Fellow artists! It’s time to let you in on a little secret that’ll take your drawings from flat to fantastic. You be thinking, ‘Oh, it’s just shading, right?’ Well, shading is definitely part of it. We’ll get to that later in this “drawing lessons for beginners” series. However, today, we’re diving into something even more fundamental.
Ever look at other artists’ work and wonder, ‘How did they do that?’ The answer to that intriguing question is pressure! We’re about to learn exactly how much pressure it takes to achieve different effects. Seriously, this one simple drawing technique can totally transform your art. You’ll be able to create depth and structure in your drawings without even touching shading. Get ready to make your drawings pop – you’re going to love this drawing course.
Drawing using light pressure on your pencil:
Alright, let’s start with the lightest touch: light pressure. Think of it as softly kissing your paper with a pencil. Remember in our previous drawing lesson, we talked about different grip styles? For light pressure, you’ll want to use an extended grip. If you’re unsure what that is, I highly recommend checking out that lesson for a quick refresher!
With this grip, you’ll let the pencil’s weight do most of the work. The effects? You can create a light base for your drawing, a loose sketch, or add intricate details. Light pressure is also perfect for subtle shading, initial sketching, and creating guiding lines that you can easily erase later. Just a heads up: gripping the pencil too close to the tip will make it harder to achieve this effect, unless you’re using a harder lead, of course!
Drawing using medium pressure on your pencil:
Let’s move on to the smooth transitional phase: medium pressure. This zone lies right between the light and heavy pressure zones, and it’s by far the most difficult of the three. You’ll spend most of your time there.
Medium pressure requires balance, which can be tricky to achieve, but it’s the most comfortable for your muscles. Your hand will be in a comfortable grip position. This pressure level is perfect for creating mid-tones and blending between dark and light areas. It’s best for creating the contours of your subject. Medium pressure is ideal for creating subtle shadows, making your drawings pop and giving your flat forms depth and dimension.
Drawing using high pressure on your pencil:
Let’s jump to the full potential of your pencil! Just make sure not to poke through your paper. High pressure will give you confident and unmistakable marks. Before applying this pressure, ensure the trajectory of your stroke is correct. Because drawing a wrong and dark line will make it harder to correct afterward. It will leave a mark on your paper that won’t look good in the final drawing.
To achieve this effect, you’ll need a closer grip and deliberate, controlled motion. It provides a strong contrast to the light pressure areas, complimenting each other. High-pressure lines are used to create important details in your art that cannot be neglected. High-pressure lines give your drawing dramatic, bold accents.
Drawing with Line weight and combined effect of pressure:
Now that you’ve learned quite a bit about pressure individually, it’s time to learn the combined effect of all three levels. You’ll constantly switch between them to create variations in line weight and contrast. You could stick to only one level of pressure, but that would make your drawing flat.
Remember, in this drawing lesson for beginners, we talked about making drawings pop by giving them form and volume without shading? This is how you do it! Line weight and the combined effect of pressure go hand in hand. Simply put, more pressure means more line weight, and more line weight emphasizes confident and important details in your drawing. Conversely, less pressure results in less line weight, suggesting areas fully exposed to light or even fading into the background while medium pressure will provide the smooth transition between them as usual.
This interplay of pressure and line weight gives your artwork depth without even using shading. It makes your art more impactful in less time. You can also use this effect to make certain areas of your drawing more prominent, directing the viewer’s eye. More pressure means more line weight, which creates bolder lines that automatically grab attention. On the other hand, lighter lines make a particular area less attention-grabbing and easily overlooked.
Set your light source before drawing:
You can’t just make any line dark or light in a drawing. It’s not how it works. You need to consider the light source in your drawing process, which plays a crucial role in line weight and determines which lines will go lighter compared to others.
The area in direct contact with the light source will go lighter, and the opposite side will be darker, depicting a shadow. You can move around your light source to check how your drawing looks with different positions of the light source. It’s as simple as that. Highlighted areas will require less pressure, using an extended grip, and the shadow areas will be bolder, using a closer grip. Medium pressure will provide the transition, as always, and will give you the right contours and make your drawing more realistic.
Tips for beginners:
1- Practice on scrap paper: Before working on your final drawing, experiment with different pressure levels on scrap paper.
2- Try different grips: Experiment with different pencil grips to see how they affect your control over pressure.
3- Observe line quality: Pay close attention to how the line quality changes with different pressure levels.
4- Consider light source: Try practicing with different positions of light source.
Conclusion:
And there you have it. Pressure isn’t just something you feel when deadlines loom. It’s the secret sauce to making your drawings pop! Pretty cool, right? By playing around with light, medium, and heavy pressure, you’re adding depth, structure, and a whole new level of life to your art—no shading required (yet!).
Don’t stress about getting it perfect right away; it’s all about practice. Try different grips, experiment with your strokes, and pay attention to where your light source hits. Before you know it, those flat sketches will start to look more dynamic and full of energy.
So, grab that pencil, have some fun, and let your doodles run wild. You’ve got this—and I can’t wait to dive into the next drawing lesson with you!
This was time well spent reading.
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