Chalk Drawings

Chalk is one of the oldest drawing media similar to pastels in texture and appearance, and has been used by draughtsmen and painters ever since prehistoric times. In its best known form, it is a soft fine-grained white rock, consisting of almost pure calcium carbonate (limestone), pieces of which are used for drawing. It is usually applied dry to paper and because it smudges easily it is easily mixed and blended. White chalk was originally used to add highlights to other drawing media and was particularly effective on toned papers.

As well as white, there are two other types of drawing chalks: red and black. The red variety is an ochre coloured haematite, called 'sanguine' derived from the French for blood-red; the black variety is cut from black carbonaceous shale. Chalks are now produced in a full range of colours by combining the limestone with water, pigment, and a binding agent like gum.

Studies for the Libyan Sibyl (c.1508)
Drawing in Red Chalk by
Michelangelo Buonarroti.
See Best Renaissance Drawings.

Christ Bearing the Cross (c.1560)
Drawing in Red Chalks by
Giuseppe Cesari.

History

One of the earliest types of art, chalk drawings date from Stone Age times, and chalk became a popular medium among 15th century Early Renaissance artists experimenting with chiaroscuro, not least because black chalk provided the darkest tone, red offered a mid-tone while white provided the highlight. One of the most prolific exponents of chalk-based graphic art was the French artist Jean Clouet (1472-1541) the Premier Peintre du Roi to the king of France. Almost 130 drawings in red, white and black chalk are attributed to Clouet, most of them at Chantilly Musee.

Other forms of drawing or disegno, include: Charcoal, Pen and Ink, Pastels, Crayons and Pencil.

Artists Who Used Chalks

Many other Old Masters used the media, including Renaissance artists like Leonardo Da Vinci (who pioneered the use of red chalks), the prodigy Raphael and Michelangelo Buonarroti (eg. Deploration over the Dead Christ), as well as Northern Renaissance artists like Albrecht Durer (eg. Portrait of Erasmus), Rembrandt and Thomas Gainsborough. Academic painters like Rubens habitually used red chalk to produce preparatory designs for their large scale history paintings and landscapes, while Rubens' pupil, the portraitist Van Dyck, preferred to employ white and black, as these colours are most effective for drawing the contours of a face. Later other famous painters who used chalks, either for finished drawings or preliminary sketches, include Jean-Honore Fragonard, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, and Edgar Degas.

• For facts about painting movements, styles and Old Masters, see: History of Art.
• For details of drawing/sketching, see: Art Encyclopedia.