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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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