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When is a crayon not a crayon?

Conte Crayon’s story is interesting. During the French Revolution, when Paris was under siege, much-needed supplies of English graphite were permanently seized, creating a problem for French pencil, artist, and scientist Nicholas-Jacques Conté. Conté had opened his pencil factory with his brother Louis in 1793. In order for his business to survive, he had to find another way to produce a viable writing medium with a minimal amount of graphite that could be manufactured in France.

In 1795 Conté developed a method that consisted of mixing powdered local graphite with clay, waxes and water, firing the mixture in an oven and forcing it into wooden casings. This process allowed the French to produce their own pencils and to control the hardness of the leads, which in turn controlled the darkness of the marking made by the pencil. The process was so successful that Conté became synonymous with pencil, and Conté still makes high-quality writing and drawing tools.

To this day, Conte continues to be a leading supplier of excellent pencils and crayons for drawing and writing, which come in a wide range of rich, vibrant colors. Conté crayons were traditionally black, red, and brown. The reddish sepia tone of Conté crayons is sometimes called sanguine and was used by many 18th century artists in sketches and preliminary drawings. Modern Conté crayons come in a variety of vibrant colors, including blues, aqua, greens, purples, pinks, and reds. Although some artists prefer to use traditional colors, focusing on shading and design nuances rather than bold coloring. Regardless of the use of color, a skilled artist can achieve very subtle shading, creating an almost photorealistic work with Conté crayons.

Most often, Conte Crayons are used on high-grain or rough textured paper that holds pigment well, allowing for rich textures and wide ranges of hue. Conte crayons also work well on primed primed canvases, for the purpose of drawing underlay for a painting. The Conte Crayon Bar, being square and small in size, is suitable for detailed work, especially if the tip is beveled to a point by rubbing it with a sandpaper pad.

Conté crayons are waxy and firmer than soft pastels, so they produce little dust and are easy to control. The sticks, which are 2 1/2 “x 1/4” squares, can be divided into shorter sections to facilitate the use of details and shading. Today, Conte Crayons come in either small earth-tone color sets or larger color sets that include tans, purples, blues, reds, greens, and yellows in rich, vibrant hues. The purity of the pigments used in Conte Crayons ensures their permanence and longevity in the artwork. Some artists choose to use colored paper for their Conté crayon work because the density of pigmentation in the crayon holds up well on a dark or colored paper surface.

Conté crayons are often compared to pastels. Of course, both are solid pigment stick art medium applied directly to paper. However, Conté crayons are much harder than pastels or charcoal, and produce sharp, narrow lines, rather than the softer, less defined lines that are characteristic of pastels. Using Conté crayons, an artist can achieve subtle shading variations in clear and distinct drawings. Conte crayon is fairly permanent and artwork produced with a Conte crayon is often treated with a spray fixer for longevity.

As a Conte Crayon is used, the bar slowly erodes and should not require any sharpening unless detail is desired. Manufacturers also offer Conté crayons in varying degrees of hardness, allowing artists to use Conté crayons for softer lines and more delicate shadows, as well as strong, precise lines for lining. Conte crayons are sold both individually and in boxes, and many art supply stores carry a large number of individual black, brown, and red Conté crayons as these colors are in high demand.

Conte Crayons are also available online. Maybe you want to start using Conte Crayon and discover this wonderful drawing medium. The lessons and videos are rich in information, step-by-step instructions are available on my Free Online Art Classes website.

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