Adding Color to a Leprechaun Drawing
Add a Base Color to the Skin
To make a skin color, first color the base skin with the skin color of your choice. (More about dark tones below.) Then, use a darker skin tone to add some shading along the side opposite the light source. The darker color will make a face look more rounded and give it some form.
Use a Brown to Add Shading
Here are the steps I used to add shading:
- First, add shading under the nose and inside the ears.
- Next, add shading under the eyebrow and along the side of the nose opposite the light source.
- Finally, add shading under the lower lip.
Use a Warm Color, Cool Color, and Eraser
Use a cool color, such as purple or blue, in shadows. For this leprechaun, I used blue to add shading in the remaining areas.
The skin is lightest when the light hits it, such as the nose, cheeks, forehead, and chin. This lighter area is called a highlight. Use an eraser to lighten parts of the face that stick out.
Give the cheeks a glow. Use a warm color like pink to add some extra color to the cheeks.
Layer Greens to Make Clothes
Start with light green as a first layer. Be sure to color heaviest on the side nearest the light source (on the right in the example). Next, use a darker green (or blue) for the top layer.
Color it heaviest opposite the light source (on the left, in the example).
You can get How to Draw a Leprechaun from
my website or Teachers Pay Teachers.
Making Darker Skin
Adding Warm and Cool Colors
Technique Summary
For the skin:
- Add a base color to the skin.
- Add shading with a brown … OR
- Make the shading more interesting with a warm and cool color.
- Use an eraser to lighten the highlights
- Add some pink to the cheeks
For the clothes:
- Add a light green making it heaviest on the side closest to the light source.
- Overlap a dark green (or blue) making it heaviest on the side away from the light source.
The Benefits of Drawing
Use this infographic to display in your room or share with parents, administrators, or other teachers as a way to point out some of the academic benefits of learning to draw. While they are not the only reason for using drawing as part of a balanced curriculum, they are certainly worthy of celebrating and may help you advocate for including drawing as part of your art or classroom learning experiences.
You can read more about The Benefits of Drawing in this blog post.
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