Graphite Shading critique

Hey Motonimus! Great question. If you're having a really hard time getting your graphite to blend, my question is, what hardness/softness of graphite are you using? Are you using a typical pencil, or an art pencil of some kind? Really hard graphite can be very hard to spread around. Using a pencil with a less sharp tip might also help you to get less of a "liney" look in your shading -- I can see this particularly on the left side (our left, not hers)

While I'm primarily a pen and ink artist, I have experimented with pencil shading, and you've stumbled on the exact problem I hit. I found that a lot of it is technique, but the materials matter a lot as well. As an experiment, you may want to try rolling up different types of paper into a stump, try paper towels, or even use a thin cloth.

Hope this helps :)

Beautiful work!!

I just would enhance the bottom part of the nose.
Maybe just by taking away a bit to make a clearer line.

Hi Motonimus!

This looks really pretty. :) The advice given so far is excellent so I won't repeat it; materials can make a difference!

I think a mistake a lot of people make when they go for 'smooth' is that they color in everything and then focus on blending everything out until there's no more untouched paper left, and what is intended to be more smooth and skin-like ends up looking more smudgy and flat. It's okay to leave spots of paper untouched with the pencil to provide brighter areas and create more contrast!

The brightness difference between the left and right (our left and right) cheek is pretty dramatic in the reference photo, but because the entire face is colored in with pencil, both cheeks have the same brightness and contrast. This makes the face end up looking flat. The left cheek could do with retaining more whiteness from the paper without a lot of pencil smudging to create the contrast difference. Technique is as much about being able to use the materials and apply them, and knowing when not to (over) use them.

In short, try not to overblend the pencil to get a smooth effect and make use of the paper's own whiteness to help create the tones in the final drawing. Her hair on the left side is all the contrast you need against the left cheek, so using less pencil on the left cheek will end up looking better.

I hope this help!

Hi Motonimus!

The shape is very accurate, which shows your drawing ability level since I can't draw such correct faces, but I still want to point out that you can make a contrast by shading the hair and left white on the bright part of the face, that will make your work looks even better.

I'm not a native English speaker, so if there is anything offensive or incorrect, please let me know, thank you.

Hello afternoon, Motonimus, and welcome aboard.

Greatest job on your range of shapes of tones of your facial sketches. I think your tones and lights and shadows are budding through, but I feel that the shapes could use the most definition. How would you please work out the looseing up your range of shapes and spaces with our interactive drawing tutorial.

Please keep in mind that this tutorial may not have the shading techniques you're looking for exactly, but it generally can and will help you out on your observation and caricature of your tone shapes and spaces, positive and negative.

For most on shading, when it comes to tones, please pick up a copy of some graphite sticks, a sandpaper pad/block, an X-Acto knife, and a paper towel, or a paper napkin, and a vinyl eraser.

The extra reason is because you can help you see the lightest and darkest tones but the most easiest way instead of taking too longest on your shading the shapes and lines, one by one. For even most info, please look into the Betty Edwards book, Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, 4th Edition, and Drawing on the Artist Within,so that you can and will understand the toning technique most perfectly but effectively.

My hat's off to you, so please take these with the tiniest, puniest grains of salt.