hi everyone welcome back to another
video where i will walk you through
a step-by-step process of how to shade
and more specifically
how to shade faces so let's get started
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if you've watched my video on how to
draw
the face you should already know
how to draw a basic or generic
face so hopefully this tutorial can help
you
enhance that drawing by adding some
shading and in order to understand
shading
we must first understand some very basic
ideas of light and i'm not very sciency
or whatever but
i'm trying to make this as simple as i
possibly can
number one where there is light it is
bright
where there is no light it is dark and
then of course there is that wide
spectrum between light and dark
which is your tonal of variation
number two the location of the bright
areas
is related to the location of the light
source
as well as its distance to the light
source
so for example if the light source is on
the right
that means the bright areas are also on
the right
if the light source is on the left the
bright areas are on the left
furthermore the closer an object is to
the light source the brighter it is
the farther an object is to the light
source the darker it is
number three light bounces off bright
or shiny objects or surfaces creating
reflected light
which becomes a second light source and
if we treat it as another light source
then number one and number two
apply to this as well
now how can we apply these principles to
the face
it is important to know the form of the
face as well as any object that you want
to add shading to
with faces they are very diverse and the
way we
shade different faces can vary but there
are some similarities that you can use
as a general
guide to help you shade the face for
example
number one the nose always has height to
it
especially the tip of the nose which is
commonly the highest point of the face
therefore when it is higher it is often
closer to the light source
therefore commonly making it a bright
area
number two the lips also have some
volume to it
lips can vary in thickness therefore the
volume
and the height also varies but
nonetheless lips
tend to have height number three
the cheeks the forehead the chin and
under the eyebrow are also some of the
high points
of the face and number four
the eyes are commonly sunken in compared
to
the other facial features however the
degree of this can vary based on
different eye shapes
nonetheless the fact that the inner
corner of the eyes recess
means that it is farther from the light
source therefore making it a commonly
dark area now
how can we actually start shading
shading using a pencil is a pretty easy
concept but it actually
takes practice and time to master
it requires controlling the pressure you
put on the pencil
and basically the more pressure you use
the darker the pencil marks
and the less pressure you use the
lighter the pencil marks
and there are actually two tricks i
personally like to use which i found to
be
very beginner friendly number one is
to layer this allows you to build up
your pencil marks to achieve
darker shadows but also if you're a
beginner
and you're unsure about shading and
where to add shading
layering means you haven't actually
committed to any dark pencil marks
which can be very hard to erase so this
method
is a lot more forgiving and like i said
beginner friendly
number two shade from dark to light to
get better pressure control
at least this works for me it could work
for you as well however i do recommend
finding what works for you whether it's
from dark to light or from light to dark
it doesn't really matter
now let's actually shade the face i have
two demonstrations on screen
so you're able to see how i use all the
information
i just mentioned i also start with the
drawing of a face
and then i add a light source wherever i
want it located
you can draw an arrow or a sun it
doesn't matter as long as you remember
the location of the light source so for
this demonstration i have decided to add
the light source to the top
left corner for both the faces
and the first thing i do is look at the
image
as a whole following the rule
of location of light source equals
bright area
i know that the top left side of the
face will be the bright area
and the bottom right side is the dark
area
the next thing i do is look at the
details
which areas have height and are closer
to the light source
and which areas recess for example
on the left side of the face the inner
corner of the eyes
recess therefore even if it's located on
the left side
it will be a dark area but because
it's in the left side it won't be as
dark as the right side
other examples of dark areas are under
the cheekbones
and the jaw which actually tucks away
under the chin
therefore it is far from the light
source therefore it is a dark area
however consider reflected light as well
so light often bounces off from the neck
onto the bottom of the jaw therefore it
kind of makes that
edge a small bright area and it just
adds a little bit of interest to your
shading as well
more dark areas include under the nose
the nostrils under the lips as well as
inside the ears also
um think of where there is an object
blocking light because this creates a
shadow
for example the hair on the left side
creates a small shadow
