How to Use Charcoal with Watercolor: Technique Guide for Stunning Effects

Have you ever thought about using charcoal with watercolor?

It might sound unconventional, but when combined, they create some amazing textures and effects that can add depth and mood to your artwork.

In this article, I'll walk you through various ways to incorporate charcoal into your watercolor paintings.

We'll explore how different types of charcoal interact with watercolor, how to use them at different stages of your painting process, and share some tips on achieving beautiful results.

Exploring Different Types of Charcoal and Their Interaction with Watercolor

I want to start by walking you through the types of charcoal I use. Each one reacts differently with watercolor. You'll see how the texture and blending power can change your art.

Willow Charcoal

Let's begin with willow charcoal. This type of charcoal is made from willow twigs, and it's light and soft.

Don't be fooled by how dark it looks on the paper—it's a lovely mid-tone charcoal when blended.

I love using a blending stump to get even more softness. A small note of caution here: if you're working with watercolor paper, go easy when blending hard.

You don't want to damage the paper surface. But it's an option you can explore gently.

Here's how I work with it. I make a mark on the paper using my willow stick. Then, I grab a flat watercolor brush and mix up some color.

I often use viridian green, but I keep the mixture light. That way, I can see how the watercolor is affected by the charcoal underneath.

Once I get my brush wet and drag the color out, I notice the willow charcoal doesn't have much movement on the paper. 

But if I switch to something like lemon yellow, I get some interesting textures. 

Sometimes, the charcoal shifts slightly, depending on how much pigment is down. Other times, it stays in place.

Either way, adding a watercolor wash over willow charcoal creates fascinating effects.

Compressed Charcoal Stick

Next, let's talk about compressed charcoal sticks. These sticks are harder compared to willow charcoal.

And here's a key thing I've learned—the harder the charcoal, the lighter it is on the value scale. Soft charcoal gives darker tones.

When I make a line with my compressed stick, it's easy to see how messy it can get.

But what stands out is how dark and rich the line stays, unlike willow charcoal, which blends into a mid-tone.

I make another mark and then review it with my flat brush and the same viridian mix. What happens next is amazing.

The charcoal spreads more in the paint and darkens the color quite a bit. It almost tones it down and gives it a slightly dingy look. You can see the difference in hue.

When I apply the same watercolor over the compressed charcoal and compare it with lemon yellow, the yellow darkens, too.

It's less vibrant, but that muted effect can be beautiful in the proper context.

Charcoal Pencils: General's and Woodless

Now, I want to show you two different kinds of charcoal pencils. The first is General's charcoal pencil, the regular sort inside the wood casing. You can use it like any other drawing pencil.

The second one is a woodless charcoal pencil. It has a painted coating, and the entire thing is charcoal.

This is great because you can easily shade with the pencil's side. I've enjoyed playing with these in my art journal. They make some fantastic marks.

I have both a soft and a medium version. Soft gives the darkest value, and medium is a little lighter. 

I make some marks with both. The Medium pencil gives me a nice, clear line, like the compressed stick. The soft pencil lays down an even darker line.

When I blend with my finger, the Medium pencil has some blends, but not a lot. The soft General's pencil blends a little more. That makes sense since it's softer and darker.

Now, I add some watercolor over both pencils to see how they react.

With the Medium pencil, there's not much effect. But with the soft pencil, there's a little more darkening. Still, the compressed stick affects watercolor the most by far.

I almost forgot to test the yellow! I apply it over both pencil marks. The medium pencil muddies the yellow slightly.

The soft pencil darkens it even more. It's clear that all these charcoals impact the watercolor differently.

How Charcoal Reacts with Watercolor in Different Stages

Now that we know the types of charcoal, it's time to see how they react over watercolor at different stages. This is where things get exciting.

I will show you exactly how I layer charcoal over dry watercolor washes and wet watercolor paintings.

Using Charcoal Over Dry Watercolor Washes

I start by drawing some simple shapes with each charcoal type: one shape with the woodless pencil, one with compressed charcoal, and one with willow charcoal.

I make a note next to each so I don't forget which is which.

Then, I grab a Q-tip and blend over the woodless charcoal first. It gives a soft look, almost like shadows. It feels like blending on regular drawing paper but over a colorful wash.

You can go back in with more layers if you want. I flip my Q-tip to the clean side and blend the compressed charcoal. It blends further and leaves more texture behind.

When I get to willow charcoal, it blends softly and gives a nice mid-tone. You won't see as much texture here.

You can see how each type blends over the dried paint when I hold the paper up. It's a soft, layered effect that's satisfying.

Using Charcoal in Wet Watercolor Paintings

Once you're comfortable with basic marks, it's time to test how charcoal shapes react when activated with watercolor.

I draw leaf shapes using willow charcoal, woodless charcoal, and compressed charcoal. Each shape gets just one stroke, so I can see how they differ.

When I paint over the willow leaf, it gets very dark. The shading is interesting and reminds me of a variation on the line-and-wash technique.

However, charcoal gives the watercolor a slightly dirty look. So, it works better with darker colors or muted washes.

When I activate the charcoal pencil leaf, the line stays more intact than the willow. The willow spreads out more because it's softer.

Finally, I get the darkest effect when I go over the compressed charcoal leaf.

The outline stays bold and crisp, and if I had used soft compressed charcoal instead of hard, it would've been even darker.

Among all the shapes, the willow still has the most green showing through, even though the differences are subtle.

Creating Your Charcoal-Watercolor Masterpiece

Now that you understand how charcoal reacts with watercolor at different stages, it's time to try this technique in your painting.

