Add a Color to
Your Paper (continued)
To continue this drawing, the light on the top half of the left side of the
body has been erased. This includes the shoulder and half of the upper
left arm, as well as the side of the face, neck, and top part of the ear lobe.
Although the arm is being lit, all of the pastel cannot be erased because
the form still needs to be explained. This is where the pastel works beauti-
fully as a mid-tone. The color of the pastel is light enough to suggest the
light, but darker than the white of the paper. In this example, the artist
used pastel to create a beautiful mid-tone to set off the lit areas. If you
keep this in mind, you will not have to shade in any mid-tones, as the pas-
tel is doing all of the work for you.
The artist has begun to shade in the shadow areas, using charcoal to do
so. The pastel has been shaded over in the top-left corner, as the light in
this area is not as strong as the light on the figure. Here a darker tone is
needed to provide a contrast to the mid-tone area on the figure. Notice
how quickly you can suggest the solidity of the figure by simply concen-
trating on the basic light-and-shadow pattern. Having an existing tone on
your paper provides you with a basis on which to base your range of
tones, from lightest to darkest. If the tone in this example was very dark
on the paper, it could have been used as a basis for the shadow area,
rather than as a mid-tone.
To further refine the drawing, the artist has erased the pastel completely in
areas on the left side of the body. He has used white pastel to emphasize
the highlights on these areas and also added charcoal to the left side of
the buttocks, to show the underside of the form as it turns away from the
light. Notice that the shading does not go straight up to the edge of the
perimeter of the figure. The mid-tone was very slightly erased to reveal the
reflected light. This reflected light rounds the form (see “Reflected Light” in
Chapter 5). The artist also developed the left leg by erasing some of the
tone to reveal the light shining on it. Also notice how some shading was
added with charcoal to the left side of the spine, which suggests the form
of the rib cage. This gives the back a more rounded appearance.