Coming Out of the Dark

Brenda Hoddinott G-02 BEGINNER: SHADING FORMS In this lesson you draw the three-dimensional form of a sphere with a focus on light, shadows, and a cast shadow.. This project is divided

Brenda Hoddinott

G-02 BEGINNER: SHADING FORMS

In this lesson you draw the three-dimensional form of a sphere with a focus on light, shadows, and a cast shadow The medium is charcoal, and erasers are the drawing tools

The technique of taking away values, rather than adding them, is very popular in art classes, especially still life and figure drawing Many beginners love this method, because it focuses on creating light and dark values separately, rather than rendering a full range of values all at once This project is divided into the following two sections:

Ü DRAWING WITH ERASERS: Most artists are familiar with drawing dark values on a

light surface However, as you will soon see, you can also draw light values on a dark surface

by using an eraser (or erasers) In this section, you experiment with two different types of erasers as drawing tools

Ü COMING OUT OF THE DARK: I take you step-by-step through a drawing of a spherical

form You draw light with erasers, and shadows with pencils In other words, you take away

values rather than adding them! Form, as applied to drawing, is the illusion of the

three-dimensional structure of a shape, such as a circle, square or triangle, created in a drawing with shading and/or perspective

Suggested drawing supplies include a 2B or 4B charcoal stick, 2B or 4B charcoal pencil, vinyl eraser, kneaded eraser, heavy white drawing or watercolor paper, and paper towels

7 PAGES – 7 ILLUSTRATIONS

This project is recommended for artists from age 10 to adult, as well as home schooling,

academic and recreational fine art educators

Published by Hoddinott Fine Art Publishers, Halifax, NS, Canada – Revised 2006

DRAWING WITH ERASERS

Most artists are familiar with drawing dark values on a light surface However, as you will soon

see, you can also draw light values on a dark surface by using an eraser (or erasers) Values are

different shades of gray created in a drawing, by various means, such as varying both the density

of the shading lines, and the pressure used in holding your pencils Shading refers to the various

shades of gray (values) in a drawing that make drawings look three-dimensional

In this section, you experiment with erasers as drawing tools You need the following two different types of erasers:

Vinyl eraser: works well for drawing really light areas and fine details If the edge of

your vinyl eraser gets too dull to draw properly, just cut off a new piece (about an inch long) or simply cut a small slice off the end with a very sharp blade or knife

Kneaded eraser: is great for lightening large areas You can either pat or gently rub the

surface of your paper To draw fine detail, simply mould the tip of the eraser to a point

or wedge To clean your kneaded eraser, simply stretch and reshape (also known as

“kneading”) it several times until it comes clean

ILLUSTRATION 02-01

1) Use your darkest pencil to

smoothly shade in the entire area

of a drawing surface

A drawing surface (also called a

drawing space or drawing format)

refers to the area in which you render

a drawing Mine is 6 by 3 inches

Use the side of the pencil point,

instead of the tip It’s faster and you

end up with a smoother surface

2) With a piece of paper towel or soft tissue, very gently blend the whole surface, until you have a solid tone

ILLUSTRATION 02-02

Blending is the process of rubbing

shading lines with a blending tool

(such as tissue or paper towel) to

evenly distribute the drawing

medium over the surface of the

paper

Don’t apply too much pressure, or

you’ll grind the graphite into the

paper so much that it won’t erase

(thereby defeating the whole purpose

of this exercise)

ILLUSTRATION 02-03

3) Use your erasers

however you wish to

experiment with pulling

light values from the

dark drawing surface

COMING OUT OF THE DARK

Time to put a twist into your notions on drawing a sphere, by pulling light values from a dark

surface! In this section, I take you step-by-step through a drawing of a spherical form Form, as

applied to drawing, is the illusion of the three-dimensional structure of a shape, such as a circle, square or triangle, created in a drawing with shading and/or perspective You draw light with erasers, and shadows with pencils You practice taking away values rather than adding them!

