How do you shade (in drawing) like a pro or get better?

Answer 1

In pencil drawings, there are multiple ways to shade. For a somewhat cartoon-like shade, hatching and cross-hatching may be used. Hatches are small parallel lines that are placed where shades would be. These lines may be placed closer together for darker shades/shadows, or farther apart for lighter. For a more realistic look, filling in very lightly for light shades, and darker for darker shades, followed by blending them with a blending stick or you finger works best. In watercolor, it gets a bit more complicated because of its fast drying, need for layering, and difficulty in controlling the paint. This is based on personal experience: I'll be using a watercolor portrait as an example. First, I start with my lightest shade but I place it on every shaded area. This means that if the forehead has no shade, i place no paint there, and if the cheeks have the lightest shade there as well as the areas that will be darker. This is because shading works best in layers. After my lightest shade, I start to shade the darker areas with more paint in my mixture than before. I continue this layer method until I am satisfied. When everything is dry, but still slightly damp, I blend the hard shade edges with a damp brush. With acrylic, it is best to blend your shade colors before hand, but make sure you go a little lighter than you think you'll need and go darker little by little until satisfied. Be careful blending your shades with surrounding paint because once acrylic dries, there is no re-hydrating it. This can cause hard shade edges.