7 Common Shading Mistakes and How to Fix Them
Apr 18, 2010 Drawing
I seem to get more e-mails from people wanting to know about shading than I do anything else. Instead of talking about tips and how to shade, I thought we’d take a look at some of the common mistakes people make when shading their pencil drawings.
To the left is a well-shaded sphere. The texture is smooth and even, there is a gradual transition between values, and there is a range of lights and darks. This is what we’re aiming for!
Here are some problems we might face along the way:
1. Messy Shading
The problem: This shading is hurried and uneven. We can clearly see the pencil lines, and this takes away from any illusion of depth we might create with our values. This mistake is due to either rushing or a lack of pencil control.
I often see this when the artist hasn’t spent as much time shading areas that aren’t “important.” For example, the eyes are shaded beautifully, but the rest of the face and/or torso have been rushed.
The solution: It’s important to realize that smooth, realistic shading takes time, and that each part of the drawing is as important as the rest.
If your pencil lines are visible because you find it difficult to control the presure of the pencil, practice is the answer! Just practice shading smooth, even lines with no spaces between them, always keeping the same pressure on the pencil. When you can do this, practice making value scales that show an even transition between light and dark.
2. Abrupt Transitions
The problem: In this sphere, we can clearly see a line that defines the different values.While some shiny or metallic surfaces have very separate values, most objects show a smooth gradation between light and dark.
The solution: To fix this problem, you need to practice building values in gradual layers. It’s not a just matter of pressing harder when you start shading the dark areas, it’s more of a slow process where each layer adds another bit of graphite. As the layers slowly build up, you get a gradual transition from light to dark. You will have to press slightly harder for the darker areas, and it’s important to learn how to gradually exert more pressure, but if you find yourself pressing very hard, you’re better off switching to a softer pencil.
3. Timid Shading
The problem: Here we see nice, smooth shading and a gradual transition from light to dark, but the entire drawing is far too light! This is probably the most common mistake made by new artists. Often this is a result of being too timid to make bold shadows. The result is a very washed out, flat looking drawing.
The solution: Don’t be afraid of your drawing, and especially don’t be afraid of ruining your work! Remember that if you’ve drawn it once, you’ve drawn it again, so go ahead and try some dark, deep shadows. By creating dark shadows, you create more depth and dimension in your drawings. It’s also important to remember that the only areas that should be as white as your paper are the small highlights where light actually hits your subject. Everything else should be shaded at least lightly.
4. Grey Shading
The problem: This is very similar to the previous mistake, but here we have an entire sphere shaded in midtones. We are missing a highlight and the shadows. This also makes for a very flat drawing, not to mention it makes your work look very dull and drab.
The solution: Every element of your drawing, whether it’s skin, hair, clothing, a cup, or some other object, should have a highlight, shadows and a range of midtones. To get a highlight, either avoiding applying any graphite to the area, or use a kneaded eraser to lift out any pencil marks already there. For shadows, get a softer pencil like a 2B or a 4B and add some darker values.
5. Outlines
The problem: This sphere is shaded perfectly, but do you get a sense of depth or volume from it? No. That’s because of the outline. A line is two-dimensional, it is flat and sits on the surface of the paper. Anytime you outline your drawings, you’re bringing all the attention to the paper’s surface, essentially nullifying your shading. Don’t get me wrong, there is a time and a place for lines, but a realistically rendered drawing is not it!
The solution: It’s unrealistic to expect to do a drawing without any use of line. The trick is learning to do it in a way that isn’t distracting. Make sure your outlines are very light and easy to erase. Use either a very hard or very soft pencil, and don’t press hard. If a tiny bit of your line is left over, it’s probably fine, but the heavier it is, the more it will take away from your shading.
6. Shading in Different Directions
The problem: This is a more subtle mistake than some of the others, but if we look closely, we can see that although the shading itself is smooth, there is a “patchwork” feel to this sphere. This is because the shading was done in all different directions: first horizontal, then vertical, then diagonal. This takes away from the unity of the object’s surface and makes the shading look messy even though we can’t see the individual pencil strokes.
The solution: Try to keep your shading going in the same direction. If you absolutely must change directions (and sometimes you have to!) lessen the pressure on your pencil, change directions and keep shading, overlapping the marks you made in the other direction. This will help create a smooth transition and disguise the change. Blending with a tortillon can also help with this.
7. Improper Tools
The problem: If you’re tried all these tips and still your shading isn’t quite right, take a look at your tools. Your shading can only be as good as what you’re working with. With a regular HB pencil, for example, you will never get the rich shadows that you need. You can press as hard as you want, but it just won’t go that dark! Paper is another thing to consider. Regular computer paper is very flat, and doesn’t have the texture to take the amount of graphite needed to properly shade.
