She loved graphite, regarding it as the most beautiful of all media. All of her paintings began as pencil drawings.Many were left as pencil drawings because they had attained completeness.She composed her drawings with reference to the entire page and regarded the act of drawing as an act of composition, finding ideal relationship between the figure and the ground, the form and the page.

Proposal for Gould Commission, Two 15' x 21' Wool Tapestries, Graphite on paper (overlayer), 12' x 16.9," c. 1978, signed Charlotte Cain

Untitled, Gouache and graphite on paper, 10" x 6.5," 2012c, signed C. Cain

Veda Lila Garden, Digital Ptint on paper, 11" x 8.5," 1985c

 Charlotte could draw anything from scratch but preferred to replicate resolved forms to enable herself to focus on the composition. She sketched and amassed images that she found resonant (with inner silence) , always treating each page as a complete work of art by composing each page to produce wholeness on the page .