This is part two of my 3/4 face drawing series on my Drawing Channel over on YouTube! If you missed the first episode, go ahead and start here so you can draw this girlie along with me! 

Today we're doing some EASY pencil shading techniques to add drama to our three quarter portrait face drawing!  I used the same photo reference as I did to sketch my drawing. Even though this is a whimsical face, I feel it makes a HUGE difference in my work if I use a reference photo to tell me where I should add in shadows, and how dark they should be. 

One of the fun things about drawing in a whimsical style, is I can mix and match reference photos for my work and use them in different ways. For example, I really LOVE the dramatic shadows and highlights in this image (below). If I'm shading a face in pencil, I feel like it's super helpful to use a black and white shading reference like this one...

In my How to Draw and Find Your Style book, I talk in depth about how to take advantage of the value scale when you are shading. because it adds so much more depth and dimension to your drawings and sketches. The more tones you incorporate into your drawing from the value scale like bright white highlights, and dark black shadows, the more sophisticated your work will be.

In today's shading tutorial I'm using one of my Blackwing pencils (TOTALLY unnecessary, but I SO LOVE THEM!!!). This one is equivalent to about a 4B, but you can absolutely use a simple #2 school pencil, so don't stress about your supplies! I start applying graphite by looking at my reference photo for the darkest areas first. When I'm shading, I often use the side of my pencil to begin.  ​My initial layer of shading is very light and almost scribbly. 

After I have  a light layer of shading down, I use my blending stump to "moosh" the graphite around. In this particular  reference photo, the model is very light skinned, so I actually use the cleaner side of my blending stump to work my shading in and around the face. If I lay down too much, I simply pick a bit of that graphite back up with my eraser and moosh some more! For the darkest areas, I use the super dirty side of my blending stump. 

When you're starting out with drawing and shading, I think it's SOOOOO much easier to practice in a whimsical drawing style. It just takes the pressure off and keeps things light and fun! And if you're having fun...you'll practice more, and if you practice... your skills will only grow and improve!! 

When my first layer of shading is done, I go back for a second layer of shading to really punch up my details that could have been lost while "mooshing" my graphite around with my blending stump. This is where the drama starts to come in!! Sometimes it can also help you to look at a reference photo with squinted eyes. It may sound funny, but doing this can often help you see darks and lights a bit more. 

The objective of shading for me is to use the WHOLE value scale. So you'll see me use a black colored pencil for the darkest darks - found in the crease of her lips and in her pupils. Additionally, for my brightest white highlights, I will typically carve out some of the graphite I already put down with an eraser. 

I hope you have fun with this face shading practice!! Please stay tuned for next week's video. I'll be shading another 3/4 portrait using copic markers. 

Have a great week!!!!

​I've been drawing since FOREVER.

But when I first started, it was SERIOUSLY hard to figure out where to put shadows and highlights on a face drawing to make it look 3 dimensional- like a more sophisticated drawing. I found this to be ESPECIALLY HARD whenever I would draw faces from different angles. 

Today's FULL LENGTH, real time drawing lesson on YouTube is going to help you skip of the hard parts of wondering where to drop in the shading or highlights on a profile face, so you can create some profile drawings you are SUPER PROUD of!!! 

My first shading trick is to REALLY LOOK at the art you admire from other artists!  

Focus on the areas of that artwork that show light and dark in the face.  

Here's an example of a piece I LOVE and used as a REFERENCE to inform me where lights and darks could go in my own drawing. This is called reference drawing! It's a thing, and can definitely help you grow as an artist.

​Isn't this beautiful?? So dramatic!! 

This piece was done by a Dutch digital artist I adore, Loish (Lois Van Baarle). I absolutely LOVE her work!

If you look closely at the the piece below, you'll see that I tried to replicate the light source and technique Loish used around the eyes of her girl when I created my own...

One of my favorite ways to demonstrate to students how light source affects the faces we draw, is using a foam head from the craft store and simply shining a flashlight on it. When you move the flashlight around, you can see exactly where the shadows and highlights are. This is exactly what you need to look for and imagine in your own drawings to add realistic shading to your face drawings - whatever angle you're drawing from! 

Sound confusing? CLICK HERE to watch my demo. 

Now- don't worry, I'm not telling you to go get a foam head in order to draw realistic shadows!  

If you're drawing a profile in pencil and want to add some shading, the EASIEST thing you can do is pull up a black and white profile photo on your phone. If you look closely, the photo will show you exactly where the lights and darks need to go for your drawing.

That's it!!! It REALLY is THAT simple!!! 

Take a look at this image.  REALLY look closely to see where the shadows are falling. If you need to- squint your eyes a bit!  

For this particular profile photo, the shadows are showing up primarily under the chin and neck- extending up to her earlobe. See what I mean? 

That wasn't too hard was it? You're totally gonna be looking at photos differently from now on, aren't you?!
​
AWESOME!!! It's going to make you a better artist!!!

OK!! On to today's project... we are shading the profile face we drew in last week's episode. 

​If you missed that episode, CLICK HERE to draw the simple profile with me in real time. 

Shading a profile (or a face from any angle) is really much easier than you think!  All you need to do is lay down a little graphite from your pencil and SMOOOOOSH it around with your blending stump (that's what I'm holding in the pic above!). If you don't have a blending stump- just use your finger, a cutip, or even a tissue to move graphite around on your paper....

Be as DRAMATIC as you want to with your shading!!! YOU are the CREATOR!!! 

See ya next week!!! ​