Different Shading Techniques

Posted on : Mar 26, 2019

The main reason why artists use different shading techniques is to help make their work look more accurate. Through shading techniques you can add hard and soft shadows to your work, make it look as if light is reflecting off of it and you can even give a solid ground or surface that your work appears on to give it more depth so it doesn’t just appear as if it’s sitting on a piece of paper.When you want to draw something that looks realistic, you have to understand how to create the illusion of depth. The best way to create this illusion is to use light and shadows.

Stippling Pencil Shading

Stippling is the process of using dots and very small dashes to create a drawing.The use of different sized dots and the way they are spaced gives differing effects. For example, you can add a gray tone just by making marks that are regularly spaced in a cluster.These tiny stipple markings suggest form, shape, depth and contrast.They also convey light and shadow.It’s a great idea to use the stipple process with fine line drawings, they go together very nicely.

Circulism Pencil Shading
Circularise is a form of shading whereas the name suggests one can create small circles to shade your work. Imagine creating curly hair on a character you drew; you would apply the same technique when you’re doing circulism.

Contour pencil shading

It uses directional shading which follows the contours of a form. Contour shading is used in combination with line weight, adjusting the pressure to create light and shade. This allows in creating strong dimensional effects in pencil drawing. One can control these factors precisely or use a relaxed and expressive approach. Be sure to take perspective into account so that the direction of shading changes correctly along a form drawn in perspective.

Different tool for shading
When it comes to shading your work then you aren’t limited to one particular technique, you can use what works for you in order to get the best result. There are a lot of shading techniques you can use. Remember that shading isn’t just a technique one can learn with any utensil.Different pencils have different effects. The numbers on your pencils (such as 2B, 4B, 6B, 2H, 4H, etc.) indicate different levels of hardness and softness. Harder pencils, marked by H, shade much more lightly. Soft pencils, such as 2B, are softer and are darker for shading