al, which must of course be fixed with a spray diffuser. For large
work, such as a full-length portrait, sticks of charcoal nearly an inch
in diameter are made, and a long swinging line can be done without their
breaking.

For drawings that are intended as things of beauty in themselves, and
are not merely done as a preparatory study for a painting, charcoal is
perhaps not so refined a medium as a great many others. It is too much
like painting to have the particular beauties of a drawing, and too much
like drawing to have the qualities of a painting. However, some
beautiful things have been done with it.

It is useful in doing studies where much finish is desired, to fix the
work slightly when drawn in and carried some way on. You can work over
this again without continually rubbing out with your hand what you have
already drawn. If necessary you can rub out with a hard piece of rubber
any parts that have already been fixed, or even scrape with a pen-knife.
But this is not advisable for anything but an academic study, or working
drawings, as it spoils the beauty and freshness of charcoal work.
Studies done in this medium can also be finished with Conte chalk.

There is also an artificial charcoal put up in sticks, that is very good
for refined work. It has some advantages over natural charcoal, in that
there are no knots and it works much more evenly. The best natural
charcoal I have used is the French make known as "Fusain Rouget." It is
made in three degrees, No. 3 being the softest, and, of course, the
blackest. But some of the ordinary Venetian and vine charcoals sold are
good. But don't get the cheaper varieties: a bad piece of charcoal is
worse than useless.

Charcoal is fixed by means of a solution of white shellac dissolved in
spirits of wine, blown on with a spray diffuser. This is sold by the
artists' colourmen, or can be easily made by the student. It lightly
deposits a thin film of shellac over the work, acting as a varnish and
preventing its rubbing off.

Charcoal is not on the whole the medium an artist with a pure love of
form selects, but rather that of the painter, who uses it when his
brushes and paints are not handy.

[Sidenote: Red Chalk (Sanguine).]

A delightful medium that can be used for either pure line work or a
mixed method of drawing, is red chalk. This natural red earth is one of
the most ancient materials for drawing. It is a lovely Venetian red in
colour, and works well in the nat