Understanding the Art of Shading

-Note: This tutorial is meant to teach shading techniques for realistic art.  Other types of art may use different methods.

Shading is really hard for a lot of artists.  Yah, sure, the sun can create shadows with the most masterful ease, but when it's time for the artist to pick up a pencil and do the same thing....well, mastery doesn't come so easily.

As artists our perception of the world around us is inevitably very different from those who aren't involved in the visual arts.  We see scenery different, because we look at its composition.  We notice structure and lighting....texture and color.  Basically, an artist tends to see what makes up something, and usually ponders why it looks the way it does. 
So,....why do shadows look the way they do?

Take a look at the art of being subtle.  The sun knows a lot about sublimnety.  Actually, giving credit where it's due; it's the final authority.  When it casts its light and creates shadows it always does so with a soft hand; slowly blending light and dark together in the most seamless manner.  In fact, it blends the two so well that it can be hard to tell exactly where shadow ends and highlight begins.  You see, creating three dimensional shadows is all about being subtle; gradually blending light and dark.  That slow change in shade is what you need to create with your pencil.  But, how does someone do that?
 
 

Pressure
That's the answer.  The heading up above.  That's how you blend.  *waits*....Does that make any sense?  *peers into cyberspace audience* Uhhhh....let me explain.

The Tool:
Your pencil is capable of making hundreds of different shades of grey; from the most dark ebony, to barely there.  Now, pressure is what determines what shade your pencil will draw.  I refer to pressure as being just how hard you press on your pencil.  When you learn to control that pressure, your shading quality will do new and interesting things you may not even have thought possible.

I want you to do something.  Place your five fingers on a hard surface.  Let them simply set on that surface with the lightest touch you can apply, as if they are hovering.  Now don't just read these instructions ;-)  Are you doing it?  Really?  I know how it goes.  You figure you can overview the activity instead of doing it.  Do this with me.
Now lower your fingers from the hovering position onto the hard surface and slowly, very slowly, press down, softly, softly, with more firmness, firmly, then harder, and harder still until you are pressing so hard that you can't possibly apply any more pressure.  Do this so gradually that it takes at least ten seconds to complete.

This represents the different amounts of pressure you can learn to use on your pencil when doing your drawings.  The change is very gradual, very subtle.  But learning to master that pressure change is what will make it possible for you to blend and shade so flawlessly; because blending and shading require that you know how to draw many, many different shades of grey.
 

I'm going to take a quick detour here.  I've had a few people complain to me that they can't get cheek bones to look right, and that instead they appear like a slash on the face rather than a bone.  The solution is really simple actually.  All you need to do is add more shading so that the bone appears rounded.  I took a line drawing that had a slash for the cheekbones and added just a little half tone.  You'll see the illustration to the right.  I haven't changed much, and in practice I would have to work on it much more to get it just the way I want it, but you can already begin to see what a difference that small amount of shading makes.

Your pencil is extremely sensitive to your touch.  With a slight change in pressure the depth of the shade will increase or decrease.  For most people it's quite easy to apply a lot of pressure, but what comes much harder is a lighter touch.

Too much of a good thing is always bad.  Too much salt will irreversibly ruin food flavor.  While you can always add more salt to your recipe, you can rarely take it back out.  Under seasoning is 10 times better than over seasoning.  The point of my brief cooking lesson?  Under shading is unspeakably better than over shading.  So all you pressure happy people, stop over salting your drawing.  If you do draw too hard and try to mop it up with an eraser later on, you're prone to disaster.  Ease up already.  Darker shades can be applied later into your drawing when you are fully sure of which shadows need to be deeper, and which do not.
 
 

Practice

Now...enough talk.  Let's actually put the principal in action.

I will be drawing twelve different shades of grey.  I want you to get a piece of paper and try your best to duplicate each shade as close to mine as possible.  Be scrutinizing about this.  Make sure it REALLY matches the exact shade I have drawn.  If it comes out too light, press a little harder, if it comes out too dark, force yourself to ease up.

We call any shade of grey in between black and white a half tone.  Half tones are what blend black and white together.  So look to the right and see what happens when I take all twelve half tones that we have made and draw them together.  Presto.  Bingo.  Poof.  They all blend.  Seamlessly.  That kind of blending is what you'll need.

Many amateur artists don't seem to think very much about the pressure they use.  But it is very important and shouldn't be ignored.  Hopefully through this exercise you'll force yourself to pay closer attention to how your hand effects the shade you draw.

So now we need to take the principal above and apply it to drawing your actual subjects.  I have a number of close ups below that show my use in the past of gradual blending; and I do mean gradual.

Blending

Being that blending is an integral part of shading, I want to share with you the best ways I've found to blend graphite.  What must come first is how you lay your pencil on the paper.  It must be applied smoothly to begin with if you want it to look smooth in the end.  So we can't be scribbling.  Below is an illustration of the right and wrong way to shade.  Try it yourself.

