Questions on pencil shading/grayscale

CapitanG · Post by **CapitanG** » Fri Oct 01, 2004 9:40 pm

So, I've recently become quite interested in learning how to draw in a grayscale or pencil shaded style. Trouble is, I don't know where to begin, and I figured this might be a splendid place to ask.

Yes, Faub, I'm looking at you for this one. I dig the thing you got going on, and would be mightily grateful for any help.

Basically-Materials? Methods? Tutorials?

Thanks a bunch, anyone and everyone who can help out.

OnyxSerpent · Post by **OnyxSerpent** » Fri Oct 01, 2004 10:24 pm

Hm. I figured I'd say something before I fall asleep at my keyboard here... Sorry if any of it doesn't make any sense in places >.>;

Some of the more handy things I've used for my comic are these graphite stick things that look like charcoal/pastelles, but are different hardnesses of graphite which I got in an art set.. There's also some pure graphite pencils that are very cool because they have so much area on their tip that you can use to draw with... Mechanical pencils also work, though, and fortunately you can get different hardnesses of lead for them... 2B is great but sometimes is hard to find. Pencil smudgers are pretty much a must, at least in my opinion, because they are much more accurate than using your finger/a tissue/whatever...

Anyway. I've also got a book on pencil techniques called (of course) Pencil Drawing Techniques by David Lewis which you might want to find and flip through at a bookstore... At least I found it helpful in a few places..

Faub · Post by **Faub** » Mon Oct 04, 2004 7:23 pm

Tools:
The greatest thing ever is a wood (not recycled wood) 2 HB pencil, the kind you get for like $0.03 at Walmart. You want it to get dull as you draw because the line quality changes as you go from detail to shading. The best part is, they're cheap and you can get them anywhere.

Draw with the pencil until you can't hold it in your fingers anymore. Get another one and do the same thing.

Now, to step up from basic #2 pencils, go for the soft lead drawing pencils 2B - 6B. You can get some great lines with these but they go dull very quickly. Don't worry about that until you start drawing with the wood (it scratches the paper).

There are a lot of fancy tools that make neat effects with graphite on paper. Your fingers make excellent imitations of these tools. You don't need them but there's nothing stopping you from picking up a few just to play with them. Oh, the smudge tool that looks like a rolled up piece of paper really is a rolled up piece of paper.

Methods:
Don't erase.

Draw from life when you can and notice that real objects have no lines. What you're looking at are patches of gray. Where they meet you get an edge but the trick is not to DRAW the edge. Let the difference in grays make the edge for you.

Scribble. Don't try to be perfect. If you draw on letter sized paper, draw your figures over the whole page. Work as large as you can on the paper you have. Loosen up. Draw with your whole arm. Never draw with your fingers.

Practice.

If you're drawing an area of deep shadow and you can make a mark on the area that is darker than the shadow, you haven't scribbled on it enough. Make the area as dark as you can. It will contrast better with the light areas. Stop short of tearing the paper but get as close as you can.

Tutorials:
This person is frightening but the tutorials are good.
http://www.toadhollowstudio.com/index.html

Google for them. "pencil drawing tutorials" was how I found the one above.

BeefotronX · Post by **BeefotronX** » Mon Oct 04, 2004 10:33 pm

One good thing I find for refining my graphite drawing is to do some of my sketches using a Bic ballpoint pen (the other cheap writing utensil). The theory is that the ballpoint pen is similar enough to the graphite pencil that refining your skill while drawing with the pen can carry over easily to pencil work, and learning to deal with the pen's limitations will help you become more disciplined with the use of a pencil.
You can't erase with a pen, so there's no point in drawing anything that you need to erase. The pen has a constant line width, so it takes patience to cover larger areas with value.

While you can do a lot more with a pencil, it helps to practice with a less versatile instrument. I

Rkolter · Post by **Rkolter** » Tue Oct 05, 2004 7:07 am

My advice is limited, but here it is:

If you can't prevent yourself from drawing the edge, then draw it, very lightly. You can then erase it as you get close to that point in the shading, or if you drew light enough, simply shade over it.

I build up my shading by making everything lightly shaded, then adding another light shading, and another light shading, until I get the tone I like. I'm not really good enough to just start with the right tone, but it's always easier to ADD than REMOVE.

Zanzarra · Post by **Zanzarra** » Tue Oct 05, 2004 4:06 pm

if you want a greyscaled comic, why not draw it the traditional way, with ink and then color it on the pc, using shades of grey?

hell, after i played along with different varieties for underconst: strip and gif export, it even has some kind of "structural" look...

but if you want to stick with pencil, i'd say its best to use 0,5 industrial pencils, one H for pre-drawing and one HB for final drawing. some of the bigger shadings should be done with conventional pencils in B or B2...

CapitanG · Post by **CapitanG** » Tue Oct 05, 2004 9:55 pm

Hey, thanks everyone for your contribution. I'm all about practice practice practice, now. In the rare occasions when I have free time. Grmbz...

Anywho, this all is gonna help tremendously.

As for the greyscale in photoshop--yeah, I could do that, but what really interests me is the texture of it all, if that makes sense. Pencil shaded just has its own feel, and I dig it.

Townie · Post by **Townie** » Wed Oct 06, 2004 3:29 pm

I actually prefer recycled pencils to nonrecycled. The wood's usually softer and most of the time the erasers are better

Faub · Post by **Faub** » Wed Oct 06, 2004 8:13 pm

My beef with recycled pencils is they don't erase, like at all. The line is nice and dark, sure but it's nice to have some flexibility if you want to draw with your eraser a little.

Dancingpaperclip · Post by **Dancingpaperclip** » Thu Oct 07, 2004 4:13 pm

I'm a big fan of the ink wash. I'm learning it myself, but I find using nylon or horsehair paint brushes works fine.

I tend to just dip the brush in the inky rinse water I use to clean my nibs. That way, I get a very light shade that I can darken evenly with progressive coats.

-Morgan

Townie · Post by **Townie** » Thu Oct 07, 2004 5:30 pm

Have you tried a hard white rubber eraser? I find they'll usually erase anything (Even charcoal) to a workable level.

Bustertheclown · Post by **Bustertheclown** » Thu Oct 14, 2004 11:14 pm

One little point of advice:

A common mistake made from lack of experience is not properly understanding how a greyscale works. Greyscale means that there should be a scale of greys. After looking at picture after picture of a uniform grey tint over the years, I think it is very important that you pay attention to the scale.

This means make your darkest points as black as possible, and your lightest highlights white or nearly so. Then, shade with a gradation from black to white.

Also, lighting should rarely to never be uniform. In the eternal war between light and shadow, there is no draws. Either highlights are strong, or shadows are strong. Plan your lighting when you draw, and you will be rewarded for your strategic action. It will make your pencil work look so dynamic, you'll be surprised if it doesn't jump straight off your page and stab your leg with a pair of tweezers!

But seriously, black is good, white is good, 50% grey everywhere else is BAD. Lighting lighting lighting! Gradation gradation gradation!

Good luck!