How do you add tone to drawings?

You add tone to drawings by using various techniques to create areas of light and shadow, giving your drawing depth, form, and realism.

Here's a breakdown of how you can achieve this:

Methods and Materials

You can add tone using a variety of materials, but some of the most common are:

Pencils: Graphite pencils come in a range of hardnesses, from hard (H) to soft (B). Harder pencils create lighter, finer lines, while softer pencils produce darker, broader lines.
Charcoal: Charcoal offers a richer, deeper black than graphite, and is excellent for creating dramatic tonal effects. It comes in various forms, including vine charcoal, compressed charcoal, and charcoal pencils.
Pastels: Chalk pastels and oil pastels can be blended to create soft tonal gradations.
Ink: Using techniques like hatching, cross-hatching, stippling, and washes, you can create a range of tones with ink.

Here are several techniques for adding tone to your drawings:

Hatching: Creating tone by drawing parallel lines. The closer the lines, the darker the tone.
Cross-hatching: Building up tone by layering hatching lines at different angles.
Stippling: Creating tone by using dots. The denser the dots, the darker the tone.
Blending: Smudging or blending the drawing medium (pencil, charcoal, etc.) to create smooth tonal transitions. Use your finger, a blending stump, or a paper towel.
Layering: Building up tone gradually by applying multiple layers of your chosen medium. This allows for greater control over the overall tonal range.
Value Scale: Practice creating a value scale (a range of tones from white to black) to understand how to control the darkness and lightness of your marks.

Observe the Light and Shadow: Before you start, carefully observe the subject you're drawing and identify the areas of light, shadow, and mid-tones.
Establish the Light Source: Determine the direction of the light source, as this will dictate the placement of shadows.
Start with Light Tones: Begin by applying light layers of your chosen medium to the mid-tone areas.
Build Up Darker Tones: Gradually build up the darker tones in the shadow areas, using techniques like hatching, cross-hatching, or blending. Press harder with your pencil or use softer grades.
Create Highlights: Preserve the brightest areas as highlights. You can also lift tone with an eraser to create highlights.
Refine and Adjust: Continuously refine and adjust the tonal values to create a realistic and balanced drawing.
Use an Eraser: An eraser is not just for mistakes! Use it to lift highlights, soften edges, and create subtle tonal variations.

Imagine drawing a sphere.

Light Source: Determine where your light is coming from (e.g., the upper left).
Highlights: The area closest to the light source will be the brightest highlight.
Mid-tones: The area gradually shifting away from the light will be mid-tones, created with light pencil pressure.
Shadows: The opposite side of the light source will be the darkest shadows, created with more pressure and perhaps a softer pencil.
Reflected Light: A small area of lighter tone may appear within the shadow, caused by light bouncing off nearby surfaces.

By paying attention to these elements, you can create a convincing illusion of three-dimensionality.