Lesson video

Hello, thank you for joining me today.

My name is Mrs. Conway, and I will be guiding you through your learning today.

So today we're going to look at the lesson outcome of, I can enhance sketches using tone to show depths and texture.

So we're going to be thinking about how we can take our sketches a little bit more forward, develop them further into something that looks really realistic.

Our keywords today then are, render, tone, depth, and texture, and we'll be revisiting these as we go through the lesson.

We're going to start with then rendering to show tone and depth of an object.

So rendering is something that we apply to sketches.

Once the line sketching is completed, and rendering is when you add details to a sketch to make it appear more realistic and three dimensional.

When rendering, we can show things such as shading, texture, and depth.

Let's just do a quick check for understanding to make sure we've got that.

So true or false.

Rendering is carried out whilst we are completing the line sketching.

Is that true or false? Pause the video here to take a moment to think about that.

And the answer, that was false.

Rendering is actually carried out once the line sketching of your sketch is completed and you know exactly where all of those lines are going to be and what the sketching dimensions are.

So tone and depth is shown through shading.

Tone is the likeness or darkness of an area which helps create a sense of dimension to the image.

And depth is the illusion of distance or three-dimensional space on a flat surface.

Establishing a light source is really vital when we start to add tone and depth to an object.

So what is a light source? This example here shows where the light source is coming from and the light source is where we would imagine natural light coming in if the object was real.

You can choose where to put the light source, but in this example, it's coming from the top left.

What that's doing is it's giving the cube a highlight on the left hand side where the light would naturally hit it.

There is also a clear shadow on the other side of the cube, giving the object greater depth.

Before you start any rendering, you should always plan where your lighter and darker areas are going to be on your object based upon where your light source is coming from.

One way you can do that is to actually apply numbers to your object by numbering the sides from one, which is the lightest, to three, which is the darkest.

You can then start to plan where on the object the light hits and where the shadows would naturally be.

And you can see I've done this in the example.

So on the left hand side, that is number one, as the light source is coming directly onto there and hitting it, which will mean it'll be the lightest out of the three tones I'm going to apply.

The shadow, which is on the right hand side, is my darkest of my tones, so that is in number three.

And at the top, that's my mid range.

There'll be a little bit of light on there.

It won't pick up all of the highlight, but it's not completely in shadow either.

So example that I've done here shows one flat tone on each of the three sides of the object, which is a great way to show tone and depth on the object, and I've done by using the one, two, three kind of planning method that I've just gone through.

You can create even more realistic 3D objects by blending.

Blending can be used to show a variation of tone on each side of the cube.

And this is what it would look like if it was closer to actual real life.

I've still used my number technique as before, but this time on each side of my cube I've got more than one number as I'm trying to work out where that actually would blend nicely and there would be a variation of tone on each side of that cube.

Blending is when you smoothie mix different shades, so they transition really gradually together.

Looking as natural as possible.

To do this takes a little bit of practise, but you always do it in a very similar method.

So you start with the light, light layers by applying really light strokes with the pencil.

Then you gently overlap the edges where the two or three different tones meet.

You can if you want to use a finger or a sponge just to soften the edges more if you need to.

And then you can then add layers and blend again until it looks really seamless and you can work on top of that for quite a while, for as much time as you want just to get it really seamless and really blended smoothly.

As I said, takes a little bit of practise, but it is worth practising to get a really realistic finish on your objects.

Let's do a quick check for understanding.

There are three images here.

I'd like you to have a quick look at it and decide which one has got the correct placement of the light source coming in.

Is it A, B, or C? Pause the video here to take a moment to think about it.

How did you get on? It was of course A, we've got the lightest of the tones on the left hand side of that cube, which means the light source is coming in from that upper left.

Now we've looked at rendering to show tone on a 3D cube, but we can also actually use that to show tone on curve shapes as well.

We still need to plan it in, and I'm gonna take you through how we can do those.

But the first thing we do is decide on the direction of the light source, just like we did with the cube, and then plan in where the highlights and the shadows of the objects going to be.

So let's first look at a cylinder.

To render a cylinder, first you're going to need to sketch or do the line drawing of the cylinder.

Then we start thinking about where our light source is going to be coming from.

In this example, I've done it from the bottom left.

Firstly, we then start to plan our highlights and our shadows thinking about the direction of that light source.

We then shade our darkest tones first.

It's always easiest to start with our darkest tones and then work our way down.