Let me walk you through a quick abstract art demo where I use charcoal and watercolor to create a dynamic piece.

Step 1: Prepping the Paper With a Light Mist

I start with a few simple supplies:

• My quill brush
• A spray bottle of water
• Marie's Masters watercolor palette
• New York Central cotton watercolor paper

First, I lightly spritz the surface of my paper with water. I don't soak it—I deposit little drops across the surface.

This gentle misting creates pockets of water that interact beautifully with the paint, giving the whole piece an organic, textured effect.

Step 2: Laying Down the First Wash of Color

Next, I mix up some colors. For this project, I feel like working with a neutral palette. I grab my indigo and burnt sienna—two rich, earthy tones that play well together.

First, I dip into the indigo and touch my brush to the dampened paper. Instantly, the paint blooms around the droplets, creating delicate, spontaneous shapes.

I gently sweep my brush around, allowing those patterns to form naturally without forcing anything.

After rinsing out my brush, I dip into the burnt sienna and mix it with some leftover pigment on my palette.

Again, I touch this color onto the page, letting it mingle softly with the indigo. I'm not concerned with specific shapes here—I just want interesting areas of color and texture to build on later.

At this point, I remind myself (and now I'll remind you): Have fun and play. Don't overthink it. Let the paint do what it wants.

Step 3: Adding Lighter Tones for Contrast

To balance out the deep indigo and burnt sienna, I want to bring in a lighter color. So, I dip into raw sienna, a warm, soft neutral.

I dab it into a few spots across the page, letting it softly blend with the existing layers. It stays within the neutral theme but lifts the piece so it doesn't get too dark too fast.

I go back into the indigo again, deepening some areas. I want that color to be the “star of the show.” 

Using my brush, I mop up extra moisture pooling along the edges so that I can control where the paint travels. 

In some spots, I intentionally bring the indigo straight up through the paper, trailing it toward the corners and edges.

This is where the magic happens—when colors start running into each other in unpredictable, gorgeous ways.

I let it dry completely once I'm happy with how everything looks.

Step 4: Glazing for Depth

Once the first layer is dry, it's time to add more richness and depth. I spritz the paper again lightly and grab my burnt sienna.

I dab small pops in strategic areas using this color as a glaze. The idea here is to add subtle layers, like rusty veining or aged textures.

I don't want it to dominate the painting, so after applying it, I gently blot it back with my brush to soften it.

I go back into my indigo once more, deepening a few existing areas to pump up that dark-light contrast.

The extra depth gives it even more drama—and honestly, it starts reminding me of tree branches. That's the beauty of abstract work: it can suggest so many different things without being literal.

Then, I let everything dry again before moving on.

Step 5: Introducing Charcoal Lines

Now comes the exciting part—adding charcoal to layer bold graphic marks over the soft watercolor base. I grab my soft willow charcoal stick and a ruler.

Using the ruler as a guide, I lay straight lines in interesting areas across the painting.

I vary the pressure to create some thicker and thinner marks. Willow charcoal goes on quickly, so I'm not surprised if my stick wears down fast. It's worth it for those deep, velvety lines!

I make a few intersecting marks, some almost forming triangles. Again, I don't overthink. I place lines where they feel interesting and organic.

Step 6: Softening With a Blending Stump

I grab my blending stump to soften the stark charcoal lines and add dimension.

On one side of each charcoal line, I gently blend the charcoal outward. This creates a soft, subtle shadow effect—like the line is slightly lifted off the paper.

I carefully pull the charcoal to the paper's edge, repeating this technique on all the lines.

Quick tip: I remember that charcoal isn't permanent on top of watercolor. I'll need a fixative spray later to preserve my marks. Brushing on a fixative can smudge things, so spraying is usually the safest bet.

I love how this part turns out. The softened shadows give everything a magical, atmospheric quality while keeping intact crisp, dark edges.

Step 7: Adding Charcoal Circles

Next, I want to add some circular elements to balance all the straight lines. Instead of using the chunky willow stick (which is hard to control for curves), I switch to my woodless charcoal pencil.

I sketch three circles in different spots around the painting. These have a cleaner, sharper look than the soft willow lines.

Again, I go back in with my blending stump, softening the inner edges of each circle and gently pulling the charcoal inward.

Because I'm working on textured watercolor paper, I embrace that the charcoal won't blend perfectly smoothly. The texture adds even more character.

Step 8: Bringing in the Gold Ink Sparkle

At this point, the painting feels a little dark overall. To balance all the moody colors and add a touch of brightness, I pull out one of my favorite secret weapons: gold ink.

I squeeze a couple of drops onto my palette and grab my stylus. Using the fine tip, I dot shimmering gold across different areas of the painting.

I place some dots over the dark charcoal to make them pop.

I also allow some of the dots to trail off the edge of the paper. This makes the marks feel less contained, as if they are spilling into space.

For extra sparkle, I grab a small round plastic tool I used before and stamp gold circles inside my charcoal circles. It's a subtle touch, but it brightens things up.

The combination of shimmering gold and velvety black is exactly what the painting needs. And just like that, my abstract mixed-media painting is complete!

We’ve completed our charcoal and watercolor piece. Let’s take a moment to appreciate the depth and texture we’ve added.

Wrapping Up

Using charcoal with watercolor is a fantastic way to add depth, texture, and dramatic contrasts to your artwork.

Whether you're working with dry or wet watercolor, charcoal can help enhance your painting in creative and exciting ways. Have you tried using charcoal in your watercolor paintings?

Give it a go and see how it transforms your art!