To carry on with yesterday’s theme of Manky Women artists, here are the steps to making a manier noir drawing which is deliciously grubby.
I started by stretching large pieces of Fabriano 240gsm paper onto a wall, soaking them lightly. When they were dry I gave them 2 coats of acrylic gesso, leaving them to dry between coats.
Then I prepared two with compressed charcoal, rubbing it in with my hands until there was an even black coat. The third was scribbled with graphite block which was then smoothed with a rag dipped in turpentine.
Here they are ready for ‘drawing’ which I do using wire wool and sandpaper, scraping the black away to reveal the highlights and tones.
And here’s one of the drawings on compressed charcoal. When they’re finished I spray them with commercial fixer for charcoal and pastel. The charcoal and graphite give different blacks; the graphite has a silvery sheen while the compressed charcoal gives a much denser matt black.
scribblah 
Blimey
That’s me, grubby all over 🙂
Little gems of information – thank you Rosie – some how I will have to clear some space in the studio and try this out – actually I have studio envy just looking at your walls 🙂
haha 🙂 I stretch a lot on board as well and store it until I want it,
oh to be so organised 🙂 thanks for the link to the other artist drawings – great stuff.
Really getting your hands dirty! There is such power to a negative drawing. I am amazed that 240gsm is heavy enough to stand up to such rough treatment as steel wool. Its making me feel way too clean and tidy!
It’s very soft, fine wire wool and a very fine aluminium oxide abrasive paper, rather than sandpaper. 240gsm doesn’t take ripping into the surface though, unlike the heavier Arches in my example yesterday. The acrylic gesso provides a tough, ‘toothed’ barrier to work on top of and provides a lot of protection to the paper. Rabbit skin glue is nice to work over but doesn’t give much protection to the surface of the paper. Gosh, I’m suck a geek lol
Technical knowledge is vital – it gives a framework to work within, the old thing of knowing the rules then you can break them … I always find new methods interesting and inspiring!
Unfortunately too many art colleges over here are failing to teach technique. I agree, learn the rules and then break them. You can’t know what you can do with a medium until you get your hands dirty and try.
Thanks so much, will put this onto my to-do list. Love the way you’ve pulled the figure right out of the darkness in your example.
It reminds me of something Michaelangelo is supposed to have said about him releasing his sculptures from the block of marble. It’s a similar thing.