Drawing charcoal is available in three types - willow, vine and compressed. Willow charcoal is relatively light and it is also hard and therefore brittle. However, it is also powdery in nature. It is best used when you want to show some light lines for subtle expression. Willow charcoal is not suitable for drawing contours of an object. Vine charcoal is an option that gives you a variety of tones ranging from light to dark. At the same time vine charcoal can also be easily erased and therefore should be used with caution. Compressed charcoal on the other hand has a tone that is difficult to erase. And it is also available in varying hardness allowing for light lines and dark lines to be created with it. This kind of charcoal is mainly available in stick form and is great to use to shade large areas. The same compressed charcoal is also packed into pencils for easy handling. The charcoal pencils are good for fine detailing.

While there are various kinds of charcoal that exist that can be used for drawing, there is no saying the best option that you should choose. The selection of the right charcoal depends on the specific effect that you are targeting and your particular individual style as well. It might benefit you to experiment with various tools of drawing and then arrive at the ones that you favor most.

There are some people that believe that charcoal drawings need to be fixed in order to preserve them. On the other hand some feel that doing so can change the look of the drawing to some extent. Whether you want to fix your drawing or not is purely a matter of choice.