Introduction to shading

Hi Everyone! Long time no see :)

I am back, and this time I would be starting with an introduction to a cool Mehndi technique called Shading. In my last post, we learned how to draw a complete Mehndi. Though this design is complete, it looks a bit empty. We will now start learning how to fill it. Mehndi looks very beautiful after filling it, as you can see in the images below:

                                                      

 



The above example uses a number of techniques for filling up the shapes, and one of them is shading. In this short post, I will introduce you to it. Shading is a popular & a beautiful type of Mehndi technique. It is my favorite too and if you do it the way I say, it will be your favorite too. So lets get started.


Initially we will learn shading by making strokes. Put the tip of your pencil or cone at the outline of your shape and drag it inwards. Repeat this till the shape is completely filled. Make sure you fill all the blank space with these strokes. Watch the video to see how this is done:

I have  used a pencil and paper for Shading. You can too first practice on paper before you start with a cone. A few things to keep in mind are:

• Start with more pressure on the edge and reduce the pressure as you move inwards. This will give and dark to light shade which will look good. 
• Control the density of shading by controlling the spacing between the strokes. 
• You can add more variety by changing the direction of shading, i.e. either from outside to inside, or from inside to outside. 

In this and next few posts I will talk about the basic shading techniques. After that I will teach you some advanced shading techniques, so stay tuned!