Pencil shading and line direction

[polydrawer]

I am looking for some good resources on pencil shading and mainly on line direction.

I usually use te side of my pencil and try to start with some basic values and then go darker and darker, but when i browse some sketchbooks here on ca i see some great linework and shading going in all directions and yet really defining the volume of the drawings.

sorry if there have been topics on this already but the search function keeps failing on me :s

[Surzsha]

You must be referring to the styles of shading. Hatching, crosshatching, and stippling (I think there's one more, but I forgot).

Crosshatching is when you go both ways, and it's quite effective if you know what you're doing.

You see, it's not just one direction that can create effective shading. It's the cleaner way, but to really get that sketchy feel, some artists let their pencils loose like a rabid dog on the hunt for a frantic squirrel.

Of course, it's your preference. If you're comfortable doing it one way, then by all means keep doing it. I'm more of the clean-cut type, too.

[armando]

Loomis is probably the most accessible in explaning it, but you'd do well to search up all the little bits and pieces you can get. Before worrying to much about your hatching you should worry about your values. Try not to fluctuate your values to much so that the various shapes/surface areas are easy to see, this will keep you drawing easier to control, but in the end it's all a matter of what effect you want, the more subtle the value fluctuations the more subtle and mysterious will be the image. This image from "The practice and Science of Drawing", sumarizes the idea: http://www.mymarketingmegapack.com/vol2/Drawing/draw1.jpg
Generally he uses two values, a light and a dark. The easiest way to define it is the paper's the light and the dark is any scribble that is not the bare paper.
Going in different directions with the lines, using different thickness, introduces texture. The effect of the that texture depends on the context of the image, heavily textured darks will look rough compared to smooth untouched lights. I don't know how many ways there are to scribble with a pencil, but it's probably more than anyone could do in a life time, you can hatch in a grid, a diagonal grid, use swirls, dots, tiny bits of straight line, curved lines of various degrees, put something with texture under your paper: coins, flat shells, introduce patterns from various sources, there's more to it than "follow the forms".

[Jens]

When I pencil shade I just use single strokes all the time, so only ||| not /\/\/\ I think the last often gives you a rather scratchy look. I make the lines follow the direction the form. Make sure you group values very well.


Here's an old process thing I did a long time ago, not really the best anymore, but mayby you get something out of it. And some closeups of sketches I once posted, again these are almost 2-3 years old :)

http://users.pandora.be/NO1/Jens/sketch/process1.jpg

1. I start out with a really loose face sketch. I don't do a lot of construction, mayby a circle or egg shape to start with. Most of the lines in the sketch mean something as you will see in the next stages.

http://users.pandora.be/NO1/Jens/sketch/process2.jpg

2. In the second stage I cover the entire face with a base tone. Only the places where I want the lightest highlights don't get covered. Depending on race and lightning setting the tone may be lighter or darker.

http://users.pandora.be/NO1/Jens/sketch/process3.jpg

3. Here you can see the lines of the sketch, which were almost covered by the tone in step two come back. The line usually presents a hard edge, the hard edge is usually followed by a soft edge. eg. Look at the side of the head at his sleeps (just above his ears). The hard ege is the outer edge of the head, then there is a soft transition, then his forehead starts with a hard edge which becomes soft again.

http://users.pandora.be/NO1/Jens/sketch/process4.jpg

4. Thinking of values and planes now. Nose has become way darker, I like the look of it. Makes for a nice hard edge between the inner corner of the eye and where the nose starts.

http://users.pandora.be/NO1/Jens/sketch/process5.jpg

5. Adding more contrast, pulling out form by making certain key points darker. For example, the pit just under the lower lip, the pit above the upper lip, nose holes, jawbones, corners of the upper lip, cast shadow of the head on the neck.


here's the animation :)
http://users.pandora.be/NO1/Jens/sketch/process.gif



here's some close-ups from sketches i did, last ones are a bit older

http://users.pandora.be/NO1/Jens/sketch/sketch073c.jpg
http://users.pandora.be/NO1/Jens/sketch/sketch073b.jpg
http://users.pandora.be/NO1/Jens/sketch/sketch073.jpg

http://users.pandora.be/NO1/Jens/sketch/sketch066.jpg
http://users.pandora.be/NO1/Jens/sketch/sketch066b.jpg

http://users.pandora.be/NO1/Jens/sketch/sketch046.jpg
http://users.pandora.be/NO1/Jens/sketch/sketch046b.jpg

http://users.pandora.be/NO1/Jens/sketch/sketch058.jpg
http://users.pandora.be/NO1/Jens/sketch/sketch058b.jpg

[polydrawer]

tnx for the comments guys,
I'll try to put your advices to use right away :)