Tutored Life Drawing Blog Week 11: Subtractive Tone (Patreon)

Erasers are often associated with fixing mistakes, however they are also a tool for drawing. This blog focuses on subtractive tonal drawing, where tone is intentionally removed from our page as part of the drawing process, using an eraser, or other tools. One way to think of this is that rather than erasing mistakes, the eraser is being used to draw light tones.

Charcoal will be used for most of the demonstrations, but these techniques apply to any other media that can be easily erased, such as graphite.

Main Image: Immie 

Subtractive Tone – Materials

Drawing light might involve partially lightening an area of tone, altering its shape, or making the edges softer or harder. First, it helps to pick a material that is relatively easy to erase.

Different forms of charcoal, left to right: willow charcoal, charcoal pencils, compressed charcoal, charcoal powder.

Willow charcoal is a soft form of charcoal. It doesn't get as dark as other forms, but is easily erased and smudged. It can be used like a pencil to draw lines, or can be broken and drawn with on its side.

Charcoal powder is made of ground up charcoal, and can be applied with the fingers, brushes, or a cloth. It is possible to make your own by grinding down willow charcoal with sandpaper or a pestle & mortar. It is very soft and easy to erase, and due to its fineness, good at getting into the grain of the paper.

Other common forms of charcoal that are harder, such as charcoal pencils and compressed charcoal, can be hard to erase, although they will become lighter. These are useful for producing darker tones.

There are many different kinds of eraser, and each may produce different kinds of marks. Some are more effective at removing tone than others.

Different erasers, left to right: kneaded eraser, vinyl eraser, gum eraser, rubber eraser, abrasive eraser, eraser pencil.

Kneaded (or putty) erasers can be moulded into different shapes. They are great for making thin marks. They won't damage paper easily, but may struggle to remove tone as well as other erasers. Some brands are softer and more putty-like, whilst others can be less pliable. If your kneaded eraser gets dirty, stretch it out and fold it in on itself repeatedly to clean it. One big perk of kneaded erasers is that they do not leave crumbs.

Vinyl and plastic erasers are usually the firmest, though they still crumble. This firmness makes them effective at removing tone, especially graphite. Depending on the paper, these may not remove charcoal very well. They can damage the paper with heavy use.

Gum erasers are very soft and crumbly, but tend to be good at removing tone without damaging the paper. Be careful not to smear the charcoal when removing the crumbs.

Rubber erasers are a bit less crumbly, but are still quite good at removing tone. Avoid the cheap coloured ones, as they sometimes leave streaks!

Abrasive erasers are designed to remove ink. These tend to be rubber erasers with sand added, but may be formulated differently. They are hard on the paper, but can be effective for removing tone, as they can physically wear through the paper.

Eraser pencils or sticks are usually made of vinyl, pressed into a tiny shape for erasing details. Electric erasers tend to also use vinyl refills and are also good for picking out small details.

If it is hard to draw details with a worn down eraser, try slicing a wedge from it that can be used to produce finer marks. Different eraser brands tend to behave differently due to variations in formulation. Different artists may have different preferences, both for brands, and types of eraser.

There are various ways to create areas of tone to work into. When blending tools are fresh and clean, they tend to remove tone a bit – this can be useful for lightening areas, but watch out if the intention is to build up darks. Dirty tools are good for blending without lifting out tone.

Blending tools and their results, left to right: fingers (preferably your own), tortilon, makeup pads, chamois.

One of the first options for spreading tone on the page is using fingers. This can work fine, but the oils from the skin may interact with charcoal and graphite dusts, making them harder to erase.

Blending stumps and tortilons are made of wrapped paper, and are good for getting into detailed areas. Once dirty, they can also be used as drawing tool.

Tissues and make up pads are an easy to obtain option. Dirty ones are handy for drawing light, diffuse tone.

Chamois leather cloths are a great reusable option for blending tone, and can be cut into smaller pieces. They can be used for drawing light areas of tone once dirty enough. It is also possible to wash them out in warm soapy water, if a clean blending tool is wanted.

Subtractive Tone Processes – Drawing with an Eraser

Subtractive tone can part of a longer drawing process, such as adding highlights, or a more central aspect. In the examples below, I used willow charcoal, as it is easy to erase. For longer drawings, consider pushing the contrast by working on top with darker forms of charcoal. Here is a step-by-step of a subtractive charcoal drawing:

The first step in working from a midtone is to create an even area of tone, by either using dust or willow charcoal, and blending it in. This creates a midtone that can be erased, or drawn on top of.

This midtone was created by using the side of a stick of willow charcoal, then blending it in with a makeup pad.

It might be impossible to erase back to pure white. Try not to worry, as it is still possible to create comparatively dark tones.

A rough silhouette of a figure is erased with a kneaded eraser.

When working from the midtone, consider how tone can be layered back into the drawing and manipulated. Try to get the bigger tonal shapes working first before getting into the details.

