Matthew James Taylor Matthew James Taylor

Art › Life drawing › Mediums ›

White Charcoal Life Drawing On Toned Paper

Using white charcoal for highlights on toned paper can really make your life drawing come alive!

Here are some of my favorites:

"Twisted girl" Charcoal drawing with foreshortening

Twisted girl
Artist
Matthew James Taylor
Medium
Charcoal, white charcoal on grey paper
Date
3 Nov 2005
Time
30 minutes

This was a difficult pose and there are a number of things wrong, however, I am especially proud of her feet.

I always have trouble drawing the underside of feet but somehow in this drawing I managed to do them well. I think the reason why feet are so hard to draw is because when you stare at them long enough they start to look like some horrible weirdly shaped things and that can freak you out a bit! (I don't recommend looking at her feet for too long!)

The white charcoal highlights are very subtle in this drawing because the paper is a very light grey.

"Girl on pillow" Foreshortened pose in black and white charcoal

Girl on pillow' in black and white charcoal pencil
Artist
Matthew James Taylor
Medium
Charcoal, white charcoal on yellow paper
Date
27 Oct 2005
Time
30 minutes

This was a lovely pose, the extreme foreshortening makes it quite interesting.

Normally it's difficult to capture this view point in a natural way but I feel that this drawing worked well for some reason.

I really like the patterns of light and shadow as they wander across the curves of her body!

"Seated girl long study" Detailed charcoal rendered drawing

Seated girl long study
Artist
Matthew James Taylor
Medium
Charcoal, white charcoal on tan paper
Date
25 Jun 2005
Time
4 hours

This is a really nice pose and I took my time to get it all drawn in as accurately as possible. It's nice to be able to leisurely sketch away without feeling rushed by a short time frame.

The light was almost directly coming from my direction so there weren't many large shadow areas on the model. I like drawing from this position because it means that there are a lot of fully lit areas that need to be rendered with white charcoal.

I love adding white to a drawing, it lifts the subject off the page and gives it a life of it's own. Of course you can only use white effectively on toned paper.

"Man with hand on head" Life drawing in side view

Man with hand on head
Artist
Matthew James Taylor
Medium
Charcoal, white charcoal on tan paper
Date
21 Jun 2005
Time
20 minutes

This is a section of a larger drawing. I like the way the profile of the model's face catches the light.

"Man crouched holding leg" Male nude in charcoal

Man crouched holding leg
Artist
Matthew James Taylor
Medium
Charcoal, white charcoal on tan paper
Date
20 Jun 2005
Time
10 minutes

This is a nice pose of a man sitting on the floor crouching over from the side. I had a lot of fun following all the curves with my charcoal pencil with this one, when you look closely at the lines I think it shows.

I used minimal white charcoal for the most important highlights.

"Man on ground" 10 minute charcoal figure drawing

Man on ground
Artist
Matthew James Taylor
Medium
Charcoal, white charcoal on tan paper
Date
20 Jun 2005
Time
10 minutes

In this pose you can see some nice muscle definition in the mans back as well as his shoulder blades. I also like how his right lower leg is foreshortened.

"Man sitting face on" Seated life drawing in Charcoal pencil

Man sitting face on
Artist
Matthew James Taylor
Medium
Charcoal, white charcoal on tan paper
Date
20 Jun 2005
Time
10 minutes

This was a nice relaxed pose of a man sitting on a chair face on. I didn't bother drawing the chair so it looks as if he's floating in space!

"Man sitting crossed legs" Rendered charcoal life drawing

Man sitting crossed legs
Artist
Matthew James Taylor
Medium
Charcoal, white charcoal on light blue paper
Date
24 May 2005
Time
40 minutes

Just a quick sketch of a seated man on blue paper. I love the light coming from the side, it creates some beautiful shadow shapes.

"Girl with no feet" Reclining nude in charcoal pencil

Girl with no feet
Artist
Matthew James Taylor
Medium
Charcoal, white charcoal on light grey paper
Date
18 Dec 2004
Time
1 hour

This is a large A2-sized life drawing and I only have an A4 scanner so I have to scan multiple pieces and stitch them together with Photoshop, unfortunately, the scan of her feet failed.

