How To Shade Realistic Human Faces : Drawing Techniques : Online Drawing Community & Forum

Hi. l'm really bad at shading realistic pencil faces. When I draw faces in pencil, I use my pencil to smudge and the whole paper lands up being a big smudgy mess. Help!

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Here is a long list of drawing tutorials for shading drawings without smudging and making a mess ... http://www.drawinghowtodraw.com/drawing-lessons/improve-drawing/shading-... ... also have you ever tried using a blending stick instead of your fingers? Also, I always keep a dry paint brush to wipe away excess and after I erase.

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Oh garsh. Shading a pencil drawing can indeed be a tricky task. Here's a secret: the key to good smudging is a good underlayer of shading and a good smudger. The underlayer is your first step. This is the shading you do before smudging. You start by shading in the LIGHTEST values using hatching, cross hatching, and/ or squiggles. Then, add layer upon layer of darker and darker values , until your whole drawing is shaded. You don't even have to smudge! However, if you do want to smudge, DON'T USE YOUR FINGER!!!!!!! The natural oils on your hand (yes, even after you wash them) will create a horrible, smudgy mess. Instead, use a: blending stump (art store), tissue (the kind that's for your nose, and have extra on hand since they rip easy), or a Q- tip.

Here's some sites to help:

http://www.drawspace.com/lessons/view/l03

http://www.drawspace.com/lessons/view/l02

http://www.drawspace.com/lessons/view/d02

http://www.drawspace.com/lessons/view/f04

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Drawing Techniques

allisontoken

Posts: 3

Location: Jackson, MS

Here is a long list of drawing tutorials for shading drawings without smudging and making a mess ... http://www.drawinghowtodraw.com/drawing-lessons/improve-drawing/shading-blending-smudging.html ... also have you ever tried using a blending stick instead of your fingers? Also, I always keep a dry paint brush to wipe away excess and after I erase.

brandonstag

Posts: 6

Location: Atlanta, GA

Oh garsh. Shading a pencil drawing can indeed be a tricky task. Here's a secret: the key to good smudging is a good underlayer of shading and a good smudger. The underlayer is your first step. This is the shading you do before smudging. You start by shading in the LIGHTEST values using hatching, cross hatching, and/ or squiggles. Then, add layer upon layer of darker and darker values , until your whole drawing is shaded. You don't even have to smudge! However, if you do want to smudge, DON'T USE YOUR FINGER!!!!!!! The natural oils on your hand (yes, even after you wash them) will create a horrible, smudgy mess. Instead, use a: blending stump (art store), tissue (the kind that's for your nose, and have extra on hand since they rip easy), or a Q- tip.