Shading Your Art

We all understand the basics of shading, don't we? You mark on your drawing, where the shadows go. The darker places on the body of your figure.

Shading gives depth and form to your drawings, it pulls from the page a solid form. 2D drawings are banished.

So shading, if you want your drawing to be realistic or enjoyable, is one of the most important aspects of drawing. If this is true, then why are so many people afraid of it?

I recently stayed in a youth hostel with a painted mural up the walls of the stairwell. One of the paintings was of a winged man, nude, save for the cloth draped perilously across his lap.

I walked past it and thought, this person is quite good at drawing anatomy. So why is it that this painting is not amazing? Why is it that this is only an adequate to average painting?

I found the answer to my musings the second time I walked past. The drawing had very limited shading. Sure, you could tell one ab on his chiseled stomach from next, you could see where his arm differed from his body, but apart from that, there was no real shadow.

And because the shadow was lacking, and you couldn't see a definitive light source, the figure failed to 'pop'.
I understand the artists reluctance to draw shadow. I once, and occasionally still do, have the same problem.

When drawing the colours of something you become somewhat afraid of adding darkness. You fear getting the colour wrong. Or maybe you feel that you will get it in the wrong place and the image will be ruined.

You may be right. If you have very limited practice with drawing dark, dramatic shadows, you may well destroy your drawing. But like all aspects of art, it will undoubtedly improve with practice.

Like always, draw from life or photo's first, then when you feel more comfortable, move on to shading dramatic shadows on work's from your imagination.

I recently saw a painting of two elephants. One side of there body bathed in harsh African sunlight, the other cast in deep bulky shadows. It struck me as one of the most enjoyable images I have ever looked at.

I could not see what was hidden in the shadows, but I could guess. And sometimes leaving that little bit of mystery is all your dull drawing needs to be transformed into a work of art.

meg