How to draw a charcoal portrait using a grid

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Looking to build your skills in drawing portraiture with charcoal? This post guides artists through how to use charcoal to draw a realistic portrait. Additionally, this post shows artists how to use a basic grid system to aid in drawing realistically.

* Hey educators! Scroll below to purchase this ready-for-class instructional lesson.*

Materials list:

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Step 1:

Take a portrait photograph. For this project, it is helpful to have a photo reference with dramatic highlights and shadows. Taking a photo with one light source in a dark room works great!

Next, create a digital grid on your photograph. A grid is a helpful tool that breaks a large photo reference into smaller parts to make it more manageable to draw with accuracy.

I use Google Slides for this step (as pictured in fig. 1). More information on this step can be found on my blog post- how to create a digital grid.

Fig. 1- example of digital grid

Step 2:

Next, prepare the size of your charcoal paper and make small measurements for grid lines on all 4 sides (as pictured in fig. 2). My photo has 4 grid squares x 5 grid squares, so I sized my charcoal paper to have a picture plane of 10″ x 12.5″ with 2.5″ squares. When working with charcoal, I always like to have at least a 1″ border around my work.

If you’d like to work larger, some other options include: 12″ x 15″ with 3″ squares or 14″ x 17.5″ with 3.5″ squares… and so on.

Fig. 2- example of charcoal paper measurements

Step 3:

Once the size of your charcoal paper is prepared, Use the flat side of a piece of vine charcoal to lightly coat the paper. Then, use your hand or a smudging tool to evenly blend the vine charcoal in. Your goal is to make a mid tone gray which will help to build values.

Step 4:

Use a ruler and vine charcoal to connect the measured grid lines to draw a visible grid. Draw VERY LIGHTLY so these lines can be easily erased when they are no longer needed.

Step 5:

Use vine charcoal to lightly sketch the contours and defining features. The grid will aid you in capturing accurate proportions. Vine charcoal is very forgiving and easy to erase, so if you mess up simply make adjustments til you get it right. Draw light ’til you get it right!

Step 6:

Once contours are sketched, begin using vine charcoal to build up the dark shadows and a kneaded eraser to erase out the white highlights. You will likely find that vine charcoal needs to be worked into the paper, so be prepared to get messy. I like to use my finger to work the medium in to the teeth of the charcoal paper.

Step 7:

Continue to add details and refine the image. When you feel the image is developing and you have features in the correct location, begin using compressed charcoal to darken the darkest shadows. Compressed charcoal is not as forgiving as vine charcoal and hard to erase. Some of the benefits of working with compressed charcoal is that it is less “smudgy” and gets dark very quickly!

Step 8:

Continue to refine details. In the final few steps, I recommend using a white charcoal pencil to add the detailed highlights found in the image.

When finished, spray your final artwork with a layer of spray fixative to solidify the charcoal to the paper and avoid unwanted smudging. Use this spray in a well ventilated space, such as outdoors. Let dry fully before handling.

Hey teachers!* Click here for my TpT shop if you’re interested in this lesson, which features a full slideshow presentation and a project specific grading rubric. 

I hope you found this tutorial to be helpful! I would love to see your charcoal portrait! Feel free to send me your work at makeamarkstudios@gmail.com or tag me on Instagram @makeamark_studios. I’d love to feature your work if you are interested. Want to keep up with the latest from Make a Mark Studios? Follow me on Facebook! 

–Stephanie Villiotis, creator of Make a Mark Studios