The edges that don't see the light source will be the heaviest line weight.
These lines will be drawn with the lightest line weight. To imply shadows and a light source with line weight consider what edges of your form are in direct contact with the light source. This can be brought into focus by applying a heavier line weight to it than the overall form. Or you might want to call out a certain part of your figure like a feature or part.
Varied line weight can also be used to emphasize or de-emphasize certain information on a page.įor example you can let structure lines fall back by using lighter marks to build your drawings and emphasize your final form with a thick line weight. When doing a quick sketch or orthographic drawing (straight on view front, back, sides, etc) I will often skip shadows and instead only use line weight to add dimension. Thin line weight and breaks in a line can be applied to give the impression of lighter areas or highlights.
Line weight is a simple but powerful tool.ĭrawing tools are available in a variety of line weights.Ī thicker line weight can be used to imply shadow, ground the figure on the page or give an object visual weight. Shadows help add dimension to a figure, another way to make your drawing pop off the page is by varying your line weight.
