This is one of the earliest written instructions on how to make drawing charcoal — a recipe from the Italian master → Cennino Cennini, written around 1400.

(„A Treatise on Painting” by the Italian painting theorist Cennino Cennini, born in 1370 in Colle di Val d’Elsa, died in 1440 in Florence; original spelling preserved).

→ Cennino Cennini, Il Libro dell’Arte (c. 1400)

Take some dry, straight willow sticks and cut them into lengths about the width of a hand, or roughly four fingers.

Then split them into thin strips, as you would for kindling, and bind them into a bundle.

First, clean and sharpen both ends to a spindle shape. Tie the bundle in three places — at the middle and both ends — with fine copper or iron wire.

Next, take a new pot and fill it with as many bundles as it can hold. Cover it with a lid and seal it tightly with clay to prevent any smoke from escaping.

In the evening, go to a baker after he has finished his work and place this pot in the oven, leaving it there overnight.

The next morning, check if your charcoal is well-burned and completely black.

If it is not sufficiently burned, put it back in the oven until it is fully done.

How do you know if it is good? Take a piece of charcoal and draw with it on plain or tinted paper, or on a primed wooden panel.

If it works well, then it is good. However, if it is overcharred, it will not adhere to the surface and will crumble into small pieces.

There is another way to make charcoal: take a clay pan, cover it as before, and place it in the fire in the evening, carefully covering it with ashes.

By morning, it will be ready.

You can make large or small pieces as you prefer, and there is no better charcoal in the world.