Tips for drawing portraits in pencil – shading

Once you’ve completed a line drawing of your subject, you can begin the shading process. The purpose of shading is to add three-dimensionality to your subject. When you’re done shading, your subject should look like it’s anchored in space and not just an object in a plane.

Values (or tones) are, by definition, degrees of darkness and lightness. It is good practice to develop a visual feel for at least five values or tones. To help you with this, I suggest creating a five-point scale. Draw five boxes side by side, making the first one on the left all black while the last one on the right remains all white. Then fill the middle one with a value that’s halfway between black and white. This value is referred to as “halftone” or “middle gray”. Next, fill in the second box from the left with a value that falls between black and mid-grey. This value is referred to as “dark gray”. Finally, fill in the second box from the right with a value that falls halfway between white and mid-grey. This value is referred to as “light gray”.

These five values are enough to start with and can Portrait zeichnen lassen already work wonders for your pencil portrait. Practice these five values until you can recognize them the instant you see them. With the knowledge of these five values, we can now approach our line drawing, which has already depicted various shapes with different values. We can now start the shading process (i.e. applying values).

One thing to always keep in mind when shading is the position of the light source or light sources. In the beginning it is best to work with only one light source. Any observed value should be viewed in relation to where the light source is located. Any value you apply should make sense in relation to the light source. Assign one of the five values you have internalized to each of the areas on your line drawing. They do this through careful observation. Later, the boundaries between the differently valued areas are blended together, resulting in a so-called transition area that has a value between the two values of the adjacent areas.

To help you further, it’s good to imagine the different ranges of values in relation to the five elements of shading:

The Halftone

This is the value in the middle of your value scale. You can think of this value as representing the true value of your subject without the effects of direct light or shadow. It’s neither light nor dark.

full light

This is the value of the areas where the light hits the subject directly. It’s the white of the paper. This type of value is also known as a highlight.

drop shadow

This is the darkest value, meaning the black in the first box on the left of your value scale. This value occurs in locations that are completely shielded from the light source or any reflections. These areas are usually between the shadows cast by the subject on other surfaces.

shadow edge

This is the dark gray that is in the second box from the left on your value scale. This type of value is found in areas that are not quite within the drop shadow areas but are beyond the halftone. These areas often lie between a halftone area and a reflected light area or between a halftone zone and a shadow-casting zone.

reflected light

This is a value that corresponds to light gray, the Bild zeichnen lassen second box from the right on your value scale. Reflected light is often found as a narrow band between a cast shadow and a shadow’s edge. It is the light reflected back onto your subject from surrounding surfaces. The underside of the jaw often shows reflected light. Make sure you don’t make this type of value completely white, as it never will. It is important to perceive and render these areas of reflected light, as they contribute significantly to the round and three-dimensional appearance of your subject.

In summary, a satisfactory level of line drawing along with your knowledge of a five value scale and the five elements of shading should give you a good start in developing your shading skills. Working with short strokes, blend the adjacent areas to a value that falls between the two areas. A ball on a table illuminated by a light source is a good setup for practicing the five elements of shading.