<p><strong>Shading Techniques</strong></p>

<p>First of all, the shading techniques you mentioned are primarily used for pen-and-ink projects and are not commonly used when shading with a pencil. Special techniques like the ones you mentioned are required for pen and ink projects because pens don't naturally provide a way to fade from light to dark the way graphite does. Since an area is either black or white when using a pen, special techniques are used to demonstrate the illusion of shade when in fact it's all jet black or stark white.</p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/LC5ID.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/LC5ID.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

<p><strong>Pencil Shading</strong></p>

<p>As for shading with a pencil, I find the sharpness of the edge to be more important than the angle of the stroke. If you are using a freshly sharpened pencil you'll likely wind up with dark hard lines. </p>

<p>Using a rounded or dull tip allows you to shade more evenly and smoothly without the need to hold the pencil at an angle.</p>

<p>Once you have softer strokes (from using a rounded or dull pencil), they can easily be blended together with a tortillon. A tortillon is rolled paper, designed to help smooth the strokes of a pencil and improve the smoothness of your shading. A properly shaded sphere in pencil is depicted below with the use of a tortillon.</p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/4TzGs.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/4TzGs.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-05-02T14:15:23.897Z
2016-05-02T15:40:33.890Z
2016-05-02T15:40:33.890Z
leigero
<p>There are different types of shading techniques like criss cross, straight lines, circular shading, blending, scribbling, and dot shading (drawing dots close to each other).</p>

<p>I draw and shade everything by holding the pencil the same way I hold it for writing simply because I don't know better.</p>

<p>Does holding the pencil in a particular way for particular types of shading result in better outputs? If yes, then please guide how to hold the pencil for different kinds of shading methods.</p>

<drawing><pencil-shading>
Do I need to hold the pencil in different ways for different kinds of shading methods?
Aquarius_Girl
# Do I need to hold the pencil in different ways for different kinds of shading methods?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2016-05-02)

There are different types of shading techniques like criss cross, straight lines, circular shading, blending, scribbling, and dot shading (drawing dots close to each other).

I draw and shade everything by holding the pencil the same way I hold it for writing simply because I don't know better.

Does holding the pencil in a particular way for particular types of shading result in better outputs? If yes, then please guide how to hold the pencil for different kinds of shading methods.

**Tags:** drawing, pencil-shading


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2016-05-02. Score: 3

**Shading Techniques**

First of all, the shading techniques you mentioned are primarily used for pen-and-ink projects and are not commonly used when shading with a pencil. Special techniques like the ones you mentioned are required for pen and ink projects because pens don't naturally provide a way to fade from light to dark the way graphite does. Since an area is either black or white when using a pen, special techniques are used to demonstrate the illusion of shade when in fact it's all jet black or stark white.

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/LC5ID.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/LC5ID.png)

**Pencil Shading**

As for shading with a pencil, I find the sharpness of the edge to be more important than the angle of the stroke. If you are using a freshly sharpened pencil you'll likely wind up with dark hard lines.

Using a rounded or dull tip allows you to shade more evenly and smoothly without the need to hold the pencil at an angle.

Once you have softer strokes (from using a rounded or dull pencil), they can easily be blended together with a tortillon. A tortillon is rolled paper, designed to help smooth the strokes of a pencil and improve the smoothness of your shading. A properly shaded sphere in pencil is depicted below with the use of a tortillon.

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/4TzGs.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/4TzGs.jpg)


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