The white highlights are very subtle on the light grey paper.

"Five girls" A series of quick life drawings on grey paper

Five girls
Artist
Matthew James Taylor
Medium
Charcoal, white charcoal on grey paper
Date
6 Dec 2004
Time
10 minutes each

Five 10 minute studies of the same female model.

"Seated man in burgundy" Male figure drawing with white charcoal

Seated man in burgundy
Artist
Matthew James Taylor
Medium
Charcoal, white charcoal on burgundy paper
Date
6 Apr 2004

You can really lift a drawing off the page when you use strong white on a dark paper. The only difficulty with this technique is it is hard to see the black construction lines when you first plan out the pose.

"David look-a-like" Black and white charcoal on brown paper

David look-a-like
Artist
Matthew James Taylor
Medium
Charcoal, white charcoal on brown paper
Date
30 Mar 2004
Time
1 hour

This model was really great. He has such classical features and this particular pose reminds me of Michelangelo's marble statue of David.

"Side-lit man" Nude male figure drawing

Side-lit man
Artist
Matthew James Taylor
Medium
Charcoal, white charcoal on burgundy paper
Date
30 Mar 2004
Time
10 minutes

This is just a quick drawing that I liked with the male model lit from one side.

"Angela reading" Charcoal tonal portrait study

Angela reading (black and white charcoal)
Artist
Matthew James Taylor
Medium
Charcoal, white charcoal on brown paper
Date
24 Mar 2004
Time
2 hours 15 minutes

This is a friend of mine reading a book drawn from life.

I feel like there are two focal points in the drawing, her face, and her hands holding her book. Perhaps it would have been better if I focused on just one?

See more of my portraits.

"Hands in light" Light and shadow study on blue paper

Hands in light
Artist
Matthew James Taylor
Medium
Charcoal, white charcoal on blue paper
Date
16 Mar 2004
Time
55 minutes

In this drawing I focused on drawing the highlights with white charcoal and left most of the shadows untouched so the blue paper would show through.

"Seated man" Charcoal nude on brown paper

Seated man
Artist
Matthew James Taylor
Medium
Charcoal, white charcoal on brown paper
Date
25 Nov 2003
Time
30 minutes

This drawing worked out well, however I think it would look much better if it wasn't cross-hatched. Sometimes I overwork things a bit. I need to learn when to stop!

I love the shape of the highlighted areas in white charcoal.

"Reclining girl" Charcoal life drawing

Reclining girl
Artist
Matthew James Taylor
Medium
Charcoal, white charcoal on light blue paper
Date
17 Nov 2003
Time
30 minutes

I love the rendered highlights in white charcoal in this drawing.

"Sleeping girl" Black and white charcoal life drawing

Sleeping girl
Artist
Matthew James Taylor
Medium
Charcoal, white charcoal on medium gray paper
Date
29 Oct 2003
Time
30 minutes

"Man leaning back" Charcoal drawing on purple paper

Man leaning back
Artist
Matthew James Taylor
Medium
Charcoal, white charcoal on purple paper
Date
14 Oct 2003
Time
30 minutes

Just a nice sketch. I love how the white charcoal looks on purple paper.

"Burgundy girl" Black and white charcoal on burgundy paper

Burgundy girl
Artist
Matthew James Taylor
Medium
Charcoal, white charcoal on burgundy paper
Date
6 Oct 2003
Time
10 minutes

Just a quick sketch that I liked.

The white was done very roughly but it still brings the drawing to life.

Best Charcoal For Life Drawing

The General's Charcoal pencils are my favorite medium for life drawing.

General's Charcoal pencils black and white
My charcoal pencils might be dirty but I still love them! ♥

Here's why I think they're the best:

It works out cheaper to buy these in the following set:

I highly recommend you try these out! (Amazon link)

Matthew James Taylor

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See more of my recommended design tools.

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