Shading with Pencils

Learn how to shade with pencils

Supplies

Step-by-Step

1. Step 1

   Before coloring, choose 3 colors for each area of the image - a light, a medium and a dark.
   
   These colors can be monochromatic - 3 shades of yellow - or gradient - colors next to each other on the color wheel like yellow, yellow-orange, and orange).
   
   Lay down an even base of your lightest color first.
   
   For even more dimension, leave the highlighted areas white, and blend lightest color into the white areas in the final blending step.

   

2. Step 2

   Next, look for areas to shade, such as:
   
   Areas that are hidden behind something
   Areas that are lower
   Areas that are farther away or curving away
   

   

3. Step 3

   Determine where the highlights will be so that they remain light. These are:
   
   Areas that appear to be closer to you
   Areas that are higher
   Areas that appear to be curving toward you
   

   

4. Step 4

   For the next step, use the medium color. (Prismacolor #PC1002 Yellowed Orange used here.)
   
   Starting with areas you’ve chosen to shade, work the medium color toward the highlights, leaving highlighted areas in the base color. Use a very sharp pencil and light pressure, and decrease pressure as you move toward the highlighted areas. Once these areas are shaded, blend the edge between the colors by using the base color and working back from light to dark, or blend with OMS or your preferred solvent.
   

   

5. Step 5

   Using the darkest color, color over the areas shaded in the previous step, just not pulling the color out quite so far. (Prismacolor #PC1032 Pumpkin Orange used here.)
   
   Blend the medium and dark colors together using your medium tone again, working from light to dark.
   

   

6. Step 6

   If you want to deepen your shading even more, choose a grey or brown tone that matches your colored area best. (Prismacolor #PC945 Sienna Brown used here)
   
   As a final step, use either your lightest color, a burnishing pencil, or white colored pencil to blend all your layers of color together.

   

7. Step 7

   The sample above is gradient, moving from a yellow to a dark orange. Here is the same image colored in a monochromatic color scheme: Prismacolor #PC916 Canary Yellow, #PC1034 Goldenrod, #PC941 Light Umber, and #PC948 Sepia.

   

8. Step 8

   Finish your card.

   

Video!

Variations

Different Pencil Types