Most artists know that the best drawing charcoal is made from willow, so having a few artists in the buzzard family we decided to make some for them.

First thing we did was cut and debark the willow

We then found a suitable size tin and cut the willow to size to take up as much room as possible inside

The thickness of the willow is also imperative, it needs to be the right diameter to make the correct size of charcoal

Tin filled as much as possible then the lid with a small hole punctured in the top to allow moisture and gases to escape. Once that's done it's placed in the campfire.

The charcoal formed nicely with only one issue, it curved badly. This I believe was due to the fact that we didn't rotate the tin in the fire and one side heated faster and longer thus causing the curvature. Still, the charcoal worked brilliantly and little pieces put into elder twigs make great pencils. The artists were very happy.

Post courtesy of Phil from www.buzzardbushcraft.co.uk