I see that this is an older post and you've gotten some good advice here. I'm also fairly new to charcoal. I didn't like charcoal, but I had to use it for a class I took. After working with it the past 9 months or so I've come around and now I like it a lot. I think one of the biggest issues people have with charcoal is trying to work with it just like it is a pen or pencil. It is very different from graphite or ink. It is messy, it smudges easily, it erases easily. Don't fight it, embrace those differences. Use your eraser, I actually do a lot of my detail work by subtracting with the eraser rather than drawing in lines with charcoal. Working with charcoal can be almost paint like. You can however take advantage of a lot of graphite and ink techniques so don't toss your graphite experience when you pick up charcoal. Not all charcoal is the same, vine and willow charcoal does things differently than compressed charcoal and charcoal pencils. For one thing willow and vine erases and smudges more easily than compressed. I will often start a charcoal drawing, and then rub it out and redraw it with corrections following the faint image left behind. Compressed charcoal and charcoal pencils can provide much finer lines and make more graphite like marks. I've seen charcoal pencils used very effectively to make almost ink like hatching and cross hatching. A lot of people treat willow and vine charcoal as if they were the same thing. They are similar, and mostly do the same thing but they are a little different. They both come in a variety of hardness grades but willow is generally softer and blacker than vine. Willow also tends to come in straight sticks while vine is usually a bit irregular. It isn't a huge difference, but enough that it can cause frustration if you are using both without recognizing they are not the same thing. Imagine having unmarked 2B, 4B and 6B pencils and assuming all were the same, you would become very irritated at the apparent inconsistency of your pencils. That is what you get if you just have a jumble of vine and willow mixed together. Last thing, explore the techniques that are different. Work with a ground, make a big mess and then use your eraser to "draw" in that mess. Play with charcoal powder. Try a variety of charcoal materials, see what they do, but don't feel like you have to use all of them on every drawing.

Hey Brand, just go for it, man! Three years of basics is a solid foundation, so it's good you're exploring new tools – it'll help you find what works best for your comic/manga later on. About charcoal: Messy: Use a tissue or a piece of paper under your hand to avoid smudging, and don't be afraid to get a little dirty; that's part of charcoal! What to buy: You should get both. Charcoal pencils are great for details, while charcoal sticks cover large areas fast and blend way better. Just experiment, as long as you're having fun

I've been really getting into charcoal lately too after having done Drawing Basics almost completely with graphite. I'm in the stage now where I'm trying lots of types of charcoal and how they work on different papers. I'm still using compressed pencils but coming to love stick charcoal, willow & vine, fancy Nitram charcoal, and even the cheap 3-pack of General's. One thing not mentioned in Dan Blodgett's fantastic and comprehensive response is the special behavior of charcoal and certain traditional papers, especially those with laid or patterned finishes, such as Strathmore 500 (and 300), cold-pressed watercolor papers, and Canson Mi Tientes. Most of these have a back side that is smoother but some if the pattern will still show up in your work - the laid finish in particular is a characteristic traditional woven look that evokes a canvas, and it can be really beautiful (even if it's maybe considered too traditional for modern gallery work). If you want to do something detailed and graphite-like with charcoal the smooth papers Dan describes are great, but I just did a portrait (from reference photo) on Strathmore 500 and I love the way the texture came out. Attaching a pic. Also, these papers tend to erase very well with charcoal, which is not my experience always with Bristol Vellum or newsprint. One last note, I've been going to live studio drawing sessions lately and bringing just charcoal and my drawing board with large paper (smooth newsprint for gesture poses, Strathmore 300 for longer poses). It is messy but there's something much more engaging to me about working on a big bold surface with live models vs. graphite in a sketchbook. A pack of hand & face wipes is great to have at the end of the session when you're covered in soot, LOL.

I'm fairly new to charcoal myself, and I've found that the best way to cope with the messiness is to embrace it. Get your fingers into it for blending or for adding or pulling back shading. Here's a materials tip: Sharpen or shape charcoal sticks and pencils over a container with a lid to save the powder. Then you can use your fingers, a stump or a brush to apply charcoal to your paper without needing to buy charcoal powder.

You can never have too many tools! Different mediums will teach you something new every time and will carry over to your main medium, so just have fun! Traditionally, charcoal drawing was used as a training device for artists who wanted to transition into oil painting. So, if this is something you're interested in pursuing, then it's a valuable tool to pick up. There are two kinds of charcoal, both with a matte finish: natural (called vine or willow charcoal), and compressed (sold as crayons, sticks, pastels, and pencils). Both kinds achieve different results, so it's worth researching exactly what you want out of using charcoal before dipping in. I'll give you an overview though, because I like the sound of my own voice haha. Natural charcoal is very soft and powdery, making it easy to smudge and erase, and can go extremely broad and dark, but can be difficult to control for someone used to pencils and of course is far messier and harder to achieve fine details with. But it is great for a looser, more painterly style, and is a little more forgiving. Just get it fixed with spray or behind glass. Heavier textured paper is recommended here to avoid having a slippery smudgy mess, but it goes well on just about anything tbh. Compressed charcoal, especially in pencil form, is closer to what you may be used to with graphite, but also much more sensitive to hand pressure and paper type than graphite. The marks they make are versatile and definitive, don't smudge as easily, but can be hard to erase and control if not confident with your mark making. Great for transitioning from broad strokes to fine detail work, though. There is no mark you cannot make with these. They also usually come in different grades of softness, like graphite, for added versatility, but can achieve a wider tonal range by comparison from a single pencil. Sharpened in the way Proko and/or Jeff Watts teaches, charcoal pencils are awesome tools for learning about edges, increasing hand dexterity, and eventually moving towards painting. The ideal surface for these is smooth paper, like smooth newsprint or Bristol or fine Strathmore 400 drawing paper. Compressed charcoal "sticks" or pastels or crayons are another thing; something of a hybrid. They usually are either soft or hard as well. Soft pastels behave much more like natural charcoal, but have more definitiveness and permanence, making them great for heavy applications of dark tone and broad, painterly effects. These can go super dark as well. Steve Huston is a fan or using a soft compressed charcoal stick/pastel to lay in his blacks then push his tone around with his finger to get great smooth transitions. So, if that's a look you desire, there you go. Not beginner friendly, though, to my mind, and not great for small detail work. Hard sticks or crayons or "hard pastels" can give more detail control and when sanded to a point or wedge can deliver results similar to pencils but are messier and harder to handle than pencils. They have more surface area to work with as far as mark making capability than pencils, though. The ideal surface these is smooth or vellum Bristol board or drawing paper, or as Steve Huston suggests, marker paper, for his fingerpainting style, although this is very smooth and smudgy, so be careful. I hope this information can help you make a decision about what you want to try out. If you're worried about mess, I'd say pencils are the way to go. They really are the most versatile of all the different types. If you want the ultimate charcoal experience, however, then try some vine or willow charcoal. Compressed sticks or pastels will give you a bit of both worlds, I reckon, but can be difficult to get into if you're super used to holding a pencil. Or get them all and experiment! That's the great thing about charcoal... it's cheap. But you're going to get dirty no matter what! It's just the nature of the medium. It gets everywhere like sand from the beach haha. Have some wipes and towels nearby if it gets too out of hand. Drawing overhand on an angled surface can help, too, or get an artist's bridge to rest your hand on if smudging is a real issue for you. But mostly just have fun. This is what it's all about. Cheers.