pencil shading and seeing shadows
- Thread starter smkie
- Start date
not done adding them..but i will finish...i can't stand posting this way..arrrgh..ok the pencil is the only medium i feel i have pretty much mastered and it took me 40 years to do that sigh
first i use a medium lead mechanical pencil and an 03 rapidograph for finishing work in tight places..
the little girl and the dog is just a quick think it out of something i am trying to put together out of my head..the lines only to give form to my thought, as quicky as possible...in no way a sketch i would consider anything at all but a roadmap for future work. That is the way for almost all of my ruffs..like the chazhound pcks pieces i posted in my gallery. I draw the same way for gesture sketches..(those that you have only a few seconds to catch the form before it changes) quick lines not careful lines
the hand was drawn from a fireman that sat in front of me in my emt class..(i was bored) it has lots of errors in it and a lot i would correct if i drew it again but the cross hatching does show another way of shading
the silly basset only shows a variety of way to use line to create surface and shadow
the golden is a nitty gritty get down and do it right and it's hard..and it takes forever but worth the results..
finally the fluffy dogs is another way of showing shadow by texture and variety of line.
I don't know how else to explain but to show the different ways i do it.
My old boss always said "squint your eyes" to help you see the shadow and seperate from the lighter areas..a lot of mistakes people make it portraits especially human is when they hardline what the :think they know is there" and not what is really present. the only part of the human face that should ever be completely dark is the pupil of the eye and the crease between the lips..learning that improved my work greatly.
I always use a mars white plastic eraser (the same thing that comes in click erasers) because they do not ruin the "integrity of the surface" on your paper..i haven't found anything else that doesn't do damage and make going over again "different" then the rest of the drawing..prime example is in a piece i will show you later..no matter how carefully i tried to lightly fix it it came out too dark. That is about it in a nutshell..i will go post the rest of the images i wrote about..cant tell which one is which sigh.
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f240/smkie/handsketchexampleofquickcrosshatchi.jpg
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f240/smkie/goldenthiscopy.jpg
i have some more different ways to approach and will come back and write later tonight..if i dont get my hinny in that paint room the night wiill get away from me...
first i use a medium lead mechanical pencil and an 03 rapidograph for finishing work in tight places..
the little girl and the dog is just a quick think it out of something i am trying to put together out of my head..the lines only to give form to my thought, as quicky as possible...in no way a sketch i would consider anything at all but a roadmap for future work. That is the way for almost all of my ruffs..like the chazhound pcks pieces i posted in my gallery. I draw the same way for gesture sketches..(those that you have only a few seconds to catch the form before it changes) quick lines not careful lines
the hand was drawn from a fireman that sat in front of me in my emt class..(i was bored) it has lots of errors in it and a lot i would correct if i drew it again but the cross hatching does show another way of shading
the silly basset only shows a variety of way to use line to create surface and shadow
the golden is a nitty gritty get down and do it right and it's hard..and it takes forever but worth the results..
finally the fluffy dogs is another way of showing shadow by texture and variety of line.
I don't know how else to explain but to show the different ways i do it.
My old boss always said "squint your eyes" to help you see the shadow and seperate from the lighter areas..a lot of mistakes people make it portraits especially human is when they hardline what the :think they know is there" and not what is really present. the only part of the human face that should ever be completely dark is the pupil of the eye and the crease between the lips..learning that improved my work greatly.
I always use a mars white plastic eraser (the same thing that comes in click erasers) because they do not ruin the "integrity of the surface" on your paper..i haven't found anything else that doesn't do damage and make going over again "different" then the rest of the drawing..prime example is in a piece i will show you later..no matter how carefully i tried to lightly fix it it came out too dark. That is about it in a nutshell..i will go post the rest of the images i wrote about..cant tell which one is which sigh.
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f240/smkie/handsketchexampleofquickcrosshatchi.jpg
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f240/smkie/goldenthiscopy.jpg
i have some more different ways to approach and will come back and write later tonight..if i dont get my hinny in that paint room the night wiill get away from me...
someday i will post the pic i went off for that..it would have been better if the pic had been, i actually had to use several for that one because the posed pic was completely blurred. That dog would NOT hold still for anything when i went to take the pictures. I only hope that those show what i was hoping they would, the different ways pencil can be shaded,,another good practice for learning shading is when you do an ink wash..they made me do about a zillion in life drawing. That way with one color and a brush you can make wide swipes at your midtones leaving the paper for your highlights and running a dark line for your shadows..working on colored paper with a white pencil and a charcoal or dark pencil with do the same thing.
the only examples i had of those have mostly been destroyed...i do have other pencils of finished work and sketches if anyone is interested..i don't want to be a thread hog..would a thousand times more see other members work!!!!anbody got some pencil pieces they want to share?
the only examples i had of those have mostly been destroyed...i do have other pencils of finished work and sketches if anyone is interested..i don't want to be a thread hog..would a thousand times more see other members work!!!!anbody got some pencil pieces they want to share?
