#Shaded apple sketch skin#

(I am a filthy heathen who always smudges with my fingers instead of using a blending stump like I ought to, but if you do this, wash your hands BEFOREHAND as the oils on your skin can work into the paper and make it a LOT harder to erase!)īlending can be done easily enough with pencils, or with gradated chalks. Like hatching, cross-hatching works well for pen and pencil.īLENDING/SMUDGING is a technique of shading that focuses less on specific mark-making, and more on concealing the application of marks by either applying them seamlessly (such as by creating such smooth and closely-applied shading with pencils that the hatching becomes invisible), or by rubbing in the media using a finger or smudging tool. A drawing may include areas of hatching and cross-hatching, with the cross-hatch-marks applied to darken areas of deeper shadow and simple single-direction hatching in midtone areas. This is a very common and widely-used technique, and you can find examples in drawings throughout history. Stippling is particularly well-suited to work with pen and ink.ĬROSS-HATCHING is hatching, but with lines going in two directions. It takes a long time, but can create a very clean, impressive look when executed well. STIPPLING is a somewhat painstaking technique of applying tiny dots to the page, clustering them together to create areas of deep shadow, and leaving them spaced further apart to make for lighter areas. Scumbling works well with pen and ink, or with pencil. When scumbling, try drawing lots of little round loops, squiggles, and figure-eight like shapes, layering them or applying them in tighter marks to create darker areas, with looser, less overlapped marks for lighter areas. It creates interesting texture, and requires a certain amount of looseness and impulsivity. SCUMBLING, also sometimes called “brillo pad technique” is a bit less controlled and more random, and involves using your pen or pencil to make lots of random, squiggly marks to build up areas of shadow. You see it used a lot also in etchings and printmaking. Hatching works well with pen and ink, or with pencil. In the sphere above, for instance, the hatching lines radiate from the highlight, and run longitudinally down the sphere, rather than parallel on the page. Curved hatching can be particularly useful for conveying a rounded object, with the hatch-marks following the curved contour of the object to emphasize form through interior contour – while simultaneously creating shading. These lines are often straight, but can also be curved. HATCHING is the technique of creating shadow with small, thin lines, oriented in a consistent direction. There are a number of different ways to apply drawn media to a page to create value.

In this week’s post, we’re going to focus on shading techniques! Specifically, in how we create marks that build up to areas of shadow. In Lesson Three, we talked about paying attention to light and shadow in shading forms.

Shaded apple sketch