The Craft of Old-Master Drawings, by James Watrous is still the most comprehensive publication on the subject and is available for purchase on the Internet at: uwpress.wisc.edu/books/1945.htm
Charcoal: Charcoal is probably the earliest drawing implement picked up by man/artist and is still very much in use today. It is equally suitable for fine small drawings as for a large scale mural compositions. Charcoal is prepared from different types of wood which are subjected to “carbonisation” or incomplete combustion. The preferred woods are willow, linden and some fruit trees such as plum and pear. Black chalk and charcoal drawings are sometimes confused, but their distinctiveness is easily determined under magnification: charcoal powder is much lighter than the powder produced by chalk and therefore it usually settles within the interstices of the paper while the chalk stroke leaves mounds on the peaks of paper’s grain.
Natural chalks: Historically three natural chalks were used by artists: red, black and white for the highlights. They were made from coloured earths which had enough pigment density and even distribution to produce a uniformed and intense stroke. When the deposits of these chalks run out a fabricated version was produced which eventually increased the number of available hues; these chalks are known as chalk pastels (not to be confused with oil-pastels).
Natural red chalk: The proliferation of red chalk drawings attests to the popularity and a wide use of this artist’s material. The chromatic strength of the chalk is derived from a form of iron oxide (Fe2O3, basically a formula for rust) but in a form of a mineral hematite (from Greek word for blood). Baldinucci (1624 –1697) in his dictionary of art and technical terms (Vocabolario Toscano dell'Arte del Disegno, 1681, reprinted 1976, p. 92) referred to hematite as a source for natural chalk.
Natural chalk comes under a variety of names (here only the most common are mentioned, for a full list see Watrous, p.94): matita rosa, appiso, red-oaker, crayon rouge, and sanguine.
Natural red chalk was not as friable as charcoal, nor does it have a great value range. It was suitable for small scale drawings and sketches that required limited modeling. In many drawings it was used alone, but it was also combined with black (for deeper tones) and white (for highlights). By the eighteenth century the red chalk was used less and less as the sources of good quality chalk became scarce. The newly found deposits yielded chalk that was gritty and uneven in consistency which prompted the fabrication of a red stick with a similar characteristics. Today the reasonable replacement for red chalk is a sanguine conté crayon.
Natural black chalk: Natural black chalk was used at the same time as the red chalk and was most popular during the late fifteenth and early sixteenth century. Its principal ingredients were carbon (carbonaceous shale) and clay. The inferior quality of chalk was used by tradesmen (masons, stonecutters etc.) Black chalk was less friable than charcoal so it was better suited for a more linear style drawings. In the nineteenth century the use of black chalk declined in favour of a graphite pencil. The modern replacement for a black chalk is black conté crayon.
Natural white chalk: Two types of natural white chalk existed; one was a variety of calcium carbonate and the other was a variety of soapstone (tailor’s chalk) and/or talc. Cennino recommends using taylor’s chalk for sketching directly onto canvas. But the principal function of all white chalks was to be used in conjunction with other drawing materials to introduce highlights as a modeling device. It is very difficult to distinguish fabricated and natural white chalk.
Natural chalks of other colours: Chalks of other colours were of minor importance in the history of drawing. Wad (manganese oxide) yielded a rich brown chalk while light red-brown was obtained from brick clays.
Fabricated chalks: pastels
Basically fabricated chalks or pastels are made by mixing a colorant (pigment) with adhesive or a medium. In addition, some recipes for certain pigments may also require a bulking agent or additive. For the difference to natural chalks, fabricated chalks can now be obtained in a wide range of colours and tints, as well as, texture and hardness. Fabricated chalks were known since sixteenth century and Lomazzo, (1538–1600) in his treatises (Trattato dell’ arte della pittura, scoltura et architettura, Milano 1585, pp.192-193 - York Library has e-version in English) called such drawing a pastello.
