I like to use acrylic paint and charcoal in my work. I avoid using precise lines with these materials, I like to make quick marks. I decided to mix these two medias together because I use them in the same way. I started by drawing a simple image of an elephant with charcoal and I avoided smudging it. I then painted over the top with some black paint. As I painted over the top, the charcoal smudged and mixed with the paint. The overall appearance of the drawing was slightly smudged and softer. Some of the charcoal wasn’t painted over so the texture of it remained.

I then did the opposite with paint first then charcoal over the top. I really liked the effect this gave as the charcoal allowed me to add more detail over the top. The overall appearance is a lot darker than the first image, I like this as there is a much larger contrast between the black and white.

I liked the second image more because the charcoal textures are more visible. I will develop this practice further, maybe adding colour or producing much larger pieces.

charcoal with paint over the top                                        Paint with charcoal over the top

close up of the image with charcoal over the top