THE SECRET to AMAZING Profile Shading in Pencil!!

​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?!
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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!!! 

A little realistic shading on a whimsical face REALLY punches it up, and takes your art to the next level!! 

Personally, I LOVE me some DRAMA in my artwork, so of course you're gonna see super DARK shadows and bright white highlights in my work. That's part of what makes my work, mine- it's my style. 

YOU do YOU!!! ​​

Remember - a reference photo is just that- a reference. Don't feel like you have to match things exactly.

AND you don't even have to use a reference photo EVER. This is just an example of one way to help you get started.
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Have SO much FUN with today's YouTube lesson!!! CLICK HERE or press the play button below to watch.

See ya next week!!! ​