A look into the origins of Sanguine

Sanguine or red chalk is chalk of a reddish-brown colour, so called because it resembles the colour of dried blood (the word likely comes via French from the Italian sanguigna and originally from the Latin "sanguis"). It has been popular for centuries for drawing (where white chalk only works on coloured paper) as it lends itself naturally to sketches, life drawings, and rustic scenes. It is ideal for rendering modeling and volume, and human flesh. In the form of wood-cased pencils and manufactured sticks, sanguine may be used similarly to charcoal and pastel. As with pastel, a mid-toned paper may be put to good use. The pigment used in sanguine sticks comes from red earths such as red ochre. Sanguines are also available in several other tones such as orange, tan, brown or beige depending on the amount of pigment mixed. Especially appropriate for rendering effects of mass and atmosphere, sanguine was greatly favoured by the Venetian painters and by those artists, such as Peter Paul Rubens and Antoine Watteau, who were influenced by them. In conjunction with black and white, sanguine formed the technique known as aux trois crayons (“with three pencils”) which we have explored in the previous article.

The red chalk also provided an immediate mid-tone on the paper and could be easily blended when modeling and shading forms. Being a naturally occurring material that was available to artists in sticks that could be sharpened as desired, it was also convenient and portable.

However, today the red chalk is no longer used in the production of blood because it was consumed during the Renaissance, and the one left is not of excellent quality. 

The modern way to make sanguine sticks (e.g. Conte sanguine crayons) is to mix pure red iron oxide, kaolin clay, cellulose gum binder (CMC) and water. Shape the mass, let it dry and bake it briefly at about 200 deg C oven. It can either be binded with wax or oil, the latter produces an oil-based sanguine that has more subtle effects and is much closer to graphite.