Binding media used to produce fabricated chalks was varied and such substances as sugar, whey, fig milk, beer, honey oatmeal water etc. were used, in addition to gum arabic, gum tragacanth, animal glue, starch and plaster of Paris. The recipes had to be adjusted according to the chosen binder and selected pigment. Various pigments have inherent binding strengths and it was enough to produce a good pastel by mixing them with water only. The most common additives are bentonite, ball clay or pipe clay, plaster of Paris and chalk (calcium carbonate). Please note: We are going to make pastels in the York studio by using methylcellulose as a binder (recipes in Watrous pp 125-6). Methylcellulose is a chemical compound derived from cellulose. It is soluble in cold water (N.B.: NOT in hot) forming a clear viscous solution or gel. Various strengths are prepared to make pastels depending, as mentioned above, upon the choice of pigments.
Crayons
Crayons can be dry (i.e. friable like pastels) or greasy and viscous. The later also come under the technical name conté or conté-crayon. To produce conté crayon ordinary soap or gum arabic is used as a binder. For a more fatty crayon tallow and beeswax is used as a binder. (Recipes in Watrous pp. 128-9). The word is derived from French crayon, from craie meaning chalk.
Metal point drawing
Fine media: with minimal gradation possible. The only drawing technique that requires surface preparation. During the Medieval period metal point was used to execute preparatory drawings for manuscript illuminations on parchment carrier. Metal point was also used by merchants to record various transactions and prices of their ware, hence graphite pencil is often referred to as a "lead pencil."
Cennino Cennini (c. 1370 – c. 1440) in Il Libro dell’arte manuscript gives a detailed account of surface preparation for metal point (lead white and linseed oil or chalk, ground calcined bones in animal glue solution). At that time such tablets served to apprentices to practice their drawing skills as paper was rather costly.
Metal point was also used by the Renaissance artists (Northern Europe and Italy) for preparatory drawings. In the Decameron (or Prencipe Galeotto, 1350) by Giovanni Boccaccio (Fifth Story, p. 457), he mentions Giotto (1267 –1337) ... whole of creation that he could not depict with his stylus, pen, or brush. And so faithful did he remain to Nature… that whatever he depicted had the appearance, not of a reproduction, but of the thing itself …
Metal point technique declined in the 16th century when it was replaced by a more forgiving and a more expressive technique.
Materials: stylus and prepared surface (monochromatic or slightly coloured)
The most common material for stylus was silver, but lead, tin, copper and even gold wires were used. In our class silver wire will be used, set in some kind of a holder (wood, or a mechanical pencil holder).
Carrier: thicker paper, cardboard, parchment or a panel (solid wood or plywood)
Ground: very similar to gesso ground: chalk, slaked Plaster of Paris or lead white pigment in animal glue. Gesso is applied warm to the surface, left to dry and then polished. The surface, once dry, must not be too soft to be scored by stylus, but must allow stylus to glide effortlessly over it. If a surface is too hard no mark will be left by a stylus.
Colour can be achieved by either applying a wash or by mixing a chosen pigment with dry ingredients before adding glue.
Silver point strokes are light gray, but soon oxidation of silver takes place and a deep metallic sheen and darker value is achieved. However pressure will not produce a deeper values which can be achieved by limited hatching and cross hatching. Metal point strokes have even less textural substance than a modern, hard, graphite pencil, therefore the technique is mostly linear and the line very fine and uniformed.
Graphite
Metallic stylus and graphite sticks produce visually a very similar mark which contributed to the confusion by calling a graphite pencil also a lead pencil. In addition, the word “pencil” in the treatises of the 14th and later centuries, refers to "artist's paintbrush" (from Fr. pinceau and Latin penicillus literary meaning "little tail ") and not to the modern connotation of the word.
