I happen to love the look of charcoal drawings. So I decided to try using charcoal pencils with my favorite thing- Rubber Stamps. I really liked the look of the two combined!
Here is what you need for this technique-
- light gray or black ink,
- charcoal pencils or graphite,
- Fixative,
- stumps, eraser,
- Easy Scraps stamps- http://www.easyscraps.com/Rubber-Stamps/Rubber-Stamps-for-Scrapbooks.html
Stamp the image using a light gray ink. You could also use black, and stamp off onto scrap papper in order to get rid of most of the ink.
You basically want to get just the outline or hint of the image. Using your charcoal pencils, follow the outlines of the stamps and draw in bolder lines.
Shade in other areas of the stamped image making sure to leave some white. You can use your finger or a blending stump or a tissue to blend/smear the charcoal, in order to get a softer, look. I especially like the look of edging the card with charcoal pencils. I shade heavier in the corners and it gives it a cool edge effect- sort of like rounded corners without the punching .
When you are happy with your image, spray it with fixative to set it so that it doesn’t smear or wipe off.
Finish up your card with other stamping or embellishments. You now have a card that looks hand-drawn, but it was super easy!! Here is my sample- the child’s face was created using this technique:
Enjoy!