Learning how to shade your artwork will help you to produce beautifully realistic portraits.

You'll learn how to shade a drawing to create the illusion of 3-dimensions by using two methods...

It may seem like magic when an artist creates a piece of work that seems to "pop" out at you...and it kind of is.

An artist is an illusionist of sorts.

He creates the illusion of depth by using his tools in such a skillful manner that the observer's eyes are lead to believe that the drawing has a three dimensional quality.

What makes some drawings or paintings seem so realistic?

It's the artist's ability to "see" the way shadows and highlights play upon objects. The artist then transfers this information onto the paper or canvas by laying down and blending the medium, thereby recreating the shadows and highlights with the medium.

Please remember that just because I use a particular blending technique more than another, does not mean that I believe it to be the best technique.

By all means you should experiment with more than one of the blending tools or techniques I discuss here... in fact, I encourage it.

Both of these methods are used by many artists, and can be combined together to create a magical, three-dimensional piece of art-work.

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Click this link to learn more about shading with a blending tool

Click this link to learn more about shading without a blending tool

Home> Drawing Tutorials> How to Shade

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