Draft:Pierre noire (drawing)

• Comment: A museum's website and a blog post are not reliable sources. '''[[User:CanonNi]]''' (talk • contribs) 02:06, 11 August 2024 (UTC)

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Study of Two Warriors' Heads for the The Battle of Anghiari (Leonardo), Pierre noire on paper Leonardo da Vinci, c. 1505

Pierre noire ("black stone" in French) or black chalk is a dark, black drawing material made out of cannel coal, a bituminous coal.

As for sanguine, it's available either in both natural and manufactured forms; in the latter case, there exists wood-encased pencils as well as rectangular sticks.

Pierre noire has been used since at least the Renaissance for studies, but also for fine drawings. It's often used on toned paper with white chalk, and sometimes sanguine: it's the "trois crayons" ("three pencils") technique; when used only in combination with white chalk, we talk of "deux crayons" ("two pencils").

Technique

The material can be applied by "grainage", that is, by rubbing it against the paper, revealing its grain. It can then be spread with a stump or a tortillon to provide a softer result. If you look closely at the Prud'hon drawing below, the medium was first stumped, and then covered with more decorative lines.

Hatching and cross-hatching can naturally also be used: in the first drawing, from Leonardo, the black chalk was essentially applied by close hatches all in the same directions, then stomped; the stumping soften the lines, but didn't fully erase them.

Examples

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  By Prud'hon, Pierre-Noire with white chalk, with stomping
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  Achille and Briseis by Giuseppe Cades, Pierre noire, pen, black ink, gray ink wash and white highlight on prepared paper
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  Portrait of Isabella Brant by Rubens illustrating the trois crayons technique: pierre noire, sanguine, white chalk, on toned paper