# Sitting Bull in carbon pencil and white charcoal **URL:** \ **Category:** Share Your Art\ **Created:** [September 9, 2022, 6:52pm UTC](https://community.thevirtualinstructor.com/t/sitting-bull-in-carbon-pencil-and-white-charcoal/2353 "2022-09-09T18:52:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![drtomb](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/community.thevirtualinstructor.com/drtomb/32/1116_2.png) [@drtomb](https://community.thevirtualinstructor.com/u/drtomb)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2022, 6:52pm UTC](https://community.thevirtualinstructor.com/t/sitting-bull-in-carbon-pencil-and-white-charcoal/2353/1 "2022-09-09T18:52:50Z")
After visiting New Mexico, my interest in the old west was revitalized. When I returned home I found a very old picture of Chief Sitting Bull online. Even though I’m more of a photographer than an artist I thought I’d experiment to see how well I could mimic the look of the B/W photo. I used tan toned paper to provide a starting point for his face. I used carbon pencils and white charcoal for the image and gray charcoal for the background. Overall I was pleased with the result. Let me know what you think. ![image](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/uploads/thevirtualinstructor/original/2X/a/a7412be42d4f88a0ecd2d6315f294bbdc84d310f.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![Lori51](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d78d45/32.png) [@Lori51](https://community.thevirtualinstructor.com/u/Lori51)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2022, 6:59pm UTC](https://community.thevirtualinstructor.com/t/sitting-bull-in-carbon-pencil-and-white-charcoal/2353/2 "2022-09-09T18:59:53Z")
This is really nice. I’ve never used carbon pencils, but they appear to go nicely with the white charcoal. Those feathers look so soft. I think it was a great idea to use the paper the way you did for the skin tones. Great job! ---
**Author:** ![drtomb](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/community.thevirtualinstructor.com/drtomb/32/1116_2.png) [@drtomb](https://community.thevirtualinstructor.com/u/drtomb)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2022, 10:46pm UTC](https://community.thevirtualinstructor.com/t/sitting-bull-in-carbon-pencil-and-white-charcoal/2353/3 "2022-09-09T22:46:02Z")
This was an experiment. I’ve not used this combination before. I first drew this with graphite pencils on white paper, but I couldn’t get a strong enough black/white contrast. I tried again using the carbon pencils. They allow deeper, richer blacks which contrast nicely with the white charcoal. My technique with the media can be improved. I learned a lot about what to do and how not to do it. Thanks for your encouragement and feedback. ---
**Author:** ![Denise](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/community.thevirtualinstructor.com/denise/32/40_2.png) [@Denise](https://community.thevirtualinstructor.com/u/Denise)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2022, 11:04pm UTC](https://community.thevirtualinstructor.com/t/sitting-bull-in-carbon-pencil-and-white-charcoal/2353/4 "2022-09-09T23:04:23Z")
This is great. I love it ---
**Author:** ![drtomb](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/community.thevirtualinstructor.com/drtomb/32/1116_2.png) [@drtomb](https://community.thevirtualinstructor.com/u/drtomb)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2022, 12:35pm UTC](https://community.thevirtualinstructor.com/t/sitting-bull-in-carbon-pencil-and-white-charcoal/2353/5 "2022-09-10T12:35:22Z")
Thanks Denise. You’re always so encouraging. I appreciate it. ---
**Author:** ![anon8367598](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/90db22/32.png) [@anon8367598](https://community.thevirtualinstructor.com/u/anon8367598)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2022, 9:18am UTC](https://community.thevirtualinstructor.com/t/sitting-bull-in-carbon-pencil-and-white-charcoal/2353/6 "2022-09-12T09:18:49Z")
That’s awesome! All the textures came out really nice! Thank you for sharing! 😁