1 Tools and Marks Charcoal, in its modern refined form, is still a popular drawing medium. It comes in broad sticks, slender vine charcoal sticks (which are a softer variety), and charcoal pencils that are encased in wood or paper to keep your fingers clean. The oldest dark-toned drawing medium is charcoal, snatched from the cooling embers of the fire pit and smeared on cave walls in the image of animals, hunters and primitive symbols. Time passed and lead deposits were discovered.