More on shading and eyes- exercises for you to do.

Shading is a very hard thing to get a handle on. It will only come with lots of practice. I realize that most of the tutorials that were in the last post on value and shading did not have any videos. I think, just as with our one on one class where you watched me draw, that  these videos help to understand more about shading. It is important to get the dark darks, and to transition into the other areas.

It takes time to train your eye to see the transitions, shadows and highlights.
I like the practice of drawing an eye. This is a good video and you can see how long it takes to get the shading just right. To build it up and blend it in.
Do This Exercise- Try drawing just your eye using a mirror and then shading as is done here.

 Here is another video of sketching an eye. This man uses the blending stump. Notice also how he has a paper towel under his hand. This is because the oil and sweat from your hand can get on the page and change the way the pencil will work on the paper.


 

 This is an excellent video that talks about the eye and the parts of it. I like this because the drawing video helps the student to become aware of the anatomy of an eye. It is hard to think that it is this huge ball in a socket in a skull.  This video also shows a side view of the eye.

 

 Since we are working with eyes I thought I would add this video.

"Eyes are the windows to the soul" 
William Shakespeare

Eyes  are what holds the expression. Learn to draw eyes and learn emotion in a art and you have a tool to capture your audience.

Do This Exercise- Use someones cell phone- Take 3-4 pictures of just one eye on someone's face very close up. Be sure you focus the picture clearly.  Ask them to give you different expressions. Mad, sad, surprised, happy an maybe the neutral eye.  Then try to use the techniques on this page to draw just this one eye in the 5 different expressions, using shading.

REMEMBER- this is not just about drawing. It is more about learning to see. 

 


 This is a good video for basic shading.


"Look into my eyes and hear what I'm not saying, for my eyes speak louder than my voice ever will."
Unknown author

"The face is the portrait of the mind, the eyes, its informers."
Latin Proverb

"The eyes shout what the lips fear to say."
William Henry

"The face is the mirror of the mind, and eyes without speaking confess the secretes of the heart."
St. Jerome