This post also includes a few free downloadable pdfs with useful exercises for you to practice with! In it, I go over why being able to discern between lights, mid-tones and darks in a reference image is essential and also provide specific examples of hatching, crosshatching and scribbling in old masters' work. Guide to Shading Techniques: Hatching, Crosshatching, Scribbling and Others

I highly recommend checking out this past blog post of mine: Though the techniques I will describe below are different, these two principles apply to all of them:Ī) The more marks created= The more ink is covering the surface (paper)= The darker the valueī) The less marks created= The less ink is covering the surface (paper)= The lighter the value In this post we're focusing a bit more on value because this is what is going to help us give our sketches a sense of believable form. If we're not mindful about how we draw these marks, we can create effects in a piece that are too distracting and that don't really help describe our subject effectively. By repeating marks and lines we not only create value, but also a certain visual texture. It's important to understand that, when using these techniques, we are creating marks and lines. This way, you'll have more of an idea of when you could be using them in your own work and you'll avoid creating effects that you weren't intending to create. I'll explain how to go about using each technique, as well as some points I consider positives and negatives about each. In today's blog post, I'm going to share my favorite six of ways of shading and adding three-dimensionality to pen and ink sketches. You see, as opposed to sketching or drawing with pencil, ink cannot be erased! A couple of the things I love about this artistic medium are that it challenges me to think about the intention behind each line or mark I create, and that I have to work around mistakes in order to complete each piece. I find sketching with pen and ink incredibly refreshing in between larger projects.

:)Īre you confident with your skill level creating outline sketches and feel ready to start giving them a sense of three-dimensionality and form? Do you find all of the information out there about different shading techniques a bit overwhelming and, perhaps, are unsure about which one(s) you should be using in your work? Is it even necessary to know about all of them? I receive small commissions for purchases made through these links at no extra cost to you. These commissions help me keep this site up and running, in order for me to keep providing helpful and inspiring art content.

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