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I am fine Rockwell..are you joining year of the dog? that is tomorrow ya know.
Barb, you just come on over and pick ya out some and have a pizza and a cold glas of ice tea lest you want some soda. ANNNNNNNNNNNNY time.
You ever wonder about fate..if i hadn't had the experiences i have had..i wouldn't be able to draw near as well, if i hadn't been broken and only partially repaired, i wouldn't have been given the time to practice not only at my leisure, but to also get a new tire or the child's cough syrup..it is a driving force. I wouldn't be there for GG and Hyia now, i would work for some company and call her up saying oh my that is sad..not to be in her life especially right now. I think about that a lot. When i have to ask..why me..then i answer myself oh yeah..thats why.
I forgot to add that i can be a stay at home mom for Victor. I do not believe that this dog could have ever managed a house with no one in it. A crate would have made him cage crazy, even a safe room AND MARY wouldn't have fed his active mind and need for exercise. So that is why too.
Barb, you just come on over and pick ya out some and have a pizza and a cold glas of ice tea lest you want some soda. ANNNNNNNNNNNNY time.
You ever wonder about fate..if i hadn't had the experiences i have had..i wouldn't be able to draw near as well, if i hadn't been broken and only partially repaired, i wouldn't have been given the time to practice not only at my leisure, but to also get a new tire or the child's cough syrup..it is a driving force. I wouldn't be there for GG and Hyia now, i would work for some company and call her up saying oh my that is sad..not to be in her life especially right now. I think about that a lot. When i have to ask..why me..then i answer myself oh yeah..thats why.
I forgot to add that i can be a stay at home mom for Victor. I do not believe that this dog could have ever managed a house with no one in it. A crate would have made him cage crazy, even a safe room AND MARY wouldn't have fed his active mind and need for exercise. So that is why too.
i wrote this all out and then somehow lost it!
Shyeow, making the shading lines go the direction of the hair or feathers is something my teacher in jr college told me to do and she was right! my drawing were instantly better. If i want a solid shade of grey i take my penciil and lightly go in circles so there are no "lines" ..sometimes you want lines so cross hatching can work too but i really don't like to use it for animals..better for buildings and stone.
By turning the picture upside down and studying it (when you are working off of a photo) this allows the right side of your mind to show you what is really there and not just the symbol the left side of your brain offers up. IT is an old trick and one i use especially if i am stumped, or if i am having trouble with foreshorting..allows you to see it objectively!
I told Richie that a great way to get a feel for shading is to take a paper that has a tint..i practiced on grocery sacks..the brown paper ones until i felt i knew what i was doing before i started buying the more expensive tinted papers. You use a white pencil or piece of chalk to put in your whitest highlights and then a dark pencil or charcoal for your darkest..then work your way toward each other letting the paper take care of all your midtones. If i wasn't swallowed up with rock orders ..sigh...i would love to try Russell with a reddish conte on a brownish paper..then white pencil or chalk for his white. I think that would be very appealing with his coloring! I am so happy someone is letting me share what i have learned along the way. My children could care less growing up, had no interest at all..thought Aaron had the ability, without passion it goes nowhere. Hyia doesn't seem to have much interest either..so my grandson Jory is my next hope! My friends here too aren't interested.
Shyeow, making the shading lines go the direction of the hair or feathers is something my teacher in jr college told me to do and she was right! my drawing were instantly better. If i want a solid shade of grey i take my penciil and lightly go in circles so there are no "lines" ..sometimes you want lines so cross hatching can work too but i really don't like to use it for animals..better for buildings and stone.
By turning the picture upside down and studying it (when you are working off of a photo) this allows the right side of your mind to show you what is really there and not just the symbol the left side of your brain offers up. IT is an old trick and one i use especially if i am stumped, or if i am having trouble with foreshorting..allows you to see it objectively!
I told Richie that a great way to get a feel for shading is to take a paper that has a tint..i practiced on grocery sacks..the brown paper ones until i felt i knew what i was doing before i started buying the more expensive tinted papers. You use a white pencil or piece of chalk to put in your whitest highlights and then a dark pencil or charcoal for your darkest..then work your way toward each other letting the paper take care of all your midtones. If i wasn't swallowed up with rock orders ..sigh...i would love to try Russell with a reddish conte on a brownish paper..then white pencil or chalk for his white. I think that would be very appealing with his coloring! I am so happy someone is letting me share what i have learned along the way. My children could care less growing up, had no interest at all..thought Aaron had the ability, without passion it goes nowhere. Hyia doesn't seem to have much interest either..so my grandson Jory is my next hope! My friends here too aren't interested.