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I’m having trouble achieving deep black when shading. Every time when I press harder, I end up with a dark gray that starts to shine instead of looking black.I’m using Faber-Castell 4B, 6B, and 8B pencils (8B is the softest pencil in my set). I also have a Pitt Graphite Pure 9B.Does anyone have any tips on how to get deeper, richer blacks without the graphite becoming shiny?
Akanksha, rickie and 4 others6 Comments-
Hi Filip
I have used “ Primo Elite Grande- organic black #5000” on items that I wanted really black and it worked well for me. I am very happy with the results.
Attached is a drawing from the cherries tutorial that I used this pencil to darken the cherries.
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I find Staedtler Black Lumograph 100B quite dark, the 8b is quite a lot darker than faber castell 12b, and it’s less shiny
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I personnaly use Faber-Castell 115207 – Pitt Graphite Matt. Doesn’t give that shining reflexion.
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Thank you everyone for the advice! That was exactly my problem. I recently started Final Portrait Drawing (1), and when shading the hood, I just couldn’t achieve that deep black using my 6B and 8B pencils. Then I tried pressing harder with the 8B, but everything started to get shiny, and it didn’t look very good.
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@filipsafemaii732 When I did the charlie Chaplin sketch I used charcoal for that purpose. Experimenting is key I think.
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One more thing that really helped me was changing the way I see black. Instead of trying to make one area as black as possible, I focus on the overall contrast of the drawing. Very often, once the mid tones and surrounding shadows are developed, the same dark area suddenly appears much darker without adding any extra graphite.
It’s all about relative values. A dark gray can look almost black if it’s surrounded by lighter values. So don’t judge the darkest areas until the rest of the drawing is developed. Keep experimenting. Graphite is a wonderful medium, and once you understand layering and value relationships, you’ll have much more control over those rich, deep blacks. 😊
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