How to Shade with a Pencil or a Pen

Here I will show and discuss with you the different ways of shading with a pencil, their merits and the types of effects they can produce.
We all know that pencil drawings can be done remarkably well, often due to the artist using shading in such a way to really make the image look realistic or use block shading to create more cartoon like pictures.

As I have already discussed, the pencil is a very versatile tool and if you learn how to shade with them correctly you can take your images to the next level. Most of these techniques can also be used when using pens but some cannot be used e.g. blending/smudging.

Using a few simple pictures I will show you these different ways of shading and how they can be used to create different effects.

The different types of shading you can do are:

- Filling
- Hatching
- Cross-hatching
- Blending
- Gradients

Filling

Filling is the most basic form of shading as it is simply colouring in a given area with pencil or pen. Filling creates blocks of shadow and is especially useful for very dark areas.

 Here we have an example of filling

Hatching

Hatching is using a series of lines all going in the same direction to create shade. By drawing the lines closer or further apart you can make the shading darker or lighter.

Cross-hatching

Cross-hatching is similar to hatching except for the fact that you also draw lines in different direction resulting in the lines crossing over. This can be used to create even darker shadows than hatching.

In the image below you can see examples of both hatching and cross-hatching

Blending

Blending is when you use your finger to smudge the pencil on the page. This pushes the pencil around on the page and can be used to create very light shading. Be careful when blending not to go over the top or your page can look like a giant smudge. It is wise to go over certain lines or add a bit more shading to help re-define areas.

Above we have an example of blending, you can see how it differs from a gradient by looking at the image below

Gradients

A gradient is gradual change in shade, from light to dark or vice versa, that is done similarly to filling. You start in the darkest part of where the shadow will be and start filling but then you gradually work towards a lighter area and reduce the pressure on the page so that where the shading stops your pencil is barely grazing the page.
Go easy at first because you can always add more shading if it is too light and it is better to work gradually darkening the areas as needed instead of doing too much and needing to use an eraser because erasers can smudge and leave awful marks on your picture.

An example of a gradient, a gradual change in darkness of shading

In the next 2 images you will see the difference between using straight lines and curved lines when shading. Curved lines add shape to objects enhancing the idea that they are 3D. Straight lines do nothing to enhance shape but they are necessary for flat edges. If you use curved lines on a flat edge you will distort the impression of the object.

This first picture is simply of a circle that has been shaded. Despite the efforts of the straight edged image it still looks flat however, the curved edge image looks more 3D compared to the other and so you think it is more spherical.

Using curved lines in the drawing of a flower, above, I have created a stem and petals that appear more curved because the lines follow the shape of the stem and petals. 

I was unable to create this curved and rounded effect when using straight lines on the petals. I have added shading, yes and so it appears more 3D but not as much as using curves.

Look at the picture below, the sprout drawing I did (there's a picture below), it is done in pencil and uses all of the techniques listed above except for single hatching.

You can quite clearly see areas where there is cross-hatching, filling, gradients and blending and the result is one that I am very proud of.

The technique you need to be most wary of using is blending because, as I have already mentioned, it can turn your drawing into a giant smudge. I used it in the picture below to add colour to areas that I would have left white because there isn't much colour there, but a bit of blending helped create tone and a transition from more heavily shaded areas to areas where little shadow was present.