As always there are a ton of factors which create great
art IMHO. Making a portrait is fun and challenging and for me I would like to
offer a few insights into some techniques which took my own efforts to the next
level and maybe can help others with their efforts as well.
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| Pencil and charcole on paper |
Greys are the second most important factor to deal with
in this discussion. First would be the darkest dark and the lightest light. The
dynamic duo. These important reference points are always in the mix when concentrating
on our grey values. Here is how. Greys are the point from the darkest dark to
the lightest light. There can be hundreds of them represented to show the information
relevant to your picture.
Picture making is only made up of three things: Line,
Shape, and Tone (color being tone). So tone is a pretty important tool to get
control over in our toolbox for a complete artist. Beginning and advanced
artists can both benefit from more acute awareness of the subtleties of the
grey tones and how to manipulate them at will with precision and ease in any
media you prefer to work in.
For beginning students I will explain some of the simple
drills to practice to gain mastery of tones.
The ol’ 10 step grey chart.
Go ahead and make a rectangle and create ten boxes in
there. The first box will be the lightest light (white) and the last box will
be the darkest dark (black or close to it). Now for the drill. Create the
different shades of grey to show value between the first square to the last
square. There are many ways to get the tone in the square, (with pencils we
have the option of hatching, cross hatching, stippling, scumbling). With charcoal
(the beast to conquer on many drills) attention is needed to the sensitivity to
create the desired result.
Pencils- A Brief Explanation
4H, 2H, HB, 2B, 4B
With these five different pencils we can get an incredible
range of grey tones.
4H- Your lightest light value after white. Your hardest
pencil we are going to work with on this exercise. This pencil is great for beginning
stages of execution as it is easy to erase and control. Your easiest pencil to
create tones which fade to white
2H- The next hardest pencil. Also good for early marks
and tones which fade to white.
HB- The standard pencil which is the middle hardness of
all pencils. Great all purpose pencil as it can get dark and light.
2B- now we are getting into the softer pencils which get
darker but also create more grain on the paper.
4B- Our darkest pencil for this drill. Creates our
darkest dark and the fades from that point. Also give the most texture as it
reacts to the texture of the paper differently than the 2H and 4H.
Use each pencil for what it was meant to be used for. Use
soft pencils (HB, 2B, 4B) for darker marks and blends. Use harder pencils for lighter
tones, fades to nothing and as a smudging value.
Try not to use your finger in blending. (I have always
been caught breaking this rule, claiming to brings more connection to the
piece, but…)smudging with your finger or hand spreads oils to the surface of
the paper which has a negative effect. The oils bind to the surface and acts as
place where the new pencil marks cannot get to easily. Try instead to use a
harder lead to create a smoother tone overall.
Don’t get to dark to early. No matter what media you are
working with this tip helps. Work your light values and fading to nothing. Only
after the lights are complete will the darks compliment them in the final
rounds.
Keep your pencils sharp.
For lightest marks try holding the pencil farthest away
from the lead holding it with your thumb and first two fingers as lightly as
possible. Using a motion fast like a hummingbirds wings paying attention to the
sensitivity to how light a mark you can achieve.
So after our grey chart is mastered and we get control of
exactly how to put down these subtle grey tones we move on.
Tones to show form.
Tones will allow us to show light on object and make the
form believable to a viewer by making them solid. Our grey chart showed us how
many different values there are to express light, now we will take it to the
next level and by placing the tones naturally we can develop believable shapes.
Lets try it with a round shape we will call the ball drill.
Imagine a light source and shade that ball to show the
shape of that circle in space. We are going to take our grey scale drill and
put it into shapes. So just like the grey scale drill it took time and attention
to build the right shades, here too it will take some effort and thought to
shade the ball with the subtle grey tones we just worked with. The more greys
the better. Try to concentrate your greys fading off to nothing and greys
fading off to your darkest dark.
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| Pencil, charcole and pastel on brown paper |
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| Oill on paper |
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| Charcole on brown paper |
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| Charcole on brown paper |
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| Pencil and charcole on paper |