Illustration Shading

Question: Although lines are extremely useful, line-only drawings are not as effective as drawing can be. To really bring drawings to life, shading needs to be used." Discuss the importance of shading in illustration.

Shading gives dimension to an illustration. It allows the viewer to observe a sense of volume and allows the artist to take the viewer more realistic understanding with object appearing three-dimensional. It also allows the artist to reveal the light source and can even give the viewer an idea of the setting of the piece. Many different techniques can be used to accomplish shading such as hatching, crosshatching, pointillism, blending, veiling, stumping, circular technique, and even scribble technique. In some cases an artist may even choose to work backwards by choosing a dark stock to represent the darkest point, and add a light colored medium to build to the highlight.


Samples:

Hatching

http://www.roymech.co.uk/images/hatch_ex.gif

Crosshatching:

http://th06.deviantart.net/fs36/300W/i/2008/243/e/b/Cross_Hatching_Sketch__Fist_by_esninism.jpg

Pointillism

 http://www.robert-redmond.com/photos/NudeStudies/Pointillism.jpg

 Blending

 http://www.lifelikedrawing.com/5valuegrid.jpg

Veiling

 http://www.explore-drawing-and-painting.com/images/shading-techniques-veiling.jpg

Stumping

http://www.explore-drawing-and-painting.com/images/shading-techniques-stumping.jpg

Circular

 http://library.thinkquest.org/C005470F/images/fundamentals/shading1.jpg

Scribble 

http://library.thinkquest.org/C005470F/images/fundamentals/shading2.jpg

Resources:
http://library.thinkquest.org/C005470F/technique/shading.html
http://www.explore-drawing-and-painting.com/shading-techniques.html