You can see here I've got two strips of where I think would be the naturally darkest or most part of the shadows on my cylinder.

I'm then gonna add my mid tones.

So my mid tones I'm going to blend really nicely using the technique that I've just gone through with you and just blend those from the dark and getting into the lighter tones as well.

Now I really wanna create a really sharp highlight on this, my lightest tone, and you can do this with an eraser if you would like.

So here I've used an eraser to create that real big highlight going down the centre of my cylinder just to keep it really sharp and really bright.

Once I've done that, I then tidy up my edges and check all my blending is nice and seamless.

You can go over this and spend quite a bit of time on it just to make sure that blending is really smooth.

So how does that differ for a cone? Again, first thing we need to do is draw the cone and decide where our light source is coming from.

That way we can then start to think about where our highlights and shadows are thinking about the light source.

You can see here my little kind of diagonal hashed bit is my darkest area, my shadow.

So I then add my darkest tones in first, just like I did with the cylinder.

And you can see there are in a kind of base similar position to my cylinder.

Then I'm going to blend in my mid tones just like before, and then blend in my lightest tones as well.

So my darkest tone should go down to my mid tones to then go down to my lightest tones, nice and seamlessly blended.

Again, if I wanted to to create that highlight, I could use a rubber to do that.

But in this example I've actually just left it blank so really not added much shade on top of it where my highlight would be.

You've got two different ways of doing that.

At the very last stage I then tidy up my edges and check all my blending is nice and seamless.

So let's do another quick check for understanding.

Again, here is my cone with different light source directions shown on them.

Which one is showing the correct placement of the light source? Is it A, B, or C? Pause the video here just to take a moment to think about it.

That's right, it was B.

Well done if you got that right.

Right.

Let's just look at the sphere then is the last one.

Just like before, we need to do our line sketching first.

And you can see on here, I've already started to think about where my placements of my shadows are going to be and where the light would naturally hit it.

So I make sure that I record where my light source direction is coming from and at least have that clear in my head.

I can then plan my highlights and shadows thinking about that light source.

So my highlight is on the top where the light would naturally be caught, and then I've got the shadow going round that middle section.

So I'm going to shade the darkest tone first.

Then I'm going to shade and blend in the mid tones, and then I'm going to add my lightest tones very similar to what you did before.

Now you can see here, even though my highlight was planned as a very neat kind of oval shape at the top, I've actually kept that really, really nice and blended and softened.

So sometimes you do actually need to go back in and rub out some of your planning lines.

And then lastly, I've just tied it up my edges and I've checked all my blending is nice and seamless, and again, spent some time on that just to make sure I get that really, really seamless.

Right, let's just do another quick check for understanding based on that then.

What does adding tone to a sketch achieve? Is it A, it adds texture to an image to help it appear 3D.

B, it adds render to an image to help it appear 3D.

Or C, it adds depth to an image to help it appear 3D.

Pause the video here to take a moment to think about it.

How did you get on? It was C.

It adds depth to an image to help it appear 3D.

Right, you guys are gonna be having a go at rendering.

And to render, you will need the following pieces of equipment.

The worksheet, a pencil and a rubber.

Your task then is to sketch a cube and add tone and depth to it as shown below.

Use the success criteria below to also help you and just to remind you of what you should be aiming for.

So don't forget the first thing, a light source has to be considered.

The shadows and the highlights are in the correct places, and you have blended the differing tones so there are no harsh lines.

Pause the video here to have a go at this task.

Great.

How did you get on? I'd like you now to just have a quick look at your sketch.

Now remember, for some of you, this might be the first time you've practised this technique.

So remember to be kind to yourself.

It's quite a tricky thing to learn.

First, look at your sketch and just compare it to the example below.

I'd like you to also consider the success criteria as well, just to remind yourself of that.

Almost use it a bit like a tick list of whether or not you achieved these points.

So the first one was a light source has been considered.

Did you do that? Then the shadows and highlights are in the correct places, so just check if they are.

That will completely depend on your light source rather than the sketched example I'm showing you.

And lastly, you've blended the different tones so there are no harsh lines.

Right.

Remember, you've got lots of opportunities to practise this technique in your own time, and it's really worth practising to get this to the best quality it can be for your sketches, especially as you move into your NEA stage.

Okay.

Next task for you.

Little bit harder this one.

I'd now like you to choose one of the curved objects to sketch and add tone and depth to it.

