Pencil drawings range from charcoal and graphite to colored pencils.
Abstract art is a type of composition that is independent of or doesn't reference objects or subjects in the real world. An artist may approach abstraction organically with no idea about the progression of the work, or the artist can use very structured items and objects in unusual and nonrepresentational ways. The scope of abstract art is a continuum that embraces all media, applications and viewpoints. Abstract art created with pencil falls within the limitations of the pencil but not the imagination.
Charcoal
Working with charcoal is often messy, as black bits scatter across the page.
Charcoal was perhaps humans' first artistic tool taken from cold fires. Today, artists use charcoal in long sticks to execute art with a wide range of texture, density and detail. Charcoal fragments slightly under pressure and scuffs the surface, so that when an artist works, he delivers both intentional and unintentional marks to the surface. This characteristic adds an unexpected element to the finished art that makes the medium distinct and powerful. Charcoal-executed abstract works often have a sense of drama and strong visual contrasts.
Graphite
Graphite pencils are less intense than charcoal but equally effective for creating art.
Famous graphite abstract artists like Allen C. Smith use the refinement of graphite to execute fine abstract works whose focus centers on texture and form. He uses the restraint of the pencil to build layer upon layer of line, thickness, density, texture and color to summon forth powerful abstract works he calls "meditations." By working the pencil in this sort of layered style, the individual strokes become part of a composite that transforms them into art.
Colored Pencils
Colored pencils are sometimes viewed with disdain by pencil purists.
Pencils are often used to create exacting details because the artist can refine the tip of the pencil into a line so small it can be difficult to see. Because of this, artists have used pencils extensively in the development of realistic details. The limitation of the pencil to black and white resulted in works with the graphic impact of the black and white photo. The introduction of colored pencils hasn't always been well received, as purists maintain a preference for the absence of color, but the abstract artist has not recognized or accepted these limitations and often demonstrates the voice of the colored pencil through its superb applications in abstract art.
Watercolor Pencils
The pencil is the most portable and inexpensive artistic tool ever invented.
Going beyond the simple colored pencil, manufacturers have produced watercolor pencils that draw like a pencil or paint like a very fine brush. These unusual medium crossovers allow artists to venture across the lines of limitations allowing new techniques and ideas to find their way to the surface. At its core, abstract art expresses a type of rebellion toward conventional viewpoints, mediums and the very concept of what is art. Defiant pencils flick across every surface that can hold the design to defy expectations and limitations.
