Q&A for How to Shade Drawings

There are a variety of techniques you can use, but hatching and cross-hatching are very popular to try.

Use the side of a soft 4B pencil if you want smooth, uniform shading in your drawing.

You can shade drawings all on the same layer, but it will also affect the line drawing you've made.

Practice shading simple forms like spheres, cylinders, and boxes. These forms are the main shapes used for shading people.

Some easy things to draw as a beginner would include normal everyday objects like spoons, plates, bowls, and fruit. Easy objects like that will give you a simple idea of all the concepts if you so choose to include them. Move up to animals and then humans if you like the process.

It's good to have a set of different shading pencils in order to give your sketch a good depth. Having said that, a single pencil can work fine too if you can adjust your strokes, with or without the help of your shade card.

Drawing pencils are preferred, but regular pencils can work. Mechanical pencils should not be used, however, as the point is too sharp to properly draw lighter shades.

A blending stump is a white stick of paper with a pointed end on each side. You use it to rub the graphite from your pencil into the paper once you have added shade. It makes your shading look smoother, but it might remove some texture from the drawing. Once the point gets blackened, you usually sand it to get more stump.

Yes Press down firm on darker parts and sometimes use chalk for the highlights, since it can also blend with the charcoal to add a gray for multiple tones of shading.

Try using the hatching method, putting more lines where you want the fur to look darker. Keep practicing and trying different things.

Usually drawing apps have layers. You can create a new layer and use it for shading, using paintbrush with dark colors like gray.

Use the same way that you use for shading with normal pencils. You may not have the ability to smudge them unless they are designed to do this, but they will work the same way.

Start by using good quality sketch paper. Be careful. Think about the softness of your lead, because if it's softer, that provokes smudging. An easier way for you to not worry about this is to permanently "fix" your drawings. In other words, outline it with a good, thin permanent marker, and color it if you wish.

Yes, you can use hatching, crosshatching, stippling, and other techniques to shade with pen.

If you are drawing a light source like a flashlight or lamp, then have the affected zone be normal and darken the rest -- when you are in direct light in a dark room, it is harder to see the rest of the room.

Pay attention to and include as many details as possible. And, of course, the more you practice, the better and more realistic your drawings will become.

Yes. However, sometimes a large pack of colored pencils (oil pastels too in some cases) will have very similar shades of one color. You can use those, if you don't have the right type of pencil for the job. If you can get it to work well (this is where blending stumps come in), then it may look better than just hatching, etc.

Focus on the folds of the eyes and make sure to have contrast. Shade in small circles, not streaks.

That is a great idea! Mechanical pencils often draw lightly, so it'd be better to do the sketching with the mechanical pencil and then shade and draw with the drawing pencil.

It depends upon your expertise level. If you can identify the intensity of a shade by looking at it, you don't have to mark the shades. But if you are an amateur, it might be a good idea to mark down the shades as a guideline.

If you were to use very slightly differing shades of the same colors, you might be able to recreate the idea of shading, but it may not be exact.

Try drawing in multiple short lines, instead of long ones. This will give you more control over the straightness of your drawing. Also, don't press too hard, because then you wont be able to erase.

It really depends on what you're drawing, but, generally, speaking it looks more realistic with lighter shading.

Pretend the light is hitting the bowl from the right side. The outside would be lit from the right (shadow on the left). Inside, the light would not reach to the right side, it would be in shadow because the bowl is a 3D object with height and depth (the rim of the bowl blocks the light from that side). It would hit the left hand side instead, where there is nothing to block its path.

You can search for some reference pictures online, but the most general rule is that you should shade at the part where the bones are connected.

Just practice, by yourself and using tutorials. Use what you learn to progress in your work.

Yes, there are hundreds of books out there that cover shading techniques. You can search through your local library or go on a website like Amazon to find them.

Ask yourself where the light source is. Shade the darkest farthest away from it. Also take into account the shapes of the object. For example, a face with lighting from one side would have a shadow on one side of the nose.

Depending on which color you want to be more dominant, shade the color you want to be darker, then add the lighter color. Shading takes a lot of practice and patience. The best way to shade with more than one color (two specifically) is to figure out which color you want to be more dominant. If you want a nice mixture of the two, blend lightly to get the best results. Make sure the pencils aren't dull: it's tricky to shade with dull pencils.

Practice often and work on your observational skills. Pay close attention to how light and shadow work on everyday objects and mentally trace lines and curves in the people and objects around you.