ILLUSTRATION 02-04

1) Shade in a section of your

drawing space with your

stick of charcoal

Use the side of your charcoal

instead of the end It’s faster

If you are using graphite

instead of charcoal, use a

dark pencil such as an 8B

2) With a piece of paper

towel or soft tissue, gently

rub the surface until you

have a solid tone

This shaded background is

your middle value Your

erasers will create the lighter

values and you’ll use your

charcoal pencil to shade the

darker values

3) Shake the extra charcoal off your paper into the garbage

4) Use your kneaded eraser to begin erasing or “pulling out” the light areas

Erase, pat, and pull out light areas until you can identify a circular shape Shape refers to

the outward outline of a form Basic shapes include circles, squares and triangles

The light source is coming from the upper left, which affects the placement and value of

every section of shading Light source is the direction from which a dominant light

originates The lighter values closer to the light source, are near the top of the sphere The

tiny glow on the lower edge of the circle is the reflected light Reflected light is a faint rim

of light reflected or bounced back on an object from the surfaces close to and around the object, such as the surface on which the object is sitting

By the way, don’t worry if your circle looks more like a kidney! The goal of this project is

to draw a three-dimensional shape

ILLUSTRATION 02-05

5) Use a sharp edge of your vinyl erase to “pull out” the white area (the highlight)

in the upper area of the circle as shown

A highlight is the brightest area of an object; usually, the section that is closest to the light

source Don’t worry if it doesn’t come completely white (mine didn’t) But it should look a little whiter than the light area around it Less light reaches the other surfaces of the sphere

that are closer to or in the shadowed areas Shadows are the areas on (or adjacent to) an

object that receive little or no light

ILLUSTRATION 02-06

6) With your

charcoal

pencil draw

an outline

around your

shape

This step is

optional; you

may prefer to

leave the

edges soft

You can draw

this circular

(or kidney

shaped)

outline

freehand if

you wish, or

even use a

compass to

draw a circle

if you are

fussy picky

like me

7) Use your charcoal pencil to add dark shading to the shadow sections of the circle

The shading in the shadow area looks like a crescent shape or backwards “C” (refer to illustration 01-06)

8) Draw the cast shadow underneath the sphere

The cast shadow is on the surface, under and to the right of the sphere The shading in a cast shadow is darker closer to the object and becomes gradually lighter toward the outer

perimeter A cast shadow is a dark area on a surface, adjacent to where the light is blocked

by an object

9) Step back from your drawing, have a look at the overall values, and add final touches to the shading, if needed

By using extremes in values (more light and dark values than middle values) you create a

high contrast drawing Contrast measures the degree of difference between the light and

dark values within shading

You can make some areas lighter by patting them with your kneaded eraser and others darker by adding more shading

ILLUSTRATION 02-07

Sign your name, write today’s date on the back of your drawing,

and put a smile on your face!

BRENDA HODDINOTT - BIO

As a self-educated teacher, visual artist, portraitist, forensic artist, and illustrator, Brenda Hoddinott utilizes diverse art media including graphite, technical pen, colored pencil, chalk pastel, charcoal, conté crayon, and oil paints

My philosophy on teaching art is to focus primarily on the enjoyment aspects while gently introducing the technical and

academic Hence, in creating a passion for the subject matter,

the quest for knowledge also becomes enjoyable

>Brenda Hoddinott<

Born in St John’s, Newfoundland, Brenda grew up in the small town of Corner Brook She developed strong technical competencies with a personal commitment to self directed learning, and the aid of assorted “Learn to Draw” books

During Brenda’s twenty-five year career as a self-educated civilian forensic artist, numerous criminal investigation departments have employed Brenda’s skills, including Royal Canadian Mounted Police and municipal police departments In 1992, Brenda was honored with a commendation from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and in 1994, she was awarded a Certificate of Membership from “Forensic Artists International”

Her home-based art career included graphic design, and teaching recreational drawing and painting classes As supervisor of her community’s recreational art department, Brenda hired and trained teachers, and designed curriculum for several children’s art programs In 1998, Brenda chose to end her eighteen-year career as an art educator in order to devote more time to writing, drawing, painting, and developing her websites

Drawspace http://www.drawspace.com incorporates her unique style and innovative approach to curriculum development These sites offer downloadable and printable drawing classes for students of all abilities from the age of eight through adult Students of all ages, levels and abilities have praised the simple step-by-step instructional approach This site is respected as a resource for fine art educators, home schooling programs, and educational facilities throughout the world

LEARN-TO-DRAW BOOKS BY BRENDA HODDINOTT

Drawing for Dummies (March 4, 2003): Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., New, York,

NY, this 336 page book is available on various websites and in major bookstores

internationally

The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Drawing People (August 2004): Published by Alpha -

Pearson Education – Macmillan, Indianapolis, IN, this 360 page book will be available on

various websites and in major bookstores internationally