Again, you're gonna use the success criteria, which I'm gonna show you in a second on the next slide.

But firstly, you just need to pick which one of these curved objects you're gonna have a go at.

And let's just remind you of the success criteria.

A light source is being considered, the shadows and the highlights are in the correct places, and you've blended the differing tones, so there are no harsh lines.

Pause the video here to have a go at this task.

Great.

How did you get on? Once again, I'd like you to evaluate your own sketch.

So look at your sketch and compare it to the one below.

As well as just reviewing that success criteria one more time.

So have you considered a light source? Are the shadows and the highlights in the correct places based upon your choice of where that light source is coming from? And you have blended the differing tones, so there are no harsh lines.

If you're not quite sure, if you've succeeded in all of those, you might want to check with somebody next to you and do a little bit of peer assessment on how well you've actually got on.

Again, this could be the first time you've done anything like this, so try not to be too harsh on yourself.

And remember, you can practise this technique lots in your own time.

Okay, we are now going to look at rendering to show texture.

When we are communicating a design idea, it will sometimes be important to show the material you are planning to use as well.

To do this, we need to show both texture as well as the tone that we've been looking at of the object when we rendering.

The texture is the way that the designer shows the look or the feel of a surface, making it appear rough, smooth, soft, or hard.

Let's just do a quick check for understanding on that.

Adding texture to a sketched object can help to show whether an object is, A, rough, shiny, light or dark.

B, rough, smooth, soft or hard.

C, rough, smooth, hot or cold.

Or D, rough, shiny, soft or hard.

Pause the video here to take a moment to think about that.

And the answer was B, rough, smooth, soft or hard.

Well done if you got that right.

Below, I've got some different examples of products made from timber, polymer and metal.

Now these all have slightly different textures to them.

Take a moment to think, can you describe the texture of the patterns of the materials? Here, Andeep has had a go at that.

So he has said the timber looks rough to touch because of the wood grain.

The polymer looks smooth, the metal can has ridges on it and looks shiny and smooth as you can see the light reflecting off it.

Trying to have an understanding of that texture before you start sketching the texture is really important.

Applying render to show texture onto objects means you need to think about the tone of the object and the texture of the material.

So it gets a little bit more complicated.

Here you've got three different examples of those three different materials I just showed you.

So the first one's timber, the second one is a polymer, and the last one is metal.

And we're gonna do this on a cube.

So let's just look at timber first.

To render a timber, you will need some crayons.

You'll need a yellow, orange, mid brown, and dark brown crayons.

First thing I do is shade the whole box in a mid tone yellow, trying to keep that colour as flat as possible.

I then take my mid brown, and what I'm going to do is sketch the wood grain on.

The end of the wood should sew the rings and the sides of the wood should have the lines of the grain going through it.

And you can see as I've added these grains, I haven't tried to keep 'em too uniform or too perfect.

They're going to be a little bit I regular as it's an organic material.

They shouldn't look too perfect.

Some of my wood grains are thicker.

Some of them start thicker and go into thinner, and they're slightly wavy as they go through the wood as well.

They're not perfectly straight.

The rings, again, you can see some are thicker and some are thinner, and again, not perfectly placed as they shouldn't be.

I then pick up my dark brown crayon to blend those grain lines and add a little bit of depth to the lines as well.

So you can see I've kind of worked with the grain lines I've already done and just kind of shaded away from them slightly and pulled them out.

It just makes them appear more 3D.

And then gonna start thinking about my tone and my shadow for the object.

So I've added a darker tone to the sides that would be in shadow using the dark brown.

And you do this using the exact same techniques that we were looking at in our first learning cycle, thinking about where our light source would be and where the darker tones and lighter tones would be on the object.

And then lastly, I've just blended in some orange just to add a little bit more depth to those grain lines.

So again, working along the grain lines, I've just pulled down a little bit of the orange and blended that in as well, making it appear as natural as I possibly can.

Let's do a quick check for understanding on that.

True or false, the end of the block of wood should have rings instead of lines.

Is that true or false? Pause the video here if you'd like to take a moment to think about it.

And the answer, it is true.

The end of the block of wood should show the growth rings of the tree.

Next, let's look at rendering a polymer.

For this one, you will need a light and dark.

And I've chosen to do this in blue as I had a light and dark blue.

However, you could do this in green or red.

It's completely and utterly up to you or what you have available.

Just make sure you've got a lighter version of the colour and a darker version of the colour.

