Italian pencil, or black chalk - this is one of the types of tools for painting. It is used in work on portraits, as well as for depicting naked human nature.
It is divided into three grades of hardness: soft, medium and hard.
History of creation
The Italian pencil was widely known since the XV century, but before that it was already used in the Trecento era (XIV century). It is called in this way only in Russia. Everywhere the material has a different name - "black chalk".
In the recordings of “The Book of Art” by the artist Chennino Chennini from 1437, one stone is mentioned, with the help of which it became possible to draw like coal. He found for drawing some special material obtained in Piedmont (Italy). According to Chennino Chennini, this stone was so soft that it could be improved by honing with a knife.
After the discovery of the deposit, the Italian pencil quickly won the hearts of masters and became available in all countries of Europe. But, unfortunately, its reserves quickly ran out, as happened with graphite. New storages of black chalk were found in Thuringia and Andalusia.
Florence and Rome were adherents of the strict style of linear drawing, therefore they treated the new pencil quite categorically, which can not be said about Lombardy, where they had great interest in it.
Italian pencil: meaning and characterization
The black clay slate turned out to be the tool that the artist Chennino Chennini found for painting on canvas.
Lead and silver pencils were replaced by black chalk. Based on the opportunities that have appeared, thanks to the new properties of the tool that has appeared, there has been a change in both fashion and genres in drawing:
- composition of the picture became more free;
- tone and volume have become more saturated;
- small formats replaced by large;
- a clear manner of drawing turned into a more vague look;
- the focus now was not on the line, but on chiaroscuro;
- artists began to prefer work with a spot, thus opening up more opportunities in art.
Black chalk is a free-form pencil and has a deep matte velvety dark color. The material is fairly easy to blend on a paper surface.
Manufacture
The Italian pencil was reproduced in several ways, according to different recipes. Initial materials included burnt bone powder and vegetable glue, which were bonded to each other.
Then the French found another way to form black chalk: they mixed white clay with lamp black. In connection with the invented recipe, a new type of pencil appeared - French, or Parisian.
Currently, Italian pencil is made from:
- pieces of coal and soot, fastened with glue or a mixture of gas soot;
- graphite;
- starch;
- gypsum.
Recipe
To obtain black chalk, the master will need:
- one part of graphite;
- one part of carbon black;
- one part of neutral black soot;
- thirteen parts of gypsum;
- seven parts of a binder (carbon black or glue).
All components are ground qualitatively, doing this in a colloid mill. Next, rectangular pencils are pressed from the resulting mixture and scorched at a temperature of 150-250 degrees for about two to four hours. The type of hardness of an Italian pencil will depend on the time it was fired.
The biggest masters
One of the best masters in using black chalk was the painter Hans Holbein (Jr.) and French artists who painted pencil portraits, such as Prudon and Clouet. Also, it was brilliantly owned by Leonardo da Vinci, Tintoretto, Rubens, Bakst, Serov and others, whose names can be listed for a long time.
Drawings by the Italian Holbein pencil exuded clarity, conciseness and at the same time reflected the softness of applying the touch on the paper.
The works of French artists were quite diverse. Thus, Clouet's handwriting was distinguished by elegance, sophistication and lightness.
The line of Master Lagno was denser and rougher.
Tintoretto also played with a pencil, who resorted to active pressure, then to short strokes of a rounded shape, and then sharply chopped off the lines.
A 19th-century artist Prudon Pierre Paul created soft lyrical images with the help of black chalk.
Useful Facts
Italian pencil for drawing can be made in two ways:
- natural - consists of black clay slate (slate rock);
- artificial - materials are associated with vegetable glue (French pencil).
The last pencil (French) can only be drawn on thick paper, which can withstand a long process of friction without damage to the surface. The pencil should be applied with a stroke and rubbed on paper with the help of special devices: rags, gloves, plain cotton wool or with the participation of the classic version - the finger.
To correct mistakes, bread, gum or nog (dark rubber soaked in gasoline, turpentine or kerosene, whose properties are soft and sticky) are perfect.
When working on toned paper in bright places with Italian pencil, chalk or white ink is used.
In Italy, starting from the Renaissance, a method called the "technique of three pencils" is practiced. Its meaning is a combination of three colors:
- white (chalk);
- ginger (sepia or sanguine);
- black (coal).
Currently, in addition to the materials described above, not only coal is used in such a technique, therefore, an Italian pencil is perfect for transmitting black.