Original Charcoal Drawing by @caseynealartwork

My first Steemit artwork post!

One of my most popular charcoal drawings, the lightning storm!

Lightning Strike - Casey Neal Artwork.jpg

I've received lots of messages asking how I created this drawing, so I'll give a quick rundown of the process for anyone that's interested.

Before I start the drawing I sand down some white and black charcoal using the sandpaper block featured in the photo. I let all the powder fall on two sheets of aluminum foil, one for black charcoal and one for white charcoal. (The charcoal powder doesn't stick to the foil.) The first step consists of using a clean piece of fabric to dip in the charcoal powder for the values in the sky. Once I get powder applied to the cloth I blend it into the fabric by swirling it on a scrap sheet of paper. Swirling the fabric on the scrap paper works the charcoal in so it won't apply too heavy in the sky values. Get all the dark sky values blended and applied to the sky first. Then use a separate piece of fabric to dip in the white charcoal powder and use the same method to make the soft white values in the sky. Next I'll sharpen the black charcoal pencil and begin drawing the landscape silhouette, blacking out everything below the horizon line. Use the white charcoal pencil to "dot" on the page to create the rocks and dirt. Then I get that black charcoal pencil sharpened and draw in the tree silhouette. Last step, I sharpen the hell out of that white charcoal pencil and carve the lightning into the texture of the paper. After each lightning bolt I'll resharpen the white charcoal pencil using the sandpaper. Once the drawing is finished I use dry paintbrushes to blend any areas that need it!

I hope this information proves useful to someone out there.

Materials:
Pencils: General's White & Black Charcoal Pencils
Paper: Strathmore 400 Series Artagain Black Paper

The Final: