Method for Learning

The shading is done by gently rubbing because it is always loaded with enough pencil to make the most delicate shades, and one must preserve the white of the paper for the highlights. One shades with sanguine (a reddish-brown chalk), as with black chalk, on white and gray paper; however, sanguine shading is not as visually pleasing as black chalk. If the paper is gray, it can be highlighted with white chalk, but it cannot be shaded. Finally, strength is added to the deepest shadows by hatching over them, but with little or no shading.

One can also mix these two methods by lightly shading all the shadows first, then using the pencil to add the necessary strength with lines or hatches that are more or less strong, depending on the need. All these ways of drawing with a pencil, whether hatching, stippling, or shading, are the best and most convenient for learning to draw the figure.

The tools used for shading come in different forms; the most common are made from a piece of relatively thick semi-transparent paper, which is torn at an angle and rolled tightly between the fingers to form a kind of brush; it is torn so that the end of the roll used is blunted and resembles a brush with bristles: chamois blenders are rolled in the same way. Sometimes blenders are made by placing a small ball of cotton or soft, fine cloth into a quill and pushing it out slightly through the smaller end, or using a small roll of soft cloth, rolled and pressed moderately tight, and then one usually draws using black chalk.

Translation Notes

Sanguine: A reddish-brown chalk or lead used for drawing.