Good Pencil Shading Will Add Great Depth to Your Pieces pot

It is how you use the line that makes the shading effective.. This will dull the pencil quite quickly if you are covering any kind of area which will leave you sharpening quite a bit.. F

Good Pencil Shading Will Add Great Depth to Your Pieces

There are a few different tips that I can share about pencil shading They are quite simple to get the hang of All shading can be done with the use of a pencil and line It is how you use the line that makes the shading effective

There are two different ways that you can do pencil shading All the rest is merely strategy and preference

1 Use the tip

When using the tip of the pencil you will have more control over the tones that are put on the paper You can get much lighter tones with lighter pressure and

gradually build up more tone as you go This will dull the pencil quite quickly if you are covering any kind of area which will leave you sharpening quite a bit

2 Flat shading or shading with the side of the pencil

This is better for covering more area quickly and also allows you to get darker tones more quickly as more surface area of the pencil is on the paper

3 Shading with Line

Using line to create shading is used a lot in graphic novels and old drawings This type of shading creates shading and tone from line only The line is drawn in different directions and spaced different widths to suggest tone In the older

drawings of past centuries, line was used quite exclusively to suggest contour as well as tone

When doing any shading in a drawing I often start out with the first method and as the tip dulls down I switch over to the flat side of the pencil to continue This maybe just out of apathy as I don't like sharpening my pencil every 2 mins, but it works well for me

Tip:You can also get varying tone with different hardnesses of pencils If you have multiple hardnesses you can easily get a very smooth gradient Just switch to a softer lead to get darker tone and harder lead as you get lighter You can also get very smooth even shading using softer lead and smudging the pencil ,shading with

a cotton squab or paper towel Both work very well and are basically free

Best Practices

1 Stagger your strokes

You will want to stagger your strokes if covering a large area as the overlapping will be very obvious and will not be what you are looking for Creating an

irregular shading leaves you room for blending in the next row of shading which will make it less obvious creating a smoother more uniform gradient instead of a row of shading for each pass

2 Extreme direction change

Changing the direction of the pencil strokes should generally only be used when suggesting an new plane or direction The most obvious example of this would be when drawing two planes that are butting up against each other such as chair back The vertical sides hold up a horizontal backing This can be a very effective

technique if used correctly Just remember ,"You change the contour, you change the angle of the line to match it."

Other Tips:

When using the directional pencil shading method you can vary the pressure with the pencil to bring out highlights or shadows in specific areas Follow the contours

of the object as well to suggest the shape and combine the two to give the subject more depth and form A great example of this would be when drawing any

cylinder shape

Pencil shading is not hard once you get the hang of it Once you do start doing it you will find your self instinctively drawing it This will free your mind up to think of other cool ways to add to your drawings and push your skills even further Just like anything once you learn it you will be laughing about how difficult you once found it to be