Look how the the correct way is done as opposed to the incorrect way.  The pencil strokes are applied very closely to each other, so that it becomes hard to tell one stroke from another.  It hasn't been done hastily so that one line is darker or harder than another; but rather a controlled, even pressure has been used.  I've also found it helps to use a dull pencil when shading, because doing this allows you to draw wider, softer strokes.
 
 
 

Important Concepts to Keep in Mind

Rounding Off Won't Work
In math, many times you have the choice to round off numbers.  Instead of 27.8922 you can say 28.  Or you can round 28 off to 30.  But speaking in the terms of three-dimensional shading, rounding off is a no no.  For example: so the shade is almost white,....don't round it off to white.  It still isn't white.  Period.  You will simply need to lay a very, very light shade of grey on your paper.

As small as the difference between two shades may seem, it has a real bearing on the form of your subject.  So take the time and draw both shades.  Don't meld them all into one approximate shade.  To the right you'll see close ups from three drawings I've done.  Compare line #1 to line #2.  They are the exact same drawings, except that line #2 is missing the subtle half tones that #1 has.  Notice how the drawing looses shape and form when those half tones are taken away.  Really look and pick out all the differences.

So I repeat: Make a special effort to include all the varying shades of a subject.  It makes all the difference in the world.

Form in relation to light and dark
So we know that light and dark shading is what gives an object form.  If you keep that knowledge in mind as you are drawing, you can fully control how your subject appears.  How is this?

Darkness tells the eye that there is depth, and light tells the eye that something is raised; so bright highlights should be used for the highest point of a subject, and darkness should be used for the deepest.  Cheeks for example are usually points of highlighting, and the inside of the mouth is usually in the shadows because of it's depth.  If you want something to appear flat, it needs to have the same shade throughout.  The instant that shade becomes lighter, it appears to elevate; and if you make it a little darker, it seems to slope down.  Be aware of the illusion you are creating with those shade contrasts.  With this in mind, really utilize the power of contrast.  Don't be content with a dark grey, go for ebony black.  When it comes to highlights, really make them bright.  The more contrast, the more form; and form is what we all want, right?

Making it Natural
When I first started taking voice lessons I learned that I had been singing totally wrong all along.  But my wrong way of singing was so a part of me and the right way of singing was so foreign, that I found it very difficult, very unnatural, and very uncomfortable to sing right.  I felt I'd never be able to master it all.  And it was so exhausting trying to concentrate on the new principals that I found it hard to simply sing at the same time.

I know I'm introducing a lot of information to you in this tutorial and you may feel like you can't absorb it all; that it's too much to get a hold of and handle.  But let me tell you that after practicing the right way (just as my teacher kept telling me would happen even though I never believed it) that right way became natural.  I now automatically sing correctly without even thinking about it.  That's how it goes.  Re-read the information, take it in a little at a time, and consciously practice this information and it will soon become a natural part of your technique.

Additional Tools
Sometimes you just can't get the effect you want only using a pencil.  So it's a great idea to try experimenting with some other tools meant to assist in drawing.  The first is the stump, or tortillon.  These are rolled up papers in the shape of pencils.  They are used to blend pencil lead that has already been applied.  You can also use cotton swabs and cotton balls very effectively.  You'll see an illustration to the left of graphite before and after using a blending tool.  And here's a nifty trick: Once your stump or tortillon has enough residue lead on it, you can actually use it to "paint" graphite onto your paper.  Doing this creates an incredibly soft effect which I don't think you could achieve any other way.  I'd suggest staying away from blending with your fingers as they have naturally occurring oils that can really muck up your paper.  The kneadable eraser can also be very useful in blending.  I use it to go over lead very lightly to soften the appearance of it.  This works especially well with highlighting skin and hair.
You can find out more about all the tools I use, their average cost, and where to get them at The Tools section.
 
 

Outline
So what have we learned so far?

1. Realistic shading requires gradual blending of light and dark.
2. Controlling the pressure applied to your pencil allows you to do gradual shading.
3. Graphite needs to be applied smoothly to the paper.  Scribbling won't work.
4. Don't draw two similar shades as the same shade.  Use each.
5. Remember that the contrasting shades of your drawing will determine its form. Shadows sink, highlights raise.
6. Don't despair if you are overwhelmed.  Re-read, and take in a little at a time. If you practice, it will become a natural part of you.
7. Try blending graphite with tools like stumps, tortillons, and cotton swabs.
 
 

The End
Once again I strain my brain trying to think of anything I could have left out (and I'm sure there is plenty).  But seeing as I'm coming up empty I'm going to bring this overload of info to a conclusion.  But I want to leave you with a thought of intelligence.  Artistic intelligence that is.  Too many people create artwork without ever thinking about what they are doing, how they are doing it, why it is being done; or if it even works.  I hope you can understand and grow from the knowledge I have attempted to share in this tutorial, and I encourage you to especially be aware of what you are doing when you draw, and most importantly, how what you are doing is effecting the appearance of your artwork; for better or worse.