I am drawing a picture with rocks, and having a very hard time. I can't figure out how to shade the rocks, and make them look real. Does anybody have any tips, or tricks that might help???

Thanks

Hey Jazzy,
I have found rocks to be a bit funky in that there are alot of different types of rock, and they all are shaded a bit differently. My suggestion is this, go and get a chunk of rock, put it in a nice light source, and study how the light pours over it, and how it casts shadows. Then put pen or pencil to paper, and see if you can duplicate it. Crosshatching gives a nice, gritty shade to rock, whereas a paper stump can give you that smooth, water eroded surface. Could you perhaps post what you are working on, so that we can see?? Perhaps then the group can give a better explaination and guidance...
And here in an interesting site to look at...
http://www.haikutimes.com/pen_rocks.html
And here is a commission that I completed, with rocks on the left, right, and base. Have a look at how I accomplished it.
[attachmentid=369]
And hey, welcome to the forum, and I hope that you find what you are looking for here.
Cheers!!

here's some of the rocks, they are under water.

The first thing I notice Jazzy is that your rocks don't have a light source, they are all the same tone more or less. I presume if this is meant to be underwater, the light source may be from above?

Either way, you need to indicate the overall shape of the rock, whether it has sharp planes or rounded curves, then begin to model the form. Think of a rock the same way you would as any other shape and shade it accordingly. I've added an example for you too, of some rocks I sketched at a beach.

Horsewhisperer, great drawing

[attachmentid=374]

There is a lesson that Brenda has that does rocks. The better you do the dark areas the more miraculous the rocks look. Here is the link to the lesson. I hope it will help.


http://www.drawspace.com/lessons/lesson.php?id=d09

Here was my attempt at that lesson.


[attachmentid=375]

i hope you didnt mind but i took this into photoshop to show you the different high and low lights of rock formation..i actually cheat when i do rocks as i start off with the dark shading first then use a putty erasure for the highlites then use a smudger to darken them to the right shading. but i couldnt do that for your picture so did a simular thing in photoshop .. i hope this helps
by the way this is just an example

Geez, Woo! I would hate to see you do Coral !

Even me, old as dirt, learned something from that one.

Wow!

Eric

you go woo great job

Thanks everybody, you have been a big help!!!!!!

here is my improved rocks, at least I think they are improved . What do you all think?

They look really good now Jazzy. You've got the concept perfectly! Don't be afraid of the darks, you can go really dark in those cracks and crevices to make the drawing stand out. But yes, it is a great improvement. Well done.

I agree rocks are hard to do .. with all the shapes and the light angles.....but from the first picture to this one .. its a big improvment ...keep working at it and it will get better ....before long you will be telling me how to do rock . lol . Kim

That's great Jazzy! Now do you see the value of this site? What did that cost you, huh? Come on, don't be afraid to tell us. OK, a little extra time on your drawing...well, you deserved it, cause you did a marvelous job with that little lesson you got. Keep working at it and as Islander said, don't be afraid to go to the "Dark Side".

Eric

youe seemed to have grasped it .. great stuff
look forward to the finished piccy

Your right, I did spend an hour working on the rocks, but I know it was woth it My Grandpa is always telling me to go darker too, I guess I shall have to work on that.

@Everybody: Thank you very much

@Woo: I put almost the whole pict up in my album, but my real picture is to big to fit in my scanner, so there still is a bit missing and THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE LESSON!!!!!!!!!!

scan the picture in two halves

if you would like me to stitch it just send it to me and i will be happy to do so

thanks for the offer Woo, but my picture is getting all bent up in the scanner, and I don't want to bend it anymore.