Pollen - Charcoal

The charcoal dark center of a flower

A field poppy is recognized by its dark center sooner than by the color of its petals. That very detail turns a red dot on a diorama into a recognizable flower. Charcoal powder is there to add the pistil and stamens to a finished flower, that is the part a viewer registers first when looking from above.

The shade is recommended for poppies, daffodils and tulips. All three have a flower with a markedly darker inner part, and in the tulip it also contrasts with a light or variegated corolla. The package holds 29.4 cm³ of powder, in inch measure 1.8 cubic inches, which when dosed in pinches lasts for an enormous number of flowers.

Dosing and fixing

A drop of thin glue is applied to the center of a finished flower with the tip of a toothpick or a needle. The powder is pressed into it with a moistened tool, or the whole flower is turned over and just dipped lightly into the material. The excess is blown away. Intensity comes from repeating, not from a bigger dose, because a heavy layer rounds off the shape and the flower loses its sharpness.

The charcoal color has a second use as well. Scattered over a surface that is still damp it suggests a burned patch, soot above a chimney, or coal dust around a transfer point. The grains are so fine that they behave more like a pigment than like turf, so they can be spread with a finger or with a soft brush.

Working with material this fine calls for calm and a closed window. It pays to pour a small amount onto a piece of paper and keep the rest closed, because spilled black powder is harder to collect from a bench top than any other shade.