Adding Depth to Your Illustrations Using Shading

How to Add Depth and Drama to Your Illustrations

You will need:

Paper for practise
Nice quality paper for main piece.
Assortment of pencils including different softness ie HB 2B 2H
Eraser.
Fingers.

Let’s get started:

Using your practise paper, start by making some simple marks using the assortment of pencils you have. Try using the side of the pencil in as sweeping motion, long sharp lines with the tip of the pencil and some soft crosshatching. Use you finger to try and smudge these marks and see what effect you get.

Lighter shading can be used for contours and shadows on faces etc.
Dark shading can give your piece a feeling of being in dim light or a added drama.

The aim is to see which techniques work best for different parts of your illustration. Make a note of which pencil you have used.

Tip: By using your eraser you remove areas of your shading to add reflections or soften edges.

Can you see how I have used lighter and darker shadows depending on where the light is coming from. Sit for a minute and see if you can see the shadows on some of the objects in the room.

Take another piece of practise paper and plan out your illustration. This saves time and mistakes for when you do your finished piece. Draw out the elements ie figures, leaves etc and practise getting these to a standard you are happy with and can redraw confidently.

(I have been illustrating for many years and I find I still have to practise this, especially if it is something I haven’t drawn for a long time)

Now it is time to start on your main piece!
Using a piece of nice paper take your time to sketch in the elements using your lightest pencil.
 Now fill in each area with detail, still using a light hand, before carefully adding your shading. When you are happy with your results you can go over your work and add further highlights and details.

Tip: Different people like to work in different ways, and all are just fine! If you have filled in an area and don’t want to smudge it further, place a piece of paper under your hand as you work, moving it around when you start on another area.

Can you see how I have used shading to give my robot dimension by using darker shading on the side away from the light source. Do you think you can finish him for me?

Some topics for you to draw;
Things you have found in the garden
Mythical Adventures
Self Portrait
Fairytale or Story
Plants and Trees
Robots and Sci Fi