onto the forehead so consider these
areas that i just mentioned
because the next thing i do is use this
knowledge
to add another layer on the right
side to add variety and depth
in the shading once again also consider
which areas on the right side
have height and therefore closer to the
light source
for example the cheeks and under the
brow
have some height to them therefore even
if they are
located on the right side they will be
brighter than the rest of the right side
but once again
they won't be as bright as the areas on
the left side
and once again take note of objects that
block out
light such as the nose which will cast a
shadow onto the cheek
take note of surfaces that reflect
light as well similar to what we just
considered
on the left side of the face and this
is how layering becomes really helpful
because
you're building things up and being
cautious
with how and where you add shading
so as i shade these dark areas i am
putting more pressure
onto the pencil and i start off dark
then i
fade off by lessening the pressure
gradually
after that i then let my instincts take
control i normally don't let myself get
glued to these rules instead they are
guides and you can always add some
leeway to them
the next demonstrations take into
consideration harsh light
and diffused light and once again i have
decided on a location
for my light source which will be in two
different locations
one is at the top front of the face and
this is diffused
light this type of light source is
actually very common
especially when it comes to drawing
pretty people
the other light source is on the right
center of the face
and it will be harsh light kind of like
being under the sun
or having a lamp very close to the
object
this um type of light source is quite
unflattering but it can be
very dramatic and again
i start with the whole face
make sure to determine which side is the
bright area
and which side is the dark area
and then once that's done
i consider all of the details such as
which areas have height which areas
recess
which areas are closer to the light
source farther
from the light source and which objects
block out the light and which surfaces
reflect the light basically i am
applying the same knowledge
from my previous demonstration into this
one as well
just taking note once again the location
of the light source
and anything that applies to that now
when thinking of diffused light versus
harsh light
and how that affects shading is pretty
simple
diffused light is soft therefore the
edges
of the shadows are also soft they
gradually
fade out and there's a very subtle
distinction on where the bright areas
end
and where the dark areas begin so it is
a smooth
blend opposite to that is harsh light
harsh light is hard therefore the edges
of shadows are also hard
and this style can make your portraits
look really dramatic
but it can run the risk of looking flat
however you can avoid this by adding
tonal variation
especially on the dark areas and it's
just like my previous demonstration
you have to look at which details
recess and then add layers accordingly
and you can actually apply this
technique for shading other objects
such as clothing hair and other body
parts
um the key is to know the basic
principles of
light and the form of what you are
drawing
and in order to help with that i highly
highly recommend making observations
if you notice a cool lighting situation
take a photo
and identify which are the bright areas
in the dark
areas and why and you can do this
exercise with reference images as well
but i do recommend
looking at things all around you light
affects
pretty much everything around us so
it'll be very easy to find something
that can inspire you to learn about
lighting and shading so with
observations i do recommend to do
studies of them
draw what you see use different media
definitely definitely practice a lot
and experiment and of course have fun
you can also apply this to coloring
techniques like i said
use any media of your choice you don't
have to use just pencils and i actually
challenge you
to try this technique with watercolors
or markers or whatever media of your
choice
once again the key is to understand the
basic principles of
light and knowing the form of your
object
and i hope this tutorial helped and it
wasn't too complicated
i made sure to keep this as beginner
friendly as possible
and as simple as possible so if you do
try this technique out
feel free to send me a photo of your
drawing i would love to see it
and if you have any questions or if
there's anything that confused you which
i do believe
there might be some things that are
confusing please don't hesitate to ask
me in the comment section below
or send me a dm on instagram i really
love receiving
um your messages of when you tried out
my tutorial on how to draw the face
or on how to draw hair how to draw hands
it's just really nice to receive such
lovely feedback from you guys so
i would love to see if you try this
method out as well i also have
worksheets
and additional resources in the
description box to
hopefully help you grasp this concept
so feel free to use that to your
advantage
as well and that is it
i hope that you liked this video if you
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and thank you so much for watching and i
will see you
in my next one
you