Learn How to Shade with Pencils for Tweens

I was not familiar with this month’s author, David McPhail. I had to do some research with my daughters. I really do enjoy discovering a new author. I love seeing how an author’s work can appeal to different age groups in different ways. With David McPhail I wasn’t certain that I was going to find a book that would really appeal to my 9 year old…and then I came across “Drawing Lessons from a Bear“and I knew we had found the perfect book.

The story is simple, we follow a little bear as he learns how to be a bear from his mother. Not only does he learn how to live like a bear, but he also learns how to draw like an artist. In the end, the bear is a beautiful artist and McPhail has the reader feeling like an artist too. Such a lovely book. At the end of the book, McPhail shares some tips for how to draw a tree. I was inspired by the artistry and am always looking for ways to teach my daughters different art techniques. So, we grabbed the pencils and some paper and got creative.

First, draw a simple two-dimensional tree on a piece of paper.

Next, use a cross-hatch technique (example A). To make an area darker – concentrate more cross-hatches. To make an area lighter – concentrate fewer cross-hatches. Also, we worked with different pencils (for example HB). A “regular” pencil is usually HB on the graphite grading scale (the graphite grading scale measures the hardness of the core of the pencil). We tried out a set of pencils that were gradually darker (softer core) than a “regular” pencil…HB 2, HB 4 and HB 5. By using the differently graded pencils a shaded area can be created.

With this knowledge, my daughter turned her two-dimensional tree into a three-dimensional tree. She decided where the sun was shining from and began shading her tree from there.

In the end, the tree looked fabulous. Not too bad for a very first attempt at shading. She used both techniques. I was so impressed. It always amazes me how reading a book can inspire such creativity in a child. This is the hidden magic in books. It’s not always about the physical book, it is how a child sees and feels the book that is so amazing.