Skip to main content

Importance of Light and Shade in Art


Introduction
As a former student of art I know how my teachers used to stress the importance of light and shade. Its no rocket science that light and shade adds depth to your drawing or painting. Creating the right quality of tonal effects is very important in a landscape. Light and shade help you create the impression of distance easily. This article looks into some of the tips, with the help of which, you can improvise upon tones and shades in art.

Art, in itself, is a beautiful means of expression. The first thing that comes to mind when thinking of art is a painting. Furthermore, painting can also comprise of oil paintings, landscapes, figure drawings and even pencil sketches. When talking of landscapes, creating perspectives can be a daunting task for an artist. It would probably make no sense, if a landscape would end up with mountains that look like distant hillocks.
The anterior should stand apart from the background or the middle part. You can easily achieve this by just decreasing the level of detailing in the middle. The same thing applies to expanse as well. For instance, you could denote distance with the help of an exceptional line. Another effective way of denoting distance is by using thin controlled lines. Similarly, the use of dark and broad lines for both the middle and the foreground will give the impression of a receding background.
There are varieties of hard and soft pencils that are available for pencil drawings. Thin and hard lead pencils are ideal for detailing distance and working out finer details. Soft lead pencils tend to create a dense and a dark impression and hence are perfect for working out the foreground and the middle. Sometimes, even a single pencil can help you achieve this feat. However, sketching is all about practice so make sure that you sharpen your sketching skills by training yourself now and then. This would help you to improve your potential as an artist and advocate your authority over the pencil to produce a variety of thick and weighty lines. A single pencil can help you create a variety of tones and grades. All you need to do is, increase or decrease the amount of pressure that you apply on the pencil.
The following application will help you understand better-
You need to draw a coarse square, of the size of two by two inches i.e. twenty-five by twenty-five millimeters. What we need to do here is to fill up the square with shading in such a manner, that it is pale in one corner and shady, and dark in the opposite corner.
To begin with, hold the pencil lightly, giving it a slight pressure as you start. Keep on increasing the pressure over the pencil, steadily, as you proceed towards the farther end. You could also make the darkest line in the opposite corner by giving enough pressure to the pencil.
If you have followed these instructions appropriately, you may very well create the perfect example of shading i.e. from light to dark. If at all you feel that something is amiss, you can easily rework the areas that, you feel, are not as effective.
This little exercise will help you a great deal in improving your sketching skills so that you can create the desired amount of tonal qualities in your drawings or landscapes. If you master light and shade, you will never have any problems to create perspective in your landscapes.


Image by David Osta from Pixabay
You might also find this post interesting!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Love...

I wrote this little story with a play in mind. Enjoy! Edit- Some of my posts are written in Hindi (Indian language). [Scene 1- Mr. Singh is seated at the dining table lost in deep thoughts. His daughter-in-law priya enters the room carrying dinner. ] Priya- Papaji please stop worrying about mummyji. Unka ilaaj toh karva rahe hai na hum log? Mr. Singh- Rehne de beta tu nahi samjhegi. You never will understand what I am going through right now. In fact no one will ever understand. Priya ( placing the dinner tray on the table) – Theek hai Papaji aapko nahi maanna naa sahi. Lekin kam se kam khaana toh kha lijiye. Warna aapke bete aake mujhe phirse sunayenge ki unke papa ka bilkul dhyan nahi rakhti. [Priya stamps her feet and leaves the room murmuring something to herself. Mr. Singh is still sitting there with lines of worry over his face and lost in deep thoughts.] [Scene 2- Mr. Singh’s son Deepak enters the room. He has just returned from office and is still hol...

Contact Lenses- gain freedom from glasses

What if you do not have the time to visit the optician to get your contact lenses made? In simple words, contact lenses can mean a lot of advantages including freedom from glasses. Although the comfort level may differ in individual, lenses are in fact very useful. Nowadays, many online websites provide you with the easy option of ordering your contact lenses online . The most amazing thing here is that you get own custom made lenses of your own choice delivered right at your doorstep. However, before you choose a contact lenses by post website, you should make sure that they provide enough aftercare for your contact lenses. It will be best to browse through a few websites looking for services before you chose to order your lenses online. Many websites offer to give demo instructions and aftercare tips which can be extremely useful for preserving your lenses. Always make sure that the website that you choose, offers such services.

The aircraft...

okay. this one's my favorite. For two simple reasons. I get lost in this story everytime i read it. And it literally forces you to tax your brains and open your imagination! Thats what happens to me. Find it out yourself. please tell me how you found it. “Sunil, don’t forget to take you umbrella. It’s an unpredictable weather and it could rain any time”, Mrs. Verma said bluntly from the kitchen while preparing dough. Mr. Verma looked sarcastically in that direction and without speaking a word took his umbrella and darted out of the house. Parking his scooter outside, Mr. Verma entered the park, wandering his eyes all over the place to find out a silent corner for himself. The park was all buzzing with people and kids which made Mr. Verma all the more irritated. Fuming with anger he made his way to a broken bench in the corner of the park. He threw down his umbrella when he recalled how he and his wife had a heated argument this morning which of course had left Mrs. Ver...