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SHADING
& BLENDING 
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This
is the wrong way to achieve a smooth, gradated
skin tone... trying to blend these loosely
drawn lines will simply produce a rough, smudgy
effect. |
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Shading
should be as tight and smooth as possible
with a gentle gradation from dark to light...
this will ensure a smooth blending of the
pencil marks. Keep the tortillon at a slight
angle to prevent the point from being pushed
into the body. |
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Graphite
will act very much like fingerprint powder and
adhere to areas of paper where natural oils from
the fingers have been deposited. To achieve smooth,
silky blends, try to keep skin contact with the
paper to an absolute minimum. Try resting the
heel of the hand on a piece of tissue or paper
to prevent unnecessary contact.
NEVER try to blend graphite
with the fingertips!!! |
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The
Five Basic Shades. |
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can work with a basic palette of only 5 shades.
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1.
This is the lightest part of an object where
the light falls directly on to it. This is
the actual paper and must not be drawn on,
lighter greys should be blended gently towards
it using a clean tortillon. |
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2.
This is our reflected light and is seen around
the edge of an object as light reflects from
surrounding surfaces such as clothing. It
makes an object appear solid as it informs
us that there is another, darker side to it.
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3.
Mid grey, the tone that represents the actual
colour of the object without the effects of
either direct light or shadow. Remember, although
this is a basic five tone system, the gentle
gradation between shades will actually be
producing millions. |
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4.
This represents the shadowed side of an object
as it recedes from the light. For example,
if light is from the right... the left side
of the object would be this shade. It would
lighten gently towards the light and darken
as it moved away. |
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5.
The darkest tone is as near to black as you
can get, this is your darkest shade and represents
the cast shadows. This shadow is darkest where
objects meet surfaces and lightens as it moves
away from the object. Don't try to achieve
this tone in one application, build it up
in layers. |
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Using
the Five Shades. |
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To
change a totally flat circle into a solid
looking sphere using our blending method I
start by lightly drawing in the outline and
the highlight, which I need to reserve as
white paper. Remember, try not to get pencil
in the highlight, as once blended into the
paper, it's almost impossible to remove completely. |
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I've
drawn in the shadow below the circle to represent
the cast shadow. Where the object meets the
surface is going to be our darkest tone and
as it moves away it gradually gets lighter.
Placing one of your darkest tones quite early
also helps to establish the required tonal
values. |
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Following
the shape of the object, I've shaded in a
fairly narrow section to represent the darker
side of our sphere. This will be the first
of a number of layers which I will build up
to the required tone. Using
the tortillon, I'm now going to blend and
pull the colour. By the way, If the tortillon
squeaks, or drags on the paper, apply more
pencil... |
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This
is the shaded area after blending and spreading
the pencil with the paper tortillon. I pull
the colour towards the lighter area but stop
short of the reserved highlight, I use a clean
tortillon to blend the lightest grey towards
the white. I then apply another layer of pencil,
& repeat. |
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And
this is the finished sphere after three layers
of shading and blending, using all five shades:
1. The Highlight, where the light strikes
the object. 2. The reflected light at the
bottom of the object. 3. The actual colour
of the object. 4. The dark side of the object.
5. The cast shadow directly below the object,
our darkest tone. |
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This is exactly the same method I use when drawing
my portraits... light falling onto the forehead,
the cheek, the nose and the chin are all rounded
surfaces that reflect light and require the same
technique.
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