The solution: A decent sketchbook and a range of pencils won’t cost much, but will go a long way towards improving the quality of your pencil drawings.
Can’t get enough on pencil shading? Check out these articles:
How to Shade your Pencil Drawings
Tags: drawing tips, shading
15 Tips for Realistic Shading
Jan 10, 2010 Drawing
Here are 15 tips to improve your shading techniques and help you create more realistic drawings. Don’t forget to check out my posts on how to shade and my tutorial for shading a sphere.
1. Avoid pressing hard, instead create dark areas by layering more and more graphite on the page.
2. As well as fixing your finished drawing, a workable fixative can be used throughout your shading to give the paper more texture (tooth). This will let you add more layers of graphite.
3. Keep pencil marks even and close together.
4. Work from light to dark.
5. Use the edge of your pencil instead of the tip.
6. Think in three dimensions and visualize the way light will hit your subject.
7. Use a blending stick to create a smooth texture.
8. Check your proportions before blending to make sure they are correct. It will be harder to erase after you blend.
9. Use a clean, fresh blending stick, especially for the lightest areas.
10. To lighten too dark areas, or to reclaim highlights, use a kneaded eraser.
11. Work slowly; don’t rush.
12. Use a variety of pencils to create a full range of values.
13. Create smooth transitions between shadows, midtones and highlights.
14. Don’t be afraid to go dark. The only areas that should be pure white are the highlights. Try making the darkest shadows as deep as you can, then adjust the rest of your values accordingly.
15. Use different drawing techniques to create a variety of textures with your shading.
Tags: better drawings, shading
How to Shade with Hatching and Cross-hatching
Nov 15, 2009 Drawing
Hatching is a fun way to let loose and shade your drawings in a different way. Hatches are small parallel lines that can be used to create depth and volume. Done well, hatching can produce a likeness as realistic as smooth shading, but it is much more expressive and can communicate emotions and atmosphere.
You don’t need anything special for hatching. It can be done with pencil; it can also be done with pen, charcoal, coloured pencils, pastels… you get the point. Basically anything that makes a mark will work!
Cross-hatching is another technique using hatch marks. This is when you use the same short, parallel lines, but you’re adding another layer of perpendicular lines on top. You end up with a series of crosses. Both techniques can be used to produce some very cool results!
How do you create value? For lighter values, make your marks less dense. For darker values, make your marks more layered and closer together. You can also try using pens of different sizes or pencils of different hardnesses to help with your values.
As with any shading, the key is getting a gradual transition.
Hatching can be done with parallel lines going in any direction: vertical, horizontal, or diagonal (as in the example). Hatching and cross-hatching can also be done using curved lines. This is more difficult, but it can be a great way to help describe the contours of a round shape.
Let’s try some hatching, using the sphere as our example again. I’m using pen, but you can try out any media you like!
Start by putting a few hatch marks around the highlight, without going inside the highlight. Make these marks far apart, as this is your lightest value.
Fill in the rest of the mid-tone area and the reflection, making your marks gradually closer together as you approach the shadow.
Fill in your shadow now, making your marks closest together in the middle of the shape. Make sure you have a smooth transition between the shadow and the mid-tones.
To do this in cross-hatching, simply add the perpendicular marks! Go ahead and try something a little more complicated! It’s not all that different from your normal shading.
A few tips to remember… If you have a large area of flat shadow, resist the urge to colour it in. It might be quicker, but it won’t have the same texture as the rest of your drawing. The same goes for any lines. Draw lines with a series of tiny hatch marks to make it consistent with the whole piece.
Tags: drawing tips, hatching, ink, shading
How to Shade a Sphere – Tutorial
Sep 4, 2009 Drawing, Tutorials
Aside from being an impressive skill to brag about to your friends, knowing how to draw and shade a sphere can really help you when it comes to realistic drawings. The shading of a sphere is what shows us that it is a round, three dimensional object and not just a flat circle. Once you know how to shade a sphere, you also have the tools to shade an apple, the tip of a nose, the cheeks and forehead. The principle is the same!
When drawing a sphere, you need to consider your light source.
Here we can see that the light source is coming from the left of the sphere. This puts the highlight on the left of the ball, and casts a shadow to the right. You can see on the bottom right where the light has bounced off the floor and back onto the sphere to create a reflection in the shadowed area.
Here, the light is coming from the front and to the left of the sphere. This changes the shadows. Now the cast shadow is coming from the back of the sphere, and the highlight is more towards the middle. Notice that we still have a reflection at on the back edge of the sphere.
In this example, the light is coming from behind and to the left of the sphere. The cast shadow is in front and the highlight towards the left, top edge. The area of reflected light is now much bigger, and our shadow is darker.
