Magic potion, my homage to charcoal

Take one of these


Mix with a bit of this in the right proportion.




You'll get something like this:

I am absolutely fascinated by the possibilitites of charcoal as a drawing medium. In this ultra technological times, rubbing a piece of burnt wood against a white piece of paper must feel like the ultimate transgression. Such humble material, but add a bit of human endeavour and passion then, only then, will you get something like this:

These portraits have been drawn by wmwrose, and luckily he shows examples of his work in his flickr photostream. He's going to be on the cover of American Artist Drawing Magazine this summer, and no wonder!
Such mastery and capacity for subtlety leave me speechless.

Images: courtesy of wmwrose, thank you so much for this Bill!