Just like I did with the wood, I've started with a whole overall colour, and this time I've shaded it in the light blue and tried to keep that colour as flat and uniformed as possible.

Next, I then pick up my dark blue, and I'm starting to think about my tone already on this as I don't have any kind of lines details to show.

So I'm now starting to think about adding the darker tones where the shadows would be thinking about my light source using that dark blue to do that.

I'm then gonna pick up my rubber, and my rubber is going to be used to get two or three straight lines going across the whole cube.

And this is gonna show where the light is reflecting off that object.

Now, because I've taken my rubber lines all the way through the whole object, that means I will just need to re-sketch in the edges using the dark blue crayon.

I'm not using a pencil at this point because I think that would be too harsh.

So I'm using the dark blue to kind of show those edges off.

I then just pick up a white crayon as a last little touch just to go over any internal edges, so those edges on the inside of the shape just to soften them as if the light is reflecting off them a little.

Let's just do a quick check for understanding on that.

Using a rubber to remove some of the rendering shows what on a sketch? Is it A, the highlights.

B, the shadows.

Or C, the colour.

Pause the video if you'd like to take a moment to think about it.

And the answer was, of course, the highlights.

Well done if you got that right.

Right.

Lastly, let's look at rendering metal.

This time you will need a grey and a black crayon.

First thing I do is I use my black crayon to sketch dark lines of varying different thicknesses on the two side panels.

And now I'm going to blend those out a little bit and I'm going to use still the black crayon, but I'm trying to aim for a mid tone, so I'm gonna put a little bit less pressure on my crayon to do that.

I'm applying those midtones between the dark black lines, but I'm still leaving some white strips as well.

And now I start to think about my tone and my shadows and thinking about where my light source would be coming from.

Just to add more of a shadow with some of the darker lines on one side of the cube.

This time I'm now gonna pick up my grey crayon.

And my grey crayon sketches the lighter lines on top of the cube.

That's the very top surface.

I'm gonna blend those in and just apply some kind of blending and shading and just varying of tones for those grey lines as well.

And lastly, I'm gonna pick up my white crayon again, just to try and highlight the lighter areas and to blend some of those tones and soften those tones down a little.

Right.

Another quick check for understanding on that.

How do you show a smooth and shiny material when rendering? Is it A, sketch a highlight to show a reflection of the light? B, sketch a dark tone to show a reflection of the light.

Or C, sketch two lines to show a reflection of the light.

Pause the video here to take a moment to think about that.

And the answer was A.

Sketch a highlight to show a reflection of the light.

Well done if you got that right.

Right, you guys are gonna be having a go.

Now to render to show texture, you'll need the following equipment, the worksheet, crayons, a rubber, and you may also want a pencil just to draw out the original shapes as well.

Your task then is you're going to sketch three cubes and render each one using a different material just as I've done below.

You're going to use a success criteria on the next page, which I'll show you in a moment.

The three examples are the ones that I've just been through with you.

So you have timber, polymer, and metal.

Let's just have a look at the success criteria for these.

So it is potential highlights have been added to the shiny materials and your shiny materials are the metal and the polymer.

Tone has still been considered as well as texture.

And also patterns on the materials have been recognised and shown, just like with the timber example on the right.

Right, it's time for you to have a go.

So pause the video here and see how you get on.

Right.

How did you get on? Once again, I'd like you to look at your sketches and start to evaluate them.

You can do this by comparing it to the examples below and that I've shown you previously, as well as reminding yourself of that success criteria and using that success criteria as a little bit like a tick list.

So the first one is potential highlights have been added to shiny materials.

So did you do that on the polymer and the metal? Next one, tone has still been considered as well as texture.

We can't forget tone just because we're working on texture as we are still trying to make our objects look 3D.

And the last one then.

Patterns on the materials have been recognised and shown, and the big one for this is your timber.

Have you shown that grain going through the wood? Remember, this is another tricky thing to learn and it may take some practise over time.

So feel free to practise these techniques in your own time.

Right.

Let's just summarise what we've done today.

So rendering can be added to show tone and depth as well as the texture of a specific material.

When we are rendering to show tone, you first need to decide on the position of your light source.

And when showing texture, it is important to consider patterns on the surface as well as how the light reflects from that surface.

Thank you for joining me for the lesson today.

I hope you've learned a lot and remember to practise some of the techniques that we have done together today.

Thank you.