{"id":2365,"date":"2011-07-10T11:06:49","date_gmt":"2011-07-10T11:06:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\/wp_blog\/?p=2365"},"modified":"2023-11-16T16:19:30","modified_gmt":"2023-11-16T16:19:30","slug":"shaded-mandala-part-tw","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.toadhollowstudio.com\/wp_blog\/2011\/07\/shaded-mandala-part-tw\/","title":{"rendered":"Shaded Mandala Drawing Exercise \u2013 Part Two"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Mandala<\/a>
Mandala Shaded With Graphite Pencil<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In part two of this exercise, I’ll show you how I shaded my mandala.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Shine A Light On Value<\/h3>\n

The darkest points in the gradations are a No. 10 on a value scale<\/a>. All of the gradations merge into white, or No. 1 on the value scale, except<\/em> for the mandala’s outer rim which only makes it about half way to white, or to a No. 5 value.<\/p>\n

Start Here<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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I didn\u2019t start with the outer rim shapes, but I should have. If you shade those parts first, you\u2019ll know what a 10 value and a 5 value look like on your paper using your hatching technique, and then you can relate the rest of the hatching to them.<\/p>\n

Hard Over Soft For Smooth Dark Hatching<\/h3>\n

You can make hatching look much smoother by going over it with a harder pencil lead. The harder pencil adds some value, but it also acts like a blender and pushes the softer lead into the grain of the paper more evenly making the value smooth looking and quite a bit darker.<\/p>\n

The sharper the pencil points are, the darker the hatching will be.<\/p>\n

You don’t have to use smooth shading on your mandala, though. As long as you keep the shading consistent, even very rough hatching will look good.<\/p>\n

Outer Rim<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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\"Outer<\/a>
Outer Rim Shading 1cHere\u2019s How I drew the gradation in the outer rim shapes:<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Filled darkest part with softest pencil (4B) to nearly a 10 value.<\/p>\n

Filled lightest part with a medium hard pencil (B) to about a 5 value.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
\"Outer<\/a>
Outer Rim Shading 2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Filled the middle part with the medium soft (2B) pencil.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
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\"Outer<\/a>
Outer Rim Shading 3<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Then I darkened and smoothed the shading with the hardest pencil (2H).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
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Remember:<\/strong> The trick to drawing the gradations in this mandala is to work each piece as if it\u2019s part of a larger whole. For instance, the arced shading of the outer rim shapes are part of a larger circular gradation.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
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\"Largest<\/a>
Largest Square Shading 1<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The gradation on the largest square was made with 4B, 2B, B, and 2H pencils.<\/p>\n

I used the same technique but added the 2H to make the lightest part of the hatch.<\/p>\n

Notice that the angles run horizontal to the edges and lighten as they near each one.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Largest<\/a>
Largest Square Shading 2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Here’s the hatch smoothed with harder leads (2H and B) hatched over softer leads.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
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\"Leaf<\/a>
Leaf Shape Angle And Shading<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

To help see how the gradation on the leaves are angled to fit into a box shape, I drew the box for you here. I used 4B, 2B, B, and 2H pencils for these gradations, and used the 2H and B pencils to smooth them.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
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\"Small<\/a>
Small Square Shading<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The small boxes are tricky. Their gradations are arced, with the darkest point in the outer corner.<\/p>\n

Since this gradation was short, I just used the 2B, B, and 2H pencils.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Different Ideas To Try<\/h3>\n

You don\u2019t have to use these exact values, the same hatching technique, or even the same medium to shade this mandala. Here are a few different ideas to experiment with.<\/p>\n