Are you EXcited? Are you exCIted? Are you exciTED!!! I bet you are! You know what today is, right? Hurray! Another Drawing With Cat! Hoot hoot! Break out the beverages. Oh yeah, and the art supplies.

Today, all we're covering is Shadow. Oooh, doesn't that sound mysterious. Shaaaaaaaadow. Shadooooooooow. Yep, it'll be epic.

So get yourself:

• One HB pencil
• One basic Bic pen, or any cheap ink pen that draws kind of like a pencil
• One nice and bright work area

Because I'm SO NICE this way, I'm going to give you a picture that's already done! You just have to trace it, or print it out, and copy it exactly. How neato is that? Very neato, right?

Right.

So, here's the picture:

"Hang on," I hear people say. "Haven't I seen that picture before?"

"Yes," I say. Like the rest of youse all, I've been having a crazy busy week, and I wanted to try and get SOME NaNo done tonight! I cheated and used an old picture I had hanging around that I'd never completed. So, now we are going to complete it. Step by step. :) (The yellow paint smudge is courtesy of Samantha DeLallo)

So, copy the picture. It has been inked in already, and all the pencil guidelines erased. Now we're going to lay down the first layer of shadow.

 

First of all, you're going to visualize a light source streaming from your left (her right). It's going to hit her right side, thereby casting her left side in shadow. Very gently, you're going to shadow in a faint line where her nose curves, as another faint line under her chin. Shadow her neck, following the curve of her throat, and add a touch of shadow under her shirt where it lies against her skin and shoulder. Darken both seams under her arms where the fabric lies, and just barely tint the undersides of both arms. Draw a line of shadow under her shirt where it hits her ribs, down the side of her waist, around her hips and legs, and in the crease where her leg pulls up toward her stomach. Add the same shadow technique to her left foot. Her right leg and foot are going to be slightly more shadowed, but not too much.

This is when I darken her hair. I like to really darken the area right around her face, to create a nice contrast. It really makes her features "pop"... in a good way. :) With the hair, basically all you're going to do is colour some strands of it quite dark, and leave other areas untouched. It also creates a nice contrast. Now you're going to go over all your shadowing again, slightly darkening the portions you've already laid down, and extending them outward just a fraction. You're also going to add crease or fold marks. These are just simple lines drawn lightly into the "fabric", with the soft side of the lead to create a very soft, smudgy look.

For the final step, once more go over the shadowed portions, darkening out the previous layer and extending  the new edge out just a fraction more. Enhance the crease lines, where the fabric "folds" in on itself, and go over the outline of her face with pen, to re-emphasize the contours. Do the same with any areas you've shadowed so darkly that the pen lines seem to be fading. Draw in some scribbles under her foot to "ground" her.

And that's that. Shadowing is a little bit of a process, but not too bad. I hope this clarified some of the mysteries surrounding my tutorials when you were like, "Good Heavens! How did the picture go from HERE to THERE!!!!" Now when I say, SHADOW, you'll be able to say, all-knowingly, "Ah yes. Shadow!"

Until next time, take care! As always, drop suggestions in the comment box. I will probably do a tutorial on hands for the next one. But I'm open for suggestions. :)

God bless

Cat