Drawing Materials

As promised, here's a look at my box of drawing meterials which I used for the life drawings.

In there (right to left), you can see 

a large stump of willow charcoal, which is nice for making broad, soft, dark lines (almost a silvery black); 

a large stick of burnt sienna pastel; 

large stick of black pastel, nice for making really dark broad lines and washes; 

large stick of white pastel for highlights.

In the box, you can see yellow ochre pastels, different small sticks of coloured pastel for adding highlights, and conte crayons in various hardnesses.  The conte has a nice waxiness to it, and can give a darker, more stable line than willow charcoal, which rubs away easily and is quite soft and silvery in colour.

I also have watercolour brushes, so that I can loosen up the lines of pastel and charcoal to give a wash, by sweeping a wet brush over the lines.

All these materials are chosen to suit a broad, expressive style where big, quick, gestural mark-making is the order of the day.