[Peter J. Fasi]

If I remember my art history, this technique originated from the early drawings that the masters employed as studies for the eventual paintings. The technique would incorporate chalks made from the available clay colors, namely sanguine chalk (a reddish clay similar in tone to burnt sienna), sepia chalk (a brown color more like raw umber), black (charcoal) and white chalk. These materials were used because they were readily and cheaply available and because the tones produced on the unbleached paper grounds of the time closely resembled human skin.