Warmup - Clean Shading
Warmup - Clean Shading
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Warmup - Clean Shading

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Warmup - Clean Shading

1.8K
Course In Progress

Warmup - Clean Tone

Let's practice shading with clean tone and develop our dexterity for better pressure sensitivity.

Begin by drawing a rectangle or square, around 2-4 inches in size. The goal is to fill this shape with a consistent tone. Use strokes at any angle comfortable for you.

Don't limit yourself to one value. Practice shading light, medium, and dark tones in separate squares. Before you start, try choosing a specific value to target, like matching the value of a nearby object. This gives you a goal, and helps improve your ability to execute the value you intended..

Try to keep the tone consistent throughout:

  • Consistent pressure: Try not to change how hard you press with the pencil.
  • Overlapping Strokes: Ensure each stroke overlaps the previous one the same amount to avoid gaps.
  • Circular Motions: Instead of lifting the pencil, use small circular motions. This helps create a smoother tone without visible lines.
  • Layering: Build up the value in layers. Start lighter and add multiple layers to achieve the desired darkness. Changing the angle slightly with each layer can help fill in gaps and even out the tone. Be mindful of areas that may have become too dark, and adjust your pressure accordingly in subsequent layers.

Check out the Lesson Notes for more details.

Newest
Chauncey Holder
i used a 2b for this warmup, i tired being light
Aubrey Hannah
Here are some of the flat tones I applied for practice. Keeping consistent pressure was a bit of a challenge, but I think I'm well off with the basics.
@deadsm
1mo
I ended up making a good pencil for this project so that I could have better control over how textured values feel. Overall, I think I was able to find great worth in being able to adjust the brush size to vary the amount of smoothness a value receives.
Luis Ángel Ruiz de Gopegui Rando
Hello, I'm posting my warm-ups. Greetings.
@pmirko
3mo
did 3 warm ups 2 with digital graphite brush and one with digital charcoal brush, plus i've did a test run on a previous drawing from visual memory game...
@pmirko
3mo
question for Procreate users: what kind of brush should i use for shading? any suggestion? any technique for good shading in digital?
Osagumwenro Igiehon
Here are my attempts at clean shading, including one with charcoal.
Scott N
4mo
First attempt at warmup excercise
Jack H
5mo
Back after a month's break and time to start on value. Value is one of my greatest weaknesses so I'm excited to dive in to improve my skills. This warmup was nice and relaxing, though I'm still trying to figure out the best way to shade consistently.
J. Menriv
6mo
Warmup - Clean Tone
@aakerhus
8mo
@mstefan
8mo
@mstefan
8mo
My submission for clean shading.
Vue Thao
8mo
Two days ago, I bought woodless graphite pencils. I wanted to try these types of pencils for the first time. I guess these are for sketching instead of rendering. lol
@mcminnjesse
Hi Vue, I just wanted to say I was inspired by your next-level shading skills and used your work as a reference to create my own exercise page. Thanks so much for sharing! I have a question about edges. How do you get the edges of your shapes so precise while keeping the shading so uniform? For me, when I wanted to sculpt the edge of one of my shapes, I found I often had to change the direction of my pencil strokes, which sometimes messed up the shading. In your shapes the shading is so uniform, it doesn't look like you're changing the direction of your pencil at all - or am I wrong? Thanks again!
Samuel Cusick-Riley
It looks textured, kind of like pointillism. Is that just the texture of the paper coming through?
Samuel Cusick-Riley
How did you get the lighter effect?
@lieseldraws
New to shading, I wasn't quite sure if I was on the right track with this exercise. Sometimes it almost felt like coloring (?) which I don't think it should be...especially when working with darker values. Anyways, here is my attempt. I drew some boxes and planes from life and 3D models to get a bit of perspective practice in too.
Dermot
8mo
I've been practicing with a 2B Pencil. The paper I'm using has a texture which shows through. Getting lighter values seems difficult as I have always leaned hard when writing. Lighter values I find difficult to achieve. Even with the putty eraser, getting straight transition between the values look uneven ( Not a rectangle of each value !). I'll keep at it. :)
Lynn Fang
8mo
It's been a long time since I came back to post my homework. Seeing my classmates' homework still fills me with surprise. I used Photoshop more before. It's not easy to make clean shading by graphite for me.
Vue Thao
8mo
Yours is alright. You just need some patience. You'll be fine.
Vue Thao
8mo
Lynn Fang
8mo
Oh they are so beautiful!
Tori Blade
8mo
that looks amazing! Wonderful work, the shading is clean and even
Melanie Scearce
So nice!
Niklas Nilsson
Some first warmups
@mcminnjesse
I know this lesson was intended mostly for traditional materials, but I thought it would be an interesting challenge to see how much of it I could apply digitally. The first page is me experimenting with the round mixing brush in CSP. I discovered that it does not blend very smoothly - you can decent results if you go over and over and over the same area, but it's very time-consuming. The second page is me trying out a bunch of different brushes, most of them CSP default brushes. I tried messing with the brush settings as well as my pen's pressure sensitivity. My biggest takeaway was that digital brushes are absolutely not born equal when it comes to blending. Some of them blend really nicely, but most of them just overlay the second stroke on top of the first, making it basically impossible to fill an area evenly. Thankfully I did discover a few good brushes. Gouache was my favorite! Page 3 is me making boxes and torsos with the Gouache brush. After all my practice I feel like I still have a hard time making things feel 3D. Further research is needed.
Yevhen Syrchin
Airbrush + lasso are the GOAT!
Nick Quason
Great job! My only suggestion would be to try and be more uniform with the pencil strokes (fewer overlaps and blank spaces), you can try to lock your value with minimal opacity pressure to still get that organic pressure hatching.
@ethereal1988
Nice shading! Airbrush would be the best if used properly, you need to acquire technique. (8 years professional airbrush experience here) Those torsos look amazing though, keep it up!
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Founder of Proko, artist and teacher of drawing, painting, and anatomy. I try to make my lessons fun and ultra packed with information.
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