Charcoal can easily be considered a chaotic medium: it smudges, it’s difficult to erase, it’s soft enough to break under too much pressure, and, because of this, it can feel uncontrollable. For Josh Hernandez, these features are part of the draw. Throughout his artwork, he seamlessly manages both the volatile and expressive aspects of charcoal, creating scenes that teem with movement and personality.
“As I create chaos, sculpting the chaos into order becomes the challenge,” Hernandez tells My Modern Met. “That’s what pulls the piece together, as it creates a contrast between realism and abstraction.”
In many ways, Hernandez’s charcoal portraits do feel sculpted. The artist’s subjects emerge from amorphous smudges, thick streaks, and tangled lines of charcoal, giving the impression that they must be brought out of the material in which they originate, much like sculpting a figure out of clay. One portrait, for instance, depicts a woman who pensively gazes toward the right corner of the canvas. Surrounding her are billowing clouds of charcoal, obscuring the rest of her body inside an unruly, darkened tumble. Only her face remains visible and, even then, it’s encroached by charcoal dust and slashes.
“My work reflects the reality of the physical versus the spiritual that we find ourselves in and cannot avoid by symbolically displaying humans clashing with the uncertainty of chaos,” the artist explains.
If Hernandez’s portraits clash with the “uncertainty of chaos,” they also reveal his immense command over light. Each layer of charcoal is precisely arranged, achieving a remarkable depth of light, shadow, and contrast between the two, an effect largely unique to charcoal.
“I like the darkness, shadows, and contrast that charcoal can convey without depending on color to create a powerful image,” Hernandez adds. “There are no other materials that can replicate those qualities.”
This enduring fascination even led Hernandez to develop his own charcoal kit. Created in collaboration with Pacific Arc, the kit spans tools handpicked by the artist, such as charcoal pencils, sticks, sketching pastels, and blending stumps.
“I received a lot of questions about the materials I work with,” Hernandez says. “Curating the materials I work with is something that I see other artists value.”
To learn more about the artist, visit Josh Hernandez’s ebsite.
Artist Josh Hernandez creates expressive charcoal drawings that play with movement, texture, and abstraction.
These drawings explore how chaotic charcoal can be, embracing rather than avoiding its tendency to smudge and stain.
Josh Hernandez: Website | Instagram
Quotes have been edited for length and clarity. My Modern Met granted permission to feature photos by Josh Hernandez.
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