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How to Shade in Pen

Using a pen to shade drawings can be rewarding but time consuming. Pen is just as effective as pencil when it comes to shading, although the techniques differ greatly between pen and pencil. When shading with a pen, concern yourself with the quality, not the speed of your drawing, as lines or dots are often the way to go when it comes to shading in pen. Pen is also permanent for the most part, so the artist must be diligent when it comes to shading techniques.

Instructions

    • 1

      Begin with a line drawing. Use a pencil to create boundaries for your shading. Outline all items that you intend to shade, even shadows. One of the best ways to shade in pen is to use the technique of pointillism. Pointillism is the practice of using a series of dots to shade in a picture. Choose several pens with a fine tip and that have free flowing ink, says artist Miranda Aschenbrenner. The pens can be different sizes. Aschenbrenner recommends choosing pens that are labeled as a 1, 3, or even a 5. These numbers refer to the size of the pen tip.

    • 2

      Create your dots. Be careful when you create these dots so that you do not end up with jagged dots. Make them as precise as possible. Layer the dots to create darker areas. Leave some white even in the darkest areas to keep the pointillism effect. The more dots you create in an area, the darker the area will be. Make fewer dots near highlighted areas so that you can accurately create the light reflection. Aschenbrenner recommends beginning practicing with simple shapes such as circles and squares.

    • 3

      Try crosshatching to shade using your pen. Ballpoint pens work well for this type of shading technique. To shade your drawing, create a series of lines. Draw a group of straight lines near each other and going in the same direction. Overlap those lines with a series of lines that run the opposite direction. For darker shading, keep overlapping lines and alternating directions. For areas that require less shading, use anywhere from one to three series of lines. For areas of the drawing that should be highlighted or illuminated with light, use less shading.


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