On Charcoal

Carbon: The word carbon comes from the Latin word “carbo” meaning coal. It is a nonmetallic chemical element. It is the 4th most abundant element in the universe, and the 15th most common element in the Earth’s crust. In fact, all organic compounds are compounds that contain carbon. Carbon compounds form the basis for all life on Earth.

Common forms of carbon used in art materials are powdered charcoal, vine charcoal; willow charcoal; compressed charcoal, which has a binder, gum or wax, added to it (all charcoal pencils are compressed charcoal); lamp black, which is made from soot and binders; bone black, which is made from charcoal bones and binder; black conte crayons, which is made from black pigment (iron oxide or carbon black + kaolin + binder).

Charcoal: Charcoal is a carbon residue made by burning organic matter in an oxygen deprived atmosphere. It can be made from any organic material: wood, plants, bones, etc.

Coal: The word coal is from the Old English col (in the senses ‘glowing ember’ and ‘charred remnant’). The sense ‘combustible mineral used as fuel’ dates from Middle English. Coal is naturally occurring sedimentary rock formed by compressed plant matter in an oxygen deprived environment, like a bog. Coal is classified generally as peat, lignite (brown coal from compressed peat; jet is compressed lignite and has been used decoratively since the end of the Paleolithic era), bituminous (coal containing bitumin), anthracite (the hardest, with highest carbon content) , and graphite.

Soot: Soot is the residue formed from trapped carbon gasses during heating. It’s super hard to define, go look it up yourself!

Graphite: Graphite is a naturally occurring rock that is a carbon allotrope (basically carbon in a fancy geometric dimensional crystal form). Another commonly known allotrope carbon is diamond. Interestingly these two substances are respectively some of the softest and hardest found in nature.

Interestingly, graphite was first thought to be a type of lead. However, it is not. The term “pencil lead” is a complete misnomer—pencil “lead” does not, and has never contained lead. Unlike lead, graphite is completely safe, though undesirable!, to ingest and come into prolonged skin contact with.

White Charcoal and Binchō-tan: White charcoal (as sold in art stores is actually white pastel/conte). However, there is a real white charcoal produced by the Japanese. Binchō-tan was developed in the Edo period between 1603-1868, in Wakayama prefecture. It is made from Ubame oak. It is very hard, and rings with a metallic sounds when struck. It is most commonly used as an extremely clean and hot heat source in cooking, but it also is made into wind chimes and tankin: a charcoal xylophone!