Draw Realistic, 3D Form With Shading

Shadow + Highlight = Form

There are no secrets to drawing three-dimensional form. When looked at objectively, form is areas of light and dark value. To help you see how this works, and to help me explain the steps of this drawing to you, I made a “value map” and gray scale of this rumpled towel’s shadow and highlight areas.

Here’s the gray scale and the value numbers I’ll be referring to in the lesson.

Supplies Needed:

Light to mid-color terry cloth towel
HB and 4B pencils
Medium tooth drawing paper
Kneaded eraser
Pencil sharpener

Set up your own still life and draw from it as you follow along with the steps I recorded while working on my still life.

1. Choose which paper to use.

I chose a paper by making test swatch on a few different kinds until I found a slightly rough looking hatch that mimicked the towel’s texture.

2. Make a line drawing.

(It doesn’t have to be perfect.)

I just wanted to draw the most interesting part of the towel, so I measured the width and height of that part with my pencil, and marked those measurements on the paper. Then I made a loose line drawing within those measurements.

With the side of the 4B pencil in an overhand grip and using light pressure, I drew the most obvious lines of the folds with quick strokes. After I was satisfied with them, I added more details, including the shapes of some of the shadow areas.

3. Add the darkest shadow shapes.
Using the side of the 4B pencil again, I hatched in the darkest shadow areas (6’s and 7’s on the gray scale.)

I darkened them into a value that was slightly lighter than they were on the towel so that I could change them later on. It’s easier to add graphite than it is to erase it, so I rarely hatch dark values to their full darkness until I’m sure they are placed and shaped correctly.

4. Add the medium dark shadow shapes.

I added the medium dark shadows (3’s, 4’s, and 5’s) with the side of the 4B pencil. As in the last step, I made the values a little lighter than they really were.

I could draw the shapes of some of the shadow areas more easily than others because their edges were easy to see. The shadow edges with gradual transitions into the surrounding areas were difficult to see. Because I knew I would be revisiting those areas in the later steps, I didn’t try to draw them perfectly at this stage.

Averaging Values – The terry cloth made the medium dark values hard to see because the tops of the tiny loops caught the light while the lower part of the cloth remained in shadow. In those spots, squinting my eyes “averaged” the values by mixing them, and then I drew this “averaged” value.

5. Add the highlight shapes.

I switched to the HB pencil to hatch in the highlight areas (1’s and 2’s.)

To keep the texture close to what was created by using the 4B pencil, I held the HB pencil in the same way, using the side of it to make the hatching.

I could have used the 4B pencil to create the lighter values, but I created a more realistic looking texture by using the harder pencil. The softer 4B pencil’s lead would have left behind dark “notes” on the grain of the paper no matter how lightly I applied it, and the towel’s highlight areas didn’t have dark notes in them.

6. Revisit the darkest shadows.

I switched to the 4B pencil and adjusted the darkest shadows (7’s) to their full values.

While I worked on darkening them, I corrected their shapes, too.

Some of the darkest shadows of this towel formed lines near the folds that were so dark I couldn’t see any of the towel’s texture in them at all. To help create those intense black lines, I re-sharpened the 4B and used its tip in a writing grip to darken them. I avoided crushing the grain of the paper by going over the lines several times with medium pressure on the pencil.

7. Re-visit the medium dark shadows.

Using the 4B pencil on its side again, I hatched the medium dark shadows (5’s, 6’s, and 7’s) to their full values and reshaped their edges if they needed it.

Most of the dark shadow lines were hard edged and looked good as they were originally hatched in. Although few of them needed to be softened. (Look at the hard and soft edge close-up to see the difference.)

To soften those edges, I merged them into the surrounding values with gradations. I began in the darkest areas with the side of the 4B, and then switched to the side of the HB for the lighter value areas. The HB also helped to match and blend textures.

Some areas needed to be darkened, so I hatched over them with the side of the HB pencil, including the parts I had originally created with the 4B pencil.

To re-shape some shadow and highlight areas, I tapped-erased them with a kneaded eraser. When I lightened an area too much, I re-hatched it until the value darkened again.

I continually compared the values to each other and to the towel as I drew them. While I was doing this, I had a dialog going on in my mind that went something like this:

• Is this area darker than the area next to it?
• Does this edge gradate into the next area, or does it end abruptly?
• How close does this shape come to that edge?

These questions helped me focus on each area and adjust it by comparison.

8. Final Touch-Up

I used the kneaded eraser to tap-erase some of the smaller highlight details (1’s, 2’s and some 3’s) that I’d missed, or that were smudged.

For instance, I added a highlight line around the edge of the top right fold, and I added more highlight detail to some of the folds in the middle of the towel.

To finish, I darkened a few more shadow gradations and touched up some of the shadow shapes.

Hard And Soft Edges

Hard Edge – ends abruptly at edge.

Soft Edge – transitions into the next value in a gradual way.

Tap-Erase

If you drag an eraser through a texture you’ve carefully built with the side of the pencil, you’ll smudge it. Try ‘tap-erasing’ instead.

Tap-erase – literally tap with a kneaded eraser to lighten a shadow or re-form a shape. You can shape the eraser to make textures while you’re doing this. For this drawing, I pinched an end into a dull point to create a rough texture that blended with side of pencil hatching.

Set-Up A Still Life

Arrange the towel in a flat area with a strong light source coming from one side and slightly above. A table lamp works well if the other lighting in the room isn’t too bright. Experiment with lowering the other lighting, by closing curtains and so on, until you see clear shadows and highlights on and around the towel.