How to Draw a Stream
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Start out by picking your pencils. I used an H pencil for light shading, a B pencil for details/general shading, and a 9B pencil/woodless pencil for sketching and shading. I also used some powdered graphite for quick shading.
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Start out by sketching in some basic guidelines. I used 9B graphite for this but just about any pencil will work if you sketch lightly enough.
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Start adding some basic forms on the right. Sketch in the trees and some rocks. I decided to work counter-clockwise for most of this drawing.
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Sketch in the left side of the drawing. You can get as detailed as you want to with your sketching just keep in mind that if you follow my way of shading all of these sketchy lines will be covered up pretty soon.
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Sketch in the various rocks/debris in the water. Erase any unneeded guidelines.
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For this step I used a paper towel and some powdered graphite to add a fairly smooth layer of grey to the drawing. If you don't have powdered graphite just add a rough but even layer of shading using an HB or 2B pencil then blend that in with a cloth
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Using a kneaded eraser, add some rough highlights to the tree leaves and the stream water. This is more or less to help guide you as you shade. You can always rework your highlight later.
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Start adding rough shading on the right . Use your softest pencil for this so that you can get more texture out of your shading. I used a 9B pencil for all of my rough shading.
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Use a B pencil to define your shading. Use an H pencil for lighter shading. When in doubