Resource:
3.1.R1 Identifying Light and Shadow on Forms
Supplies:
drawing paper or a sketchbook, 2H, HB, 2B, 4B, and 6B grades of graphite pencils; pencil sharpener, sandpaper block, kneaded eraser
This tutorial has two sections:
Prepare your Pencils for Shading
Shade Two Value Scales
ArtSpeak
Acid-free: An archival quality, long-lasting paper product that has had the acid removed from the pulp in the paper-making process.
Artist: A person who practices one or more art disciplines (e.g., dance, music, theater, writing, or visual arts).
Drawing paper: Acid-free paper that's designed specifically for artists and is available in various weights, colors, textures, and sizes.
Grade: The softness or hardness of the mixture used in the process of manufacturing drawing mediums.
Graphite: A soft black form of opaque carbon found in nature that is usually mixed with clay in the process of manufacturing various types of drawing tools.
Kneaded eraser: A soft, pliable type of eraser used to erase parts of a drawing or to gently pat a drawing medium to make a lighter value or line.
Sandpaper block: A block with tear-off sheets of fine sandpaper used to sharpen the points of pencils.
Prepare your Pencils for Shading
The points of pencils that are used for a broad range of shading techniques are...well - pointed!
When the points wear down, you simply use a pencil sharpener and/or a sandpaper block to sharpen them again.
But, did you know that you can also render shading with a flat point? So, other than being an oxymoron, what exactly is a flat point?
A flat point (also called a chisel point) refers to a pencil point with both a sharp edge and a flat surface (Figure 1).
A chisel point enables you to quickly and efficiently render both fine lines (Figure 2) and shading (Figure 3) with one pencil.
ArtSpeak
Chisel point: (also called flat point) A versatile shape on the working end of a dry medium (such as a wood-encased pencil) that has both a sharp edge and a flat angled surface. The sharp edge is used to render thin lines and fine details, and the flat surface is used for shading.
Dry medium: A non-liquid drawing tool (e.g. colored pencils, graphite, or charcoal).
Medium: An art material, such as clay, paint, or graphite that is used to make art. Almost anything can be an art medium, from the burnt end of a stick to computer software.
Pencil: A broad category of writing and drawing tools that have a medium inside a holder. By the end of the nineteenth century, the word "pencil" specifically referred to a stick of graphite encased in a cylindrical piece of wood.
Tooth: The surface texture of paper. Paper with a smooth tooth is flat with a silky texture; a medium tooth is uneven with a slightly rough texture; and a coarse tooth is bumpy with a very rough texture.
Shading: The process of adding values to a drawing to create the illusion of texture, form, and/or three-dimensional space.
Sharpener: A tool for sharpening pencils. An ideal sharpener for artists is hand held, made of metal, and has two openings for regular and oversized pencils.
Sketchbook: Several sheets of drawing paper that are bound together and contained within a soft or hard cover.
Technique: A well-known method of accomplishing a particular activity or task (e.g., a specific way to render shading).
Value scale: A range of different values that are drawn in order from light to dark or from dark to light.
1. Gather your five pencils and follow these steps to create a chisel point on each:
Step 1: Sharpen the pencil with a pencil sharpener
Step 2: Hold the pencil at an angle
Step 3: Stroke its point across fine sandpaper until you have a flat angled surface
Step 4: Make a couple of marks with the flat surface to soften any hard edges before you render a value scale or add shading to a drawing
Tip!
Just before you sharpen a pencil into a chisel point, rotate the pencil between your fingers until the writing side is facing upward.
When the pencil is sharpened and ready to use, you now know to hold your pencil:
writing-side-down to use the sharp edge (Figure 2).
writing-side-up to use the flat surface (Figure 3).
Caution!
When shading with the flat surface of a chisel point, do not press very hard with your pencil. Pressing too firmly with any grade of pencil can destroy the paper's tooth, and additional shading cannot adhere to the paper.
Tip!
Sharpen several pencils in advance of beginning a new project so that your drawing time isn't continuously interrupted by pencil sharpening.
Rendering value scales is the first step toward rendering shading. The overall appearance of shading varies greatly depending on:
- the tooth of your drawing paper
- the manufacturer of your pencils
Paper with a coarse tooth (Figure 4) may leave more of the white paper showing through your shading than paper with a smooth tooth (Figure 5). Both these values are rendered with a 2B grade of pencil.
ArtSpeak
Values: The various shades of gray in an artwork. A broad range of values can be achieved by using various grades of a medium and by varying the density of the shading lines and the pressure used when applying the medium to a surface.
Tip!
B grades of graphite pencils, especially 4B to 9B, are softer and wear down faster than H grades.
Therefore, they usually need to be sharpened more frequently than H grades.
Identical grades of pencils do not always make identical values. The value scales in Figures 6 and 7 are both rendered with 2H, HB, 2B, 4B, and 6B grades of pencils. However, the type of paper used and the manufacturers of the pencils are not the same.
Compare the "same" value in each value scale in sequence beginning with the lightest value on the left. Note subtle differences in values.
Tip!
If you are left-handed, you can render a value scale from right to left, beginning with light values on the right that graduate darker as they move toward the left.
When you are done, just turn your paper upside down and your value scale is similar to the illustrations in this tutorial.
Shading Two Value Scales
Set up your drawing supplies in preparation for creating value scales.
2. Use the flattened surface of a 2H pencil to gently render a light value on the far left of your paper.
Refer to Figure 8. Each section of shading can be any size or shape you want. However, make sure you leave enough space to add four more values.
To minimize smudging, leave space on the right if you are right-handed and on the left if you are left-handed.
Caution!
Re-sharpen your pencil before its graphite point is worn down to the wooden encasement. If a sliver of this wood scrapes your paper, your drawing may become irreparably damaged.
3. Use the flattened surface of an HB pencil to create a slightly darker value beside the light value (Figure 9).
4. Use the flat surface of 2B, 4B, and 6B pencils in turn to render three more values that are progressively darker (Figures 10, 11, and 12).
5. Use the same technique to shade another value scale of five values in reverse with the darkest value (6B pencil) on the left and the lightest value (2H pencil) on the right (or vice versa if you are left-handed) as shown in Figure 13.
Tip!
Experiment with papers and pencils made by different manufacturers. Eventually, you will find the perfect combination of paper and pencils that gives you the results you want.
Tip!
Whenever you render shading, keep a piece of paper under your drawing hand to prevent smudging.
Challenge!
Draw another value scale from light to dark and make each of the five values a completely different shape (Figure 14). Use your imagination to come up with your own shapes - no need to copy these.
Next, shade another value scale in reverse from dark to light. Render each of these shapes as if it's one of your previously rendered shapes being reflected in calm water (Figure 15).
Challenge!
Use five grades of pencils and the pencil-sharpening technique discussed in this activity to render at least one value scale every day for a week.