Exercise 4. Light and Shadow
By Jacqueline Andes

Shading helps define light and shadow in a drawing. Light and shadow are considered together since neither appears to exist without the other. Light and shadow are most obvious in three-dimensional design.

There are a number of interesting things about the appearance of light. For instance, light reflected from a hard, polished curving surface appears white in color. Light reflected from a soft, dull, flat surface appears to contain some of the color of the surface from which it is reflected. The highlight is the area of an object that is directly illuminated by the source of light

An object can have more than one source lighting it. There can be a primary and secondary source of light and this will make a difference in your drawing or painting. The primary source can be the strongest light, or the light that is the closest to the object. It will cast a darker and more definite shape to the shadow area. The secondary source of light casts a weaker, lighter and softer edged shape in the shadow area.

When you shade objects in your composition, you must first determine the light source.

Is it directly overhead?

Is the light coming from the left?

Is the light coming from the right?

Is there a secondary light source?

Try an experiment. Using a flashlight, or other direct source of light, place an object on a table. Lower all other light. Observe how light and shadow change as the light moves over the object. When light strikes an object, the lightest spot is called the highlight. As the light travels over and around objects, it gets weaker (or darker). When working with a drawing pencil, the shading would get darker moving away from the light. (Look at the illustrations again.) This also applies when using color.

Now you should be ready to create your own forms.

Materials:

• HB or B pencil
  
• Eraser
  
• Q-tip or paper stub. Make a paper stub by rolling a 4" x 4" sheet of paper to a tight point. The point can be used to blend the pencil marks.
  
• 9" x 12" white paper
  
• 3 simple white objects for a composition
  
• Spot light (or other direct light source)

Instructions:

1. Set the objects for the composition on a table covered with white paper. It would be best if all three objects were white. Position the spot light close to, and above, the objects. The light should be either on the left, or right, for the first attempt.
   
2. Lightly draw in the composition.
   
3. Notice the highlighted areas on the objects. Let the white paper, itself, be the highlight. Starting on the darker side of a lightly drawn object, use the side of the pencil and start to gray in the darker areas.
   
4. 4. Observe the setup very closely. Light bounces off the table, reflecting onto the object. Therefore, the darkest side of an object will have lighter edge (Observe the illustrations above.) Working toward the highlight, apply tones of gray in blended steps. The pencil marks can be blended with a Q-tip, or your paper stub. A finger works well only if free from skin oils. An oily finger leaves a mark that cannot be removed.

Shading Techniques - blending tones of gray from the dark to the light. This can be done by using the side of the drawing pencil and lightly marking the paper. Dark can be built up by applying more pencil marks. Dark can also be built up by crosshatching (See the first illustration above.) As grays are applied to the shadow side, a blending technique can be applied by using a Q-tip, stub, or finger to rub pencil lead around the paper. Remember to save the white paper for the highlights. Once the white paper is grayed down, getting the impact of a very bright highlight is difficult.

Checking out your work:

1. Can you tell where the light source is?
   
2. Does the light source seem the same for all three objects?
   
3. Which techniques did you use to create your shading?
   
4. What other shading techniques will you experiment with next?