When doing portraits I usually created a very detailed full scale drawing, which I then have to transfer to my canvas. Commercial carbon paper in such a large format is extremely expensive and the smaller A4 sheets are too cumbersome when the success of my painting relies largely on a very accurate drawing transfer.

That is why I started to create my own large format carbon paper. An added benefit is that my home made carbon paper, unlike most commercial carbon papers, is completely removable. Start out with a good quality piece of tracing paper. Cut it to the format that you need. I created an A1 piece, which I have been using for ever!

Cut a length of masking tape a bit longer than the length of your paper and fold around the paper edge to strengthen the paper and keep it from tearing. Trim the ends and repeat for all 4 sides.

Mark one of the sides with a dot of paint to know which side is the “clean” side.

Colour in the reverse side with a pencil or large graphite stick (preferably 6B) until the whole paper is a dark colour. Never use charcoal – it has to be graphite!

Put some lighter fuel on a piece of cotton wool and give the graphite a good rub until the whole paper has the same dark colour.

That is it! Make sure you always place the carbon paper with the graphite side  showing and start tracing!