Shading Without a Brush.
3yr
Matt Haslett
I'm nearing the end of Stan's figure drawing course, and It has been pretty spectacular. I can't think of one element of the course that I'm not excited to practice indefinitely as I improve my skills except for the shading portion. Stan's method is outstanding, and serves its purpose beautifully, but I'm looking to keep my focus primarily on developing my style for comics. Because of this, I'm hesitant to buy the materials (charcoal powder and brushes) just to finish the course. I'd rather shade my drawings in a way that I can practice indefinitely as well on my way to becoming a comic artist. Has anyone had this same experience with the course? If so, are there any other good videos out there that can help me take my drawings to completion with light and shade that don't include charcoal and a brush?
Thanks in advance,
~Matt
Hey Matt! I haven’t gotten to that part yet, but I’m pretty sure you could do it in any medium. I think it’s a great idea to render it like you would a comic, since it’s more relevant to your goal.
I’m not sure what style comic you draw in but here’s a few David Finch videos :
https://www.proko.com/lesson/how-to-cross-hatch-for-comics-david-finch/discussions
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okQfa98uLlQ
Other good ressources: Robert Marzullo and How to Draw Comics . NET on Youtube and this video by page Page One Comics https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxNe6jqiTDk (it’s a long video - he starts rendering anatomy around 27 minutes in)
I hope this will be of some help!
I really like this response and I wanted to add to it just a bit. 1) one simple way to approximate graphite and brush is to use your graphite shavings and smear it on your paper with a paper towel. This works better with 6b lead than it does with 6h- but it should be enough to get the essence of the exercise. 2) even though comic book land has a historical preference for crosshatching for the sake of being inked later- the whole landscape is changing. Still- for the sake of the aesthetic (and dave finch is great for that!) you should check out how ryan benjamin uses blocks of value to describe form before coming back and doing line work around it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70Z8iY0Q2Gw it's a more unique approach that other comic artists don't offer a tutorial around and it has more crossover with the value studies you get from proko's courses.
Gabi! Great response and thank you for the links. David Finch is perfect for this question. I'm going to get a lot out of these videos and can certainly apply them to my drawings. Stan's style of teaching is so precise that he really makes it easy to redirect yourself according to your style at any stage along the journey. Gabi, best of luck with the figure drawing course, you're going to love it if you don't already. Thank you!
