Making a Matte Black Background

There are a couple ways to make a black background, but one simple & easy way to make a MATTE black background is by using...charcoal!

Graphite pencils work great for light / medium backgrounds, but they tend to be really shiny on paper when making a solid black background. So, even though charcoal IS a little messier to work with, I really like the way it gives a soft, smooth finish, without that shine! ;-)

What you need:

1.Charcoal pencil (2b medium)

2. Cotton Swabs (these are great for blending! You can also use a blending stump if you want to designate one for charcoal only)

3. Paper with a medium tooth (charcoal does not blend onto smooth paper)

Shade the area with the charcoal pencil. Then, take a cotton swab and make small, circular motions to blend the charcoal into the paper. You can blow off any excess charcoal "powder" that is laying on the paper if you need to. Continue to layer and blend until the area is totally black. 

And that's it! Since charcoal can be a little messy, you may want to either save the background for last, or make sure your hands do not touch the background after it is finished, when you are drawing the rest of the picture. ;-)

Have fun drawing!
~Laree