r/CharcoalDrawing

Hi again folks, we've reduced the number of bots posting by a lot but due to the nature of this type of art we are getting a lot of accusations of AI for some of our hyper realistic artwork.

This is a really difficult area and I do go into user profiles and history and even to other platforms to check when there are accusations. But there will be false negatives and false positives so we need to work through things together.

1. Do not harrass others I know it's frustrating but if you suspect AI please report it to me or message me. If you hate it enough I am looking to hand over the mod role to someone once this is all set up.

2. I am experimenting with an AI detection app so please be patient as we work out if this is a good fit. To be honest people are accusing all sorts of things as being AI and I know that no apps are very accurate at the moment.

3. I am considering changing the rules to request that posters include information about how the artwork was made and maybe even an unedited image of the artwork with the username and date. This still won't stop determined people and will reduce activity in the sub so I'm waiting to see how the app goes.

Thanks for your support

I've been an artist for most of my life creating music, including professionally gigging in my earlier years as well as having a recording studio. Due to increasing difficulty with my tinnitus, I cannot even play an acoustic piano anymore (nylon stringed guitar and most stringed instruments are still not as painful) and have to wear earplugs for certain basic life activities.

I need to create and have decided to turn to drawing. I've always been attracted to the melancholic quality of charcoal drawings with the dark tones. Dusk is my favorite time of the day. I wanted some advice on a beginner's book for drawing. I have some graphite pencils but was told by somebody that if I really love the look of charcoal then there's nothing holding me back with just starting right away with that medium. Any recommendations to get started? I'm happy to learn by exercises but am really looking for a book to serve as giving me a solid foundation. I have practically zero experience in drawing besides going through a couple exercises in Dodson's Keys to Drawing with a cheap set of graphite pencils I bought.

Any recommendations on getting started to learn the basics is highly appreciated. Thanks.