• Pencil Shading

  • Digital Basic Coloring

  • Digital Skin Coloring

  • Digital Hair Coloring

  • Digital Lips Coloring

  • Blushing Highlights

  • Clean-Up Drawings

  • Fixing Color Scans


    ART TIPS

  • General Tips

  • Face Proportions

  • Color Theory

  • Elements of Design


    PHOTO EFFECTS

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    • PENCIL SHADING TECHNIQUES




    I get a lot of people asking how I shade my portraits. Well, I finally got up to doing a step-by-step tutorial how!

    This process may seem a little complicated, but when you get used to it (if you decide to pick it up of course) then it just comes naturally. I'll also try my best to apply these shading techniques to samples in more tutorials.

    I also use the different pencil leads when I feel like it; I mainly use H, HB, 2B and a mechanical pencil.

    Sorry in advance for the graininess! My scanner has a tendency to do that ...





    		After I've for my lines draw, I like to shade in diagonal lines. In the example, I've exaggerated the spacing between each stroke to show you how it looks, but in generally, I keep these strokes tightly packed together.

    In the picture below, I’ve drawn the skeleton of what I mean.

    It is also extremely important to note that I did not shade all the way to the edge of the line, and instead left a sliver of white (which is shown by the red line), which is of course, the reflection.

    That sliver of reflection is pretty much my main trick in shading!

    Lead Type: H


    Next comes the second set of strokes. I overlay these on top of the previous ones using the same technique.

    This of course resembles cross-hatching and it is pretty much the same idea, only with, yes, more tightly packed lines.

    Lead Type: H




    To add more depth, I run a few strokes from the reflection – making it more crisp. My strokes are also more close together near the edge, and then spread apart as I move towards the inside.

    Lead Type: HB


    Lastly comes the blending. Some people like to physically smudge (with their finger, or a cotton-swab) but I personally don’t smudge much and leave the pencil strokes as it is.

    However, when necessary, I do run my fingers along the area to cover up all the white specks between my lines. Then, I go over the area again with the same technique.

    I also go in circular motions with my pencil as seen with the sample in red.

    Another thing to note is that my shading is darker at line of reflection and I almost ever-so-slightly outline it.

    Lead Type: B, 2B




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