Backlighting is much more dramatic. The highlight is along the very top edge and the shadow is very deep.
How to Shade a Sphere Tutorial
I’m going to be working from life for this one, using the first example as a reference. Your first step is to draw the outline of your sphere and the shadow it casts using a B pencil. To get the shape of the shadow right, it can sometimes help to draw the whole thing on top of the sphere, then erase your lines.
Next, outline the edges of your shadows and highlights. I usually draw the highlight bigger than what I want so that I can shade up to that point and blend past it. You want to keep the highlight as white as possible.
Still using your B pencil, start to very lightly shade the area around the highlight. Work your way to the edge of the sphere and the edge of the shadow.
Squint to see the more subtle shading of this shape, and add another darker layer along the edge of the shadow. You don’t need to press any harder, just keep shading the same area until it gradually gets darker.
Now take your 2B pencil and shade in the entire shadow area. Try to make a gradual transition between the shadow and the midtones. You don’t want a solid line between the two.
Again, we’ll use the same pencil to shade in another darker layer where we see the darkest shadows.
Now the fun part! Use your blending stick to blend your pencil marks together. It’s important to work from light to dark. Start at the highlight and blend inwards, keeping the center free of graphite. You want the white of the paper to show through as the brightest part.
Next, we’ll work on the cast shadow. The edge of the sphere against the cast shadow should be nice and sharp. Since the cast shadow is the darkest value, use a 4B pencil to shade in the area directly underneath the sphere.
Using your 2B again, shade in the rest of the shadow. You’ll notice that in my reference, there is a second light source (the window) that is causing different shapes to appear within the shadow. This second, dimmer light source is casting a second, lighter shadow.
Now you can blend out the shadow. Pay attention to the edges of your cast shadow. It is sharper closer to the sphere and gets lighter and softer the further away it gets. At this point, you’re almost done! All you need to do is use your kneaded eraser to clean up your edges and re-define your highlight and the reflection. Voila, a sphere!
Now you can use your skills to draw virtually anything with a rounded shape. The rules are the same! A highlight, a range of midtones, the shadow with a reflection, and a cast shadow! Practice this using a ball and a lamp to hone your skills and try out different light sources. Have fun!
Tags: blending, getting started, shading, Tutorials
How to Shade with Pointillism
Aug 23, 2009 Drawing
Pointillism or stippling is when you use a series of dots to create an image. It takes time, and loads of patience, but the results can be incredibly impressive!
For pointillism, you’re going to want to get some special pens. The best ones are fine tip pens with free-flowing ink. Ball point pens won’t work very well because they need to be moving for the ball to refresh teh ink. I’ve used Staedtler Pigment Liners. You’ll also want a range of sizes as well. Something like an 01, an 03, and an 05 would work well.
You want to make sure the dots of the different sized pen are blended together. You don’t want to see the border where you switched pens. Also, don’t rush your mark-making. If you get careless, some of your points might get little tails. You want nice clean dots to create an even surface.
As with any drawing, you want to start out with a good line drawing. Outline the contours of your subjects, as well as the shapes of the major shadows and highlights. You want to have good guidelines for when it comes to filling in the values.
When using pointililsm to shade, you need to think about values just like you do when shading with a pencil.
Around the highlights, use your finest pen and make the dots far apart. Avoid putting any dots inside the highlight area, but make sure that the points gradually become more and more farther apart closer to the highlight. You don’t want your marks to suddenly stop dead.
As the highlight fades to the midtones, switch to the middle-sized pen and mark your points closer together.
For the shadows, use the fatter pena nd make your marks close together. In the darkest areas, your dots may be so close together that no paper shows through. You might be tempted to cheat and use the pen to shade in the entire shadow.
Try to resist!
It would be faster, but it would be obvious. With pointillism, it’s important to draw everything using only dots. The marks create a pattern or a texture that is visibile even in the solid black areas. If you have a really large area of black that would take you days to dot, you could try colouring it in solid, then adding a few dots on top to mimic the pattern.
Also, don’t draw any lines! Even if there are wrinkles or eyelashes, don’t draw a line. Use a series of points to create the line and it will look more natural. A solid line will be a distraction in amongst all those dots.
When your drawing is done, let the ink dry for ten minutes or so before erasing the pencil lines. You’d hate to smudge all your hard work!
Pointillism in Colour
You can also use pointillism with paints or pastels. You do this by layering different colour dots on top of eachother. When seen from far away, the dots blend together and create a different colour. A simple example of this would be dots of red and yellow, which would appear as orange from far away. This type of illusion was used extensively by Seurat. This example from Wikipedia is A Sunday on La Grande Jatte, by Seurat.
Tags: drawing tips, ink, pointillism, shading
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