Self portrait 

Here is Joan Brull's self-portrait, made with charcoal on paper. It is a medium known for its immediacy, which can be used to create both delicate lines and dramatic shading. The way Brull has used the material is quite interesting: charcoal is essentially burnt wood, a readily available material but one that requires careful processing to become a tool for artistic expression. The artist's hand is evident in the smudges and subtle variations in tone across the paper's surface. This isn't about virtuoso technique. Instead, it's the directness of the medium which gives the artwork such an intimate feel. We see the artist looking at himself, and, as the charcoal marks coalesce on the page, we too are invited to contemplate the relationship between the artist's interior world, and the material substance of his self-image. It is in these details of material and making that a drawing like this really comes alive.