In sixteenth century a big deposit of natural graphite was found in Cumberland, England and which for almost three centuries supplied artists of Europe with this material. Natural graphite could be fashioned into a fine pointed stick placed in a holder (porte-crayon) or was used as a big lump for larger drawings. By mid eighteenth century, for political reasons, the export of graphite to Europe all but stopped and the French government encouraged various researches to find a reasonable substitute. Nicolas-Jacques Conté experimented with inferior graphite available in Frnce and in 1795 fashioned a precursor of today’s modern pencil. In order to obtain a variety of hardness a range of additives were mixed with crushed graphite. A soft graphite pencil is friable enough to produce soft, broad strokes, but still not as effective as charcoal or black chalk. In addition it is easy to overwork graphite drawing producing dull monotonous greyness of tones. Graphite is more suited when a simple linear effect is sought.
Pen and ink
Historically two implements were used in “pen & ink” drawings. A pen, which is actually a quill (from Greek pteron i.e. wing and via Latin penna i.e. feather) and a reed (a generic botanical term denoting numerous tall, grass-like plants of wetlands).
The best quills are made from the primary flight feathers of a goose (but swan and raven feathers were also used). Quill appealed to artists since it could be sharpened to a fine point or blunted for a wider strokes. The small knife used to sharpen the quill is still today called a pen-knife. Because of its very nature (the shaft is of a similar composition as a human nail) the quill glides with a lot less effort over paper than a modern steel pen.
Reed was probably used already in Antiquity, but during the medieval and Renaissance period its broad marks were not suitable for a fine strokes required by the manuscript illuminators. Reed drawings are easily recognized not only by a bolder, but also by a shorter strokes since it cannot hold as much ink as the quill.
Metal pens were manufactured at the end of eighteenth century. The very material makes them more sturdy and permanent: after continuous writing the fine point hardly changed.
Inks
Inks, if they are to be used for pen or brush drawing must flow evenly and therefore its colorant must be of extremely fine texture or be prepared from a “bodiless” dyes.
Historically four inks were used by artists: black carbon ink, iron-gall ink, also known as common ink, bistre and sepia. Numerous medieval treatises record recipes for preparing ink, especially iron-gall.
Black carbon ink: This ink probably has the longest history and was prepared by the ancient Egyptians and Chinese. Black carbon ink consists of exceptionally fine carbon particles suspended in water. There was a need for additional binding medium which was derived from various gums and/or glues. Black pigment was obtained from soot of burning oils or resins, charcoal of wood, calcined bones and ivory, calcined stones of various fruits (peach being the most common). Chinese ink or India-ink was imported from the Orient. (Modern Chinese and India-inks tend to clog the pens because they contain shellac or resin which also makes them reasonably waterproof. These inks are used mostly for drafting.) Carbon ink offers a whole range of values from jet-black to delicate gray washes.
Iron-gall ink, common ink: during the medieval period this ink was used more often for writing then for drawing. Leonardo was the first to have mentioned its use for drawing (MacCurdy, E., The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci, II., N.Y. 1938, p. 173). Iron gall is produced by cooking crushed gall-nuts (growths on oak trees caused by oak wasps ) and mixing the obtained liquid rich in tannic and gallic acid with ferrous sulphate. Fresh ink is purple-grey, but will darken upon exposure to air. After a number of years the ink again changes into brownish colour. Because of the high acid content many iron-gall ink drawings and writings exhibit paper or parchment degradation.
Bistre ink: Bistre ink is generally brown in colour and is obtained by extracting soluble tars from wood soot. The term “bistre” is of French origin and first time is mentioned in the sixteenth century (Watrous, p.74). The soluble tars were generally extracted by boiling the soot or grinding it with wine (i.e. vinegar) and then diluting it with water. The liquid is filtered to obtain a clear and transparent ink. Further boiling intensifies the depth of colour. This ink does not require any binder, but if gum arabic is added its lustre is increased. Bistre was a preferred ink, especially during the Baroque period, artists were attracted by its glowing and almost radiant colour.
Sepia ink: There is not much reference of artists using sepia ink prior to the nineteenth century. Sepia was obtained from a “camouflage” liquid expelled by cuttlefish and squid when threatened. Unfortunately the term “sepia” is often applied to any aqueous brownish artist’s colour, as well as to "antique" photographs.
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