Back to Basics: Pencil Shading

Good pencil shading takes a little thought and practice to master. Beginners often make their shading being too light and have unwanted changes of tone, or dark bands through what should be a solid area. The challenge for more advanced artists is to really control their range of tone, getting every subtle variation from white to black and all the greys in between. Working on some simple swatches, without trying to draw a subject, is a good way to improve your pencil shading and learn to control your values. Just focus on what you are putting on the paper, and experiment with pencil selection, pressure and method.

Pencil Shading Tips and Exercises:
Introduction to Pencil Shading - basic techniques
Graded and Continuous Shading - value exercise
Newspaper Shading - fun value drawing activity
Soft Shading - working from middle values
Graphite Pencil FAQ - choosing and using pencils