7/31/2019 Preparing Paper
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PREPARING PAPER FOR RED CHALK
Copyright 2006 by Robert Liberace. All rights reserved.
HISTORY OF THE MEDIUM
As evidenced by the magnificent Paleolithicartwork that adorns
the walls of the cavesof Lascaux, mankind has been usingmineral
pigments to produce artwork for
over 16,000 years. Our artist ancestorsdiscovered that, in
addition to being a joyto use in drawing and painting,
thesematerials were much more permanent thandye-based pigments.
A 16,000-year-old cave painting, Lascaux, France
Red chalk is a naturally occurring mineralmade up of hematite
(iron oxide)suspended in clay. Although red chalk hasbeen used
since the dawn of humanity, itwasnt until the Renaissance that it
becamepopular to draw with red chalk on paper.
Natural Red Chalk
Leonardo da Vinci was the first todemonstrate the amazing
potential of thishumble mineral. He produced a largenumber of
magnificent drawings with redchalk. Michelangelo, Raphael, Rubens,
andmany others followed Leonardos lead. Inthis chapter, we will
follow in the footstepsof the old masters and learn to draw withthe
modern-day equivalents of red chalk.
Horse Study by Leonardo da Vinci (Red Chalk on Paper)
MATERIALS
Its difficult to find a piece of natural redchalk with just the
right mix of friabilityand hardness, so today, instead of using
ahunk of rock dug out of the ground, we usered chalks modern
equivalents contcrayon and colored pencil. When workingin a larger
scale, I use cont crayon or pastelpencils on print making paper
like thosemade by Arches or Rives. But forproducing smaller, finer
drawings, I prefer
to use hard colored pencils (SanfordVerithin pencils) on toned
paper. Thepaper that I prefer is TwinrockerCalligraphy Cream or
Yale hand-laid papertoned with dilute watercolor and sized
withdilute amber shellac.
Toning and Sizing Materials
