SHADING

Artists can use value, the lightness or darkness of a color or a tone, to create optical illusions! Shading skills, along with observational drawing skills, can make magic happen! Do you want to make your drawings come to life? Do you want to create realistic looking drawings? Shading is one way to make it happen. Today we are practicing the skill of creating light and shadow on a form. Grab your pencil and lets get started!

Bellringer: Watch this Youtube video of an artist creating a hyper-realistic drawing of a glass of water. Write down 2 ways the realistic effects are achieved.  (This type of art is called "anamorphic.") 

 Today's Objectives:

• I can practice my shading skills by creating a value scale of at least 6 different values, ranging from black to white, after viewing the tutorial video. (8th grade will create 8 values.)
• I can practice shading smoothly with no lines or scribble marks in the values, using my finger or a tissue to blend.
• I can shade a sphere, using as many smooth values as possible, adding a "cast shadow" to my sphere, after watching the tutorial video. 
• I can be a respectful viewer of the videos. 

 

One way to add depth is to create a very thin line of reflected light at the base of your sphere, right above the cast shadow. If your cast shadow is really dark right next to the sphere (and then fades away, blended into the paper), you can create even more depth! The trick is in blending really well, and in using a lot of different values (not just one or two). Also, hold your value scale next to the sphere. Do you have ALL the values in your shading, including black, dark gray, and white? 

When you are shading, try to add as many different values as possible. It won't have a 3-d effect if you only have a few values! Also, be careful with your craftsmanship. Shading is a lot like coloring; it doesn't look very good if there are a lot of scribbled lines and white spots in the shading:

"What not to do..."   This sphere only has two values: 
medium gray and white.  (teacher example)

"What not to do...."  This sphere was shaded too quickly! 
It looks messy with all those lines and white spots in the shading. 
(teacher example)

When you learn how to create smooth shadows with a variety of values on a simple form like the sphere, you can use those skills on more complex forms like the still-life you have been working on! Tomorrow we will begin using our shading skills to make our still-life drawings come to life!

 Here are a few still-life drawings from past HMS students who were great at shading: 

drawing by Yazmine

drawing by Kara

drawing by Megan