Sometimes the simplest things are the most invaluable. Take a piece of charcoal, for example. It may at first look like just a dark, brittle piece of burned wood, with nothing remarkable about it at all. But if you look closer and see beyond the soot and brittleness, you will find something ingenious, even phenomenal. You begin to see the value of charcoal in the aesthetic sense.
Charcoal originally was used mainly as fuel, nothing more, but in time, man has found other uses to this negligible by-product of fire. Through charcoal and various other pigments, our earliest ancestors found a way to immortalize their primitive ideas. They began to draw on rock, making animals, plants and human figures, creating the first recorded glimpses of artwork. These cave drawings brought the dawn of human art.
Fast-forward thousands of years into that rich period called the Renaissance, when humanity had greatly developed since the prehistoric era. Along with that development were the great leaps of artwork from the masters: Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Albrecht Durer and Raphael. They lifted art to a whole new level. Their works enlightened beholders for centuries to come. But these are not their only creations. They left thousands of drawings, sketches and studies that are as breathtaking as their paintings and sculptures. And yes, they used charcoal as one of their primary drawing materials.
Not only in Europe did charcoal become a tool of art. The Orient also had its own share of charcoal artwork. The Japanese style o Sumi-e, for example, uses bamboo charcoal in drawing. They burn sticks of wood, using the ashes to create beautiful aesthetic work.
What about charcoal has made it so valuable to artists? Maybe it's the dark pigment, complementing the white paper or canvas, emphasizing the lines and curves. Maybe it's the availability of charcoal, the richness of its texture, the economy and flexibility of this brittle material. Maybe it's because of all these things and more.
Even now in modern times, charcoal has never lost its popularity. There are artists specializing in charcoal drawings, disciplines and schools teaching new and classic ways of charcoal art. There are the likes of Pablo Picasso, Max Beckmann and Paul Klee upholding the legacy of the classical masters. Truly, as unremarkable as it may be, charcoal has stood the artist's test of time, and continues to be art's foremost friend and ally.
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