Draw a figure in 20 minutes

Give Chris Legaspi just 20 minutes and he’ll give you all the basic techniques you need to depict realistic figure art in pencil and charcoal

Depict realistic figures using pencil and charcoal, with Chris Legaspi.

Shading and rendering is my favourite part of a 10- or 20-minute pose. Here, I’ll introduce some of the basic principles, tools and techniques that I use to shade or render in a short amount of time.

Before I begin, I first analyse and limit the values I use. For life drawing, I use a three-value palette of light, dark and mid-tone. This helps me to control values as I shade and render forms.

To define forms, I use a combination of soft or hard edges.

Soft edges do the majority of the work and create the most natural look. Hard edges are great for accents or sculpting forms.

There are many shading and blending techniques that you can use in your figure-drawing art, but they can be simplified into either line or tonal drawing. Line is great for details and texture. Tones are good for coverage and creating soft edges. More techniques will be explored in upcoming issues.

For blending, my favourite tools are kneaded erasers, blending stumps, tissue paper and my fingers.

Stumps are good for detail, while tissue is great for making really soft and lost edges. Finger blending is useful, but do be aware that the skin’s natural oils can make subsequent edits difficult. A kneaded eraser is a versatile tool that I use for correcting shapes, erasing out highlights and also for drawing and sculpting form.

My drawing and shading process varies depending on the pose, but I generally start by shading and refining a focal point area, like the head or torso. Once that’s working, I move on to other areas of the figure, as time permits.

1 HOW TO USE THREE VALUES

Controlling value is the first step to shading. For life drawing, I limit myself to three values: dark, mid-tone (also known as half-tone) and light. This helps to control values and with careful arrangement of lights, darks and midtones, I can render form and even create depth.

2 ANATOMY OF LIGHT AND SHADOW

A form in light has two distinct sides: a light side and a shadow side. The shadow side consists of the core shadow, reflected light, occlusion shadow and cast shadow. The light side of the form is made up of midtones, light itself and the highlight.

3 EDGES AND FORM

Edges describe form. The three types of edges are commonly known as lost, soft and hard. For figure drawing, I use mostly use soft edges because they create a more natural and realistic look. Hard edges are great for sculpting forms and details. Lost edges create depth and atmosphere.

A form in light has two sides: a light side and a shadow side

The two main ways I shade are with either line or tone. For line, I use the tip of my pencil to create hatching and crosshatching marks. For tone, I use the side of the pencil or a stick to create a variety of broad strokes, tones and texture.

BLENDING TECHNIQUES

For blending, I like to use a paper stump, tissue paper or my finger. The stump gives me a lot of control and is great for detail, while the tissue is perfect for really soft or lost edges and tones. I use my fingers sparingly because the natural oils can make the drawing difficult to edit.

I use my fingers sparingly because the natural oils can make the drawing difficult to edit

6 ERASER TECHNIQUES

A kneaded eraser is an all-purpose tool I use for erasing, blending and even drawing. I simply sculpt it into different shapes to create a variety of marks. A flat shape is great for broad strokes. A small point or tip is great for erasing out highlights, details, and to draw and correct shapes.

7 EDGES FOR DEPTH

Use edges to create depth. For example, soften or lose an edge to push a form backwards. Harder edges, combined with soft core shadows, bring a form forward. Sharp edges also bring a form forward, by creating contrast.

8 AT THE 10 MINUTE STAGE

Once I have my figure drawn and have blocked in the shadow pattern, I continue to refine the light and shadow. I begin with a focal point area and refine the edges and values, which involves making soft edges softer, darkening the core shadow for contrast and depth, and sharpening hard edges to create contrast.

9 STARTING THE 20-MINUTE DRAWING

Twenty minutes is enough time to draw a figure and refine shading. I usually start with a focal point and work my way towards the other parts of the figure. For example, I darken and soften the core shadow and then add mid-tones, which help me to sculpt the form.

I blend and sculpt tones to bring the details and smaller forms to life

10 FINISH THE 20-MINUTE DRAWING

Once I have the mid-tones, I blend and sculpt tones to bring the details and smaller forms to life. With the focal point working, I move on to the next area, such as the head or limbs, and refine as much of the figure as possible in the time left.