Artist’s charcoal comes in various forms, including charcoal pencils. To understand the place of charcoal pencils in an artist’s repertoire, it is important to put them in context.

Vine and Willow Sticks. Vine and willow charcoal sticks, which are long and thin, are one of the main media for uncompressed charcoal. The vine variety is dark gray, while willow charcoal is black. Willow charcoal is available in a range of widths, which may be indicated by names such as thin, medium, thick, and jumbo, ranging from 3 to 24 mm (~.11–~.94 in.). Willow charcoal is used in classrooms; by professional artists, architects, and draftsmen; and by painters for their preliminary canvas sketches.

Compressed Charcoal. Compressed charcoal, when sold in sticks, is usually shaped into larger sticks than uncompressed charcoal. Compressed charcoal may be sharpened to a point and is less messy than uncompressed charcoal. Compressed charcoal is rated for hardness, and is sold in extra soft, soft, medium, and hard varieties. Some manufacturers use the range for art pencils, from 4B to HB — very soft to hard. Some compressed charcoal can be heat fixed at 250°F (121°C).

Other Forms of Charcoal. There are several other forms in which charcoal is sold. Compressed charcoal is sold by the 8 oz. (~.23 kg) chunk. Another variation is sticks of white compressed charcoal, for which there is special black charcoal paper. Uncompressed willow charcoal is sold in blocks. The charcoal crayon, made of compressed charcoal with little or no binder, was developed in the 19th century. Charcoal crayons are often used by caricaturists. Finally, there is charcoal powder, which is used for pattern work and pouncing, a method of transferring patterns used, for example, in bisque pottery.

Charcoal Pencils. Charcoal pencils are sold individually and in sets, often in cedar casings. They have a more developed rating system than compressed charcoal, using the European pencil hardness schema that is used for graphite drawing pencils. There are twenty ratings of drawing pencils in the full range, though charcoal pencils are only offered in certain of the softer ratings. The pencils are rated for hardness (H) and blackness (B). The harder the pencil, the less black, and vice versa.

Charcoal pencils are found in H, HB, B, 2B, 3B, 4B, 5B, and 6B. Sometimes 4B charcoal pencils are sold as “carbon sketch pencils.” There are a couple of special charcoal pencils. One charcoal pencil to which the blackness rating does not apply is the white charcoal pencil. A less common charcoal pencil is wrapped in paper rather than cedar, like a grease pencil.

Paper. Although charcoal works well on vellum newsprint and multi-media drawing paper, there is special charcoal paper in white, gray, black, and a range of other colors. Charcoal paper is available with more or less tooth, depending on the artist’s preference. Larger and heavier charcoal products — like the block or the chunk — are likely to require more robust paper.

Accessories. Matte and gloss fixatives are both available for charcoal products. Matte fixative can be erased, and in some cases, products with this ability are labeled “workable,” whereas permanent fixatives are styled “non-workable.” Stumps and tortillons are spiral-wound gray paper used for smoothing and blending charcoal, as well as pastels. Kneaded erasers are popular for cleanup.