advice on shade

[bpic]

Hey all,

I had a question about shading techniques... I posted some drawings I just now did that involve shade. I feel like I have a feel for line drawing but when it comes to shading I still feel a bit lost. For one thing.. just to do the underworld screen cap drawing on the bottom took me an hour and a half maybe two hours.. seems impractical. Also I feel kind of like the drawing looks really grainy and uncomfortable to look at. Any advice? I see a lot of people who do a beautiful job with shading around here. Wesley burt, Marko Djurdjevic obviously, and Rodrigo and FinalKnight. Not that I have to be like them I like to be me, I just don't feel an intuitive sense for this the way I do for line drawings.

Or maybe I should just shut up and practice more and am on the right track?

Thank you all for your help, love this community!!

[FourTonMantis]

Of course it's going to take some time. The more "finished" a piece is the longer one will spend on it. Just keep practicing. I dunno what you're freaking out about, I really like your drawings.

[dpaint]

Focus on locking your similar shapes together for more elegant designs. Right now your effort on the page is overshadowing the subject. Think about a more sensitive approach to your lines. Make them more beautiful, more important, not just a means to an end.

[bpic]

I hear you on that one dpaint. I sort of lost that rhythmic quality over this past semester since I got better at working loose to specific. I think I just got so loose that it became careless and detached from the subject. I think I will start off by trying to get a little better control.. since form has a rhythmic quality too.

What do you mean by locking similar shapes together? Thank you for the response!

[dpaint]

What do you mean by locking similar shapes together? Thank you for the response!

Try and tie similar values together to make a shape out of them, the shape should be more designed and simplified. Right now I am more aware of the lines you used to make the shadow and halftone shapes than I am the shapes themselves.

[bpic]

I see what you mean. Did some master copies. Wow I need to work on it big time. Thanks a lot DPaint!

[Laurice]

Try and tie similar values together to make a shape out of them, the shape should be more designed and simplified. Right now I am more aware of the lines you used to make the shadow and halftone shapes than I am the shapes themselves.

Sometimes i feel dpaint's name leads to meaning doctor paint.

(I like your drawings bpic.)

Is it still okay though, to retain that stylized pencil lines effect in drawings? Like what bpic did?

[dpaint]

(I like your drawings bpic.)

Is it still okay though, to retain that stylized pencil lines effect in drawings? Like what bpic did?

Yeah, of course; and to relate this to a broader point- I try to always frame my suggestions to ignore style and focus on basics. What Bpic is doing is good but I think it can be better without giving up any of the unique qualities that make it good right now; at least that is the spirit I offer my advice in.