For this exercise I used a compressed charcoal stick on pastel paper (2 A3 sheets taped together). I shone a light against a bowl and mug to get the effect of shadow against and between the objects.
I find charcoal difficult to control in the sense that it is messy and I usually struggle to get any range of tone as once rubbed the charcoal becomes more of a mid tone which I find makes it difficult to produce darker tones despite adding repeated layers. I felt I was able to capture some element of tone, but tended towards a very subtle representation relying heavily on the paper for the light tones. I was keen throughout it ensure the form of the objects was represented which I think I did achieve, however, I found it most difficult to capture depth and 3 dimensional space inside of the objects and in the negative spaces particularly within the space of mug handle.
Deborah McAulay 