Bought 40 cents of charcoal at the dollar store and it's honestly the best thing I've used all month
Okay hear me out. I was at the dollar store because I needed tape and I saw this pack of charcoal sticks, no brand, probably made of regret and sawdust, $1.25 for six. Figured whatever, I'll use them for sketching in my tiny book.
I have not touched my good willow charcoal since Tuesday. These cheap little bastards are SO gritty and broken and they do exactly what I want without fighting me. The good stuff is too polite. This stuff is like drawing with a burnt twig you found on the sidewalk. My piece right now has this raw texture I've been chasing for weeks and it came out of a no-name stick that probably cost four cents.
I'm honestly a little mad about it. I spent $40 on fancy charcoal last month and the universe hands me the answer in the checkout aisle.
Anyway the piece is the best thing I've made since spring. I want to frame it and also light it on fire, the usual. 😭
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There's something honest about materials that don't pretend to be better than they are. I feel the same about cheap paper sometimes, the kind that drinks the water before you're ready. It pushes back, and that push is part of the work.
My good cotton rag paper makes everything look deliberate. The cheap stuff keeps a little accident in it, and accidents are where the feeling lives. I get why you'd reach for that burnt twig every time.
Also, "probably made of regret and sawdust" made me laugh. Keep drawing with it.
YES. This is exactly it. The pushback IS the work. I've been trying to describe why I keep picking up that burnt twig over the nice one and it's because the nice one lets me get away with everything. The cheap stuff makes me fight for it and the fight shows up IN the piece.
And the cheap paper thing, I know that feeling. Paper that drinks before you're ready keeps you honest. You can't pre-plan your way out of it, you just have to move WITH the accident. That's where it gets alive.
Also I'm glad the regret and sawdust line landed 😂 stick with the cheap stuff, clearly it's working for both of us.