DRY CONTE CRAYONS DRAWING LESSON

Dry or Conte crayons are sticks of crayon about two inches long
and about three sixteenths of an inch wide. They are manufactured in
France and Conte is the manufacturer's name. Conte crayons and many
imitations of them are sold in all art supply shops. Try to get the real

Conte crayon. It is one of the best things to draw with that I know. A
dry crayon very similar to it has been used by artists for hundreds of
years. Conte dry crayon will cling well to any paper except those with
shiny polished surfaces.

Conte crayon comes in four colors black, brown (called sepia), red (called sanguine), and white.
It comes in three different degrees of hardness  hard, medium, and soft. Ask for a medium Conte crayon
to draw with.

A good way to use dry crayon is to start with charcoal. With your
charcoal, sketch in lightly the object you want to draw. Just give it a
general shape and general movement. Then dust away the charcoal
with a piece of dry clean cloth. Snap your cloth at the paper when you
do this. Enough of the charcoal will remain so that you can see your
sketch.

Now take your red Conte crayon and snap it in half. Holding the
half stick of crayon so that the wide side of it rests on your paper, begin
to develop your shapes. Draw lightly at first, then more definitely. You
can do just about anything with Conte crayon. You can draw fine
sensitive lines with the edge of the crayon, crosshatch, smudge in deep
tones, or model over your paper with your fingers. You will enjoy
working with these crayons.

You can develop your drawing further by putting down your final
lines with black Conte crayon. Then, after you have used your knead-
ing rubber to pick out shapes and highlights, you can use a smudge of
the white Conte to sharpen the highlights.

You can also lay out your main masses or shapes with charcoal
and round them out with some light-colored pastel. And then you can
put down your final lines with Conte crayon. But this drawing must
also be fixed, so use your fixative. It would be wise to use fixative even
on straight Conte crayon drawings, for they can be smudged with
careless handling.

Red crayon drawing by Michelangelo (1475-1564)

QUALITIES OF DRY CRAYON, PASTEL, OR CHARCOAL DRAWING

Dry crayon, pastel, or charcoal drawings, or a combination of all
three, should have about the same qualities as any other drawing. But
the first quality these drawings must have is fine, full shape -- good
three-dimensional shape. If your drawing does not have it, tear it up,
throw it away, and start over again !

 

 

 

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