paper towels to clean up your fingers or equipment, blending tool also known as a tortillion, baton holder or foil to wrap around the ends of the charcoal and also a fixative.

So whether you are just beginning to discover the delights of working in charcoal or are honing your expertise we have a wonderful collection of charcoal supplies for you.

Giotto White Chalk - Round, Anti-Dust Coated Chalk Sticks x10 Giotto White Chalk - Round, Anti-Dust Coated Chalk Sticks x10
£1.00
7 in stock
Giotto White Chalk - Round, Anti-Dust Coated Chalk Sticks x10 Good quality round, anti-dust blackboard chalk made of genuine chalk from the French region of Champagne Made in France
Paper Tortillions & Stump Assorted Pack 5 Sizes Paper Tortillions & Stump Assorted Pack 5 Sizes new in
£4.21
£3.60
Out of stock
Paper Tortillions or Stumps Pack of 5 Assorted Sizes Paper Stumps or tortillions are for blending pastels, charcoal,pastel pencils, conte crayons and graphite media. If you are working with pastel, charcoal or any other dusty media these useful artist tools makes the difficult job of blending these mediums much easier and cleaner.The tortillion is made from tightly bound paper, which feels like a…
Caran DAche Paper Blending Stump or Tortillion 140mm long Caran DAche Paper Blending Stump or Tortillion 140mm long
£3.99
£3.49
5 in stock
Caran D'Ache Stump also called Torchon or Tortillion! The blending stump or torchon is a useful tool for pastel art and graphite work. The pastel blender is made from tightly bound paper, which feels like a hard blotting paper pencil. Smooth, precise after sharpening, the stump allows graphite, charcoal and pastels to be applied and worked in a way that is non-aggressive for the support. 140mm lon…
Jakar Compressed Charcoal - Assorted Grey Set of 12 stic Jakar Compressed Charcoal - Assorted Grey Set of 12 stic
£4.99
£3.99
17 in stock
Jakar Compressed Charcoal Grey Set. 12 sticks of compressed charcoal in this useful, well priced set. Colour spectrum of the compressed charcoal from black, through shades of grey to white. Useful drawing material for artists.
Jakar Compressed Charcoal - Black Set of 12 sticks Jakar Compressed Charcoal - Black Set of 12 sticks
£4.99
£3.99
30 in stock
Jakar Compressed Charcoal Black Set. 12 round sticks of compressed charcoal in this useful, well priced set. All the charcoal sticks in this set are compressed black charcoal. An essential drawing art material for artists.
Jakar White Pastels 12 x Compressed Sticks Jakar White Pastels 12 x Compressed Sticks
£4.99
£3.99
31 in stock
Jakar Compressed White Pastels 12 round sticks of compressed white pastel in this useful, well priced set. All the sticks are white in this set. Popular set of white sticks, an essential for lights when drawing. Strictly speaking this is a pastel not white charcoal but it is extremely useful for creating strong light marks when you are drawing.
Derwent Paper Stump Pack of 3 Derwent Paper Stump Pack of 3
£4.99
Out of stock
Paper Stumps Pack (sometimes called Tortillions) Pack of three assorted sizes, large, medium and thin Rice paper stumps which are smoother and more effective than your fingers! Smudge and blend charcoal, pastel and graphite. The defined tips of these stumps make them more accurate and a lot less messy TIP: the best way to clean and sharpen your paper stump is to file it on a sandpaper block
Nitram Charcoal Demi Baton De Saule Pack 2 (25mm Round) Nitram Charcoal Demi Baton De Saule Pack 2 (25mm Round) new in
£20.50
£17.95
3 in stock
Nitram Charcoal 25mm Diameter Stick Pack of 2 Nitram Charcoal is now available in a large round format, the Demi Baton De Saule. This is the new soft form. These two large 25mm diameter round Nitram Charcoal sticks will be particularly useful for larger drawing. Measurement of Demi Baton De Saule: 152mm length (6") 25mm diameter (0.98") INCREASED DURABILITY Nitram Charcoal is produced using a uniq…
Nitram Charcoal Sticks - Box Of 5 Soft (B) Sticks Nitram Charcoal Sticks - Box Of 5 Soft (B) Sticks
£10.95
£9.60
Out of stock
Nitram Charcoal Original Soft B - Box of 5 Sticks Nitram charcoal is for the discerning artist who requires a rich black for drawing. Nitram B is the answer for drawing in charcoal. This fusain charcoal is very soft, yet is still able to carry a point for working rich blacks into the paper or canvas. Each package of charcoal sticks contains five (5) batons. Baton measurement: 5mm (0.25) x 5mm (0.2…
ArtGraf Tailor Shape Chalk Blocks Primary Colours Set ArtGraf Tailor Shape Chalk Blocks Primary Colours Set
£22.40
£19.60
1 in stock
ArtGraf Chalk Block Set Primary Colours x 3 Tailor’s Chalk shaped squares: Water-soluble: Extremely Soft Artists can achieve a wide range of shades from these pressed pigment blocks. The extreme softness and water-soluble nature of these drawing and painting tools allow light transparent tones through to deep, rich, opaque colours. Blocks measure approximately 4.5cm x 5cm. Primary Colours set of 3…
ArtGraf Tailor Shape Chalk Blocks Earth Set x 6 Colours ArtGraf Tailor Shape Chalk Blocks Earth Set x 6 Colours
£41.50
£36.30
1 in stock
ArtGraf Chalk Block Set Earth Colours x 6 Tailor’s Chalk shaped squares: Water-soluble: Extremely Soft Artists can achieve a wide range of shades from these pressed pigment blocks. The extreme softness and water-soluble nature of these drawing and painting tools allow light transparent tones through to deep, rich, opaque colours. Blocks measure approximately 4.5cm x 5cm. Earth Colours set of 6 col…
Caran DAche Charcoal Pencil Caran DAche Charcoal Pencil
£3.20
£2.85
1 in stock
Soft Charcoal Pencil from Caran D'Ache How not to get so messy with charcoal.  You will make dark marks with this soft charcoal lead.  The actual charcoal inner lead is a generous size and there is a good quality wood exterior casing.  The pencil will require sharpening before use.
Conte Paper Blending Stump or Tortillion 5mm Dia Conte Paper Blending Stump or Tortillion 5mm Dia
£2.00
6 in stock
Conte Stumps or Tortillion for blending 941 5mm diameter, length 120mm The blending stump or torchon is a useful tool for pastel art and graphite work. The pastel blender is made from tightly bound paper, which feels like a hard blotting paper pencil. Smooth, precise after sharpening, the stump allows the graphite to be applied and worked in a way that is non-aggressive for the support. 5mm diamet…

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