Willow charcoal is used to add back in loose blocks of tone.

The soft charcoal is blended and pushed around with the fingers, with the kneaded eraser coming back to start altering the shadow shapes.

Final details are added by pushing the tonal contrast. A thin piece of willow charcoal is used and blended with a tortilon to produce the darkest little shadows, whilst the kneaded eraser erases some of the background to accentuate the figure and bring out the lights.

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Subtractive tone can also integrated into the drawing process as a way of manipulating tonal shapes. This is useful if the drawing process works on going from vague to defined detail.

It is hard to erase areas that have been drawn on back to white. Try to avoid drawing directly on lighter areas – blended tone is easier to erase.

This drawing starts by laying in tonal shapes with willow charcoal.

The tonal shapes are blended out with a makeup pad to remove any hard edges.

A layer of darker tones is applied and blended in just enough to soften them without taking away too much charcoal.

Finer details start to appear as the tonal shapes are tightened. This is where subtractive tone starts to play a role, as broader areas of the face are sculpted out.

When it comes to picking out highlights and small details, it is often best to wait for the final stages of the drawing so the marks stay fresh. If you are prone to smudging your drawing with your hand, try drawing with your board or sketchbook tilted at a diagonal, or at an easel.

Lots of small changes are made here, with highlights for the jewellery being picked out with an eraser pencil and those on the face being largely done with the kneaded eraser. Some of tone has been added and reshaped around the face too.

Other Subtractive Tone Techniques

Besides erasing, there are a few other ways to remove tone, or omit it.

Thin lights scored out with the corner of a razor.

Destroying the paper surface takes tone away with it. There are various ways to do this. One method is to use razorblades to pick out details, scouring white lines through the applied tone. Aggressive erasing, especially with abrasive erasers, can take off larger areas. Ensure the paper is reasonably thick, and take care not to go all the way through.

Step by step process of applying masking fluid under charcoal. Be careful when working over it, as it can sometimes come away when drawn over.

Masking fluid is a kind of liquid that can be painted onto the paper where it is necessary to preserve pure light tones. When the fluid is dry, it is possible to draw on top of it and around it. After the tone has been added, the masking fluid can be peeled away, leaving untouched paper.

It does require the placement of the light tones to be precisely known early on in the drawing.

Masking with paper. On the left, the paper masks out the removal of tone. The right side shows applied tone being masked.

Paper can also be used to mask away tone. This is great for getting sharp, straight edges, or any shape cut into the paper. Hold a sheet of scrap paper in place, and blend or erase charcoal over the edge.

Key Points to Remember About Subtractive Tone

• Subtractive tone is a way of drawing with tone by removing it. Additive tone is the addition of tone to a drawing, making it darker.
• Subtractive tone can be used to work from a midtone, or as part of a more general drawing process.
• Subtractive tone works best in charcoal, but can apply to any media that can be erased.

Over to You – Subtractive Tone in Charcoal

Recommended Materials: Willow charcoal, erasers, charcoal pencils, compressed charcoal, charcoal powder

Exercise 1 – Short Subtractive Drawing

For this exercise, it is best to use something easily erased, such as charcoal powder, or willow charcoal.

Start by sketching out the rough silhouette of the subject in tone, using charcoal dust or willow charcoal. It may help to blend it into the paper a bit. From here, erase the tone in the shapes of the light areas.

It is also fine to start by erasing out the silhouette from an area of tone and working back into it.

These figures were created by sketching a rough silhouette in willow charcoal, then erasing shapes of light.

This sketch was created by drawing tone with the side of a willow charcoal stick, then blending and erasing away.

Exercise 2 – Working from a Midtone

This exercise is best done with scenery, such as a landscape or interior. Start by filling the page with a midtone, using willow charcoal or charcoal powder, and blending it in.

Once it has been evenly applied, it is possible to start working out from the midtone by either applying darker tone with charcoal, or erasing out lighter tone with the eraser. Try to focus on drawing tonal shapes, and their relative tonal value compared to the midtone – how much darker or lighter are they?

This drawing started as willow charcoal blended into the whole page. Tone was removed by erasing it, and added by working on top with compressed charcoal.

Exercise 3 – Willow Charcoal Self Portrait

It is best to do this exercise from life with a mirror. In this exercise, draw your self portrait using willow charcoal.

Try to embrace how malleable the willow charcoal is, and think of light areas as shapes to draw. If the idea of drawing with light tone seems like a challenge still, consider starting this by rubbing a midtone into the page that can be erased from.

Self portrait in willow charcoal.

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Further links

>> Watch the Week 11: Subtractive Tone main lesson HERE (Student & Life Tiers)  
>> Watch the Week 11: Subtractive Tone demo HERE (Student & Life Tiers)

Find links to the whole Tutored Life Drawing Course HERE