Shoutout to the dude who told me to stop shading with my finger

I used to smudge my pencil drawings with my pinky for shadows until some guy at a Dallas art supply store said I was just making muddy messes. He showed me how cross-hatching with a 2B pencil gives way cleaner depth. Now I actually look forward to shading instead of covering up smudges. Has anyone else had a random stranger fix their whole art style?

2 comments

2 Comments

richardrodriguez15d ago

That same trick changed my whole way of drawing too.

hayden_rodriguez15d ago

Wait, are we talking about the same trick here? People throw around "changed my whole way" like it's a life-altering epiphany but half the time it's just a slightly different way to hold the pencil. Drawing is a skill, not a spiritual awakening. I've tried maybe ten different "game changer" techniques over the years and most of them just ended up being a waste of good sketch paper. Maybe it really clicked for you, but calling it a whole new way sounds like a bit much for something that's probably just a minor tweak.