PENCIL SHADING

The pencil shading exercise explored on this page is called 'graduated tone'. It is a drawing technique which can be used to create a strong sense of space and form. It is a very useful skill to develop for both pencil and color pencil drawings.

1. Use a darker grade (B or 2B) of pencil for your shading. Lighter grades (H, 2H etc.) will not give enough depth to your darkest tones.
2. Just start by shading the area you wish to be dark and slowly build up the tone. As you work towards the light, gradually ease the pressure on your pencil until you can no longer see the mark it makes.
3. You then patiently repeat this process several times, building up a depth to the shading, adjusting any irregular areas and trying to keep the tonal changes as smooth as possible until you achieve the variation and intensity of tone that you desire.