# Need some pointers for shading a person with darker skin in a portrait.



## Kcala514 (Apr 25, 2021)

So I've been drawing a portrait of me and my girlfriend. I got the outlining done, but I'm just having the hardest time figuring out the correct way to shade her skin. She has darker skin so the shadows aren't so easy to see. I uploaded the reference photo, and the portrait I've drawn so far. If you have any tips for me that would be great thank you.


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## picassolite (Dec 10, 2016)

I apologize for being so late to the party ...

You might consider smudging some graphite off to the side and applying it to your image using a mop brush - ever so gently ... to obtain smooth gradation areas. You might have to use 3 or 4 different sizes of mop brush depending on the areas you are working on.


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## hoayanna (Aug 9, 2021)

picassolite said:


> I apologize for being so late to the party ...
> 
> You might consider smudging some graphite off to the side and applying it to your image using a mop brush - ever so gently ... to obtain smooth gradation areas. You might have to use 3 or 4 different sizes of mop brush depending on the areas you are working on.


I would like to suggest the same


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