Paper and Eraser
I
like a 300 lb cold-pressed cotton -- Lanaquarelle from France. It has a nice tooth
and a subtle off-white tone. It stands up well to friction when layering charcoal and pulling highlights with an eraser.
Note: a kneaded eraser is the only type to use - otherwise
you'll shred the surface of your paper -- it's also a great pull toy. The only brand I've used is Kneaded Eraser by Design.
Fixative
Rarely use it unless I want to flatten the work and darken my mid-tones.
Tortillon and Palette
I
have made all kinds of these myself or you can find some wonderful
variations of this typically Italian-made blending tool. They are lead-less / wood-less pencils of tightly wound paper with a point at one or both ends. How tightly
they are wound produces delicate variations likened to the difference
one finds in hard vs. soft brushes. A hand-sized scrap
of the cardboard-like cotton paper scribbled thick with charcoal makes a
perfect palette. (I make use of the left-over heavy-weight cotton paper -- anything else will disintegrate too quickly.)
After laying down a thick area of charcoal, the black particles are lifted with the tortillon
and
loaded like paint on a brush. This technique offers more control of your mid-tones. Since oily charcoals drawn on the surface of your work will permanently "stain"
cotton fibers, direct pencil-to-surface is reserved only for the blackest
areas. The more layers, the richer and deeper the blacks.
Through the process, each hair of cotton fiber is roughed-up to attract
and hold charcoal. In addition to multiple sizes and densities of
tortillons, I've also used compacted balls of bread, felt,
chamois cloth and an old-fashioned school eraser for blending. Each
material produces a slightly different effect.
This technique takes more time and is far more tedious. If the work is approached as painting rather than drawing -- sculpture rather than 2D, you'll achieve more dimensional results.
