"charcoal sock" ?

[darkcult]

Was watching Casey Baugh on Youtube doing his magic with charcoal and he was using "charcoal sock".
Wtf is "charcoal sock" and how do you make one?
:lifedrawing:

[Craig D]

Put a couple hunks of charcoal in a couple of layers of sock, tie off the end of the socks and trim off the end.
now hit the charcoal/sock a few times to powder it and there you go.

[Elwell]

It's also called a pounce bag. You could also use muslin or cotton jersey (t-shirt material).

[darkcult]

hmmm... cool. Will give it a go. Thanks!

[Farvus]

Thanks for mentioning Casey Baugh. I don't know him but I always wondered how those charcoal portraits are done.

[J Wilson]

I've never heard them called a charcoal sock before. Makes it sound like a medical condition like Tennis Elbow or Miner's Lung.

"Man, you don't look so good. What's wrong?"
"My doctor just diagnosed me with Charcoal Sock. He says I have to stop drawing with my feet for at least 6 months and start immediate treatment."

[Mirana]

Heh, me either J_Wilson but I immediately figured it must be a sock with powdered charcol in it...guess that's the case! Elwell's advice about using a fabric with a tighter weave sounds better to me, though.

[Black Spot]

I thought charcoal socks were put on to combat smelly feet.

[Serpian]

hahah!

[walnut]

So, after you pounded your sock (sounds raunchy doesn't it?) you can rub on the paper to get more gradient tones? Is that how it works? Never heard of anything like it to be honest.

[Asatira]

It's more for creating a toned background than gradient tones. The powder acts as a midtone, like you would with toned/colored papers, but you can subtract the charcoal to get some of the white back with an eraser because charcoal picks up pretty easily. It's great once you learn to use it.

You can also buy charcoal powder if you don't want to pound some sticks. Same end result once in the sock or cloth.

[Costau D]

Also mixing pounded chalk and baby powder then using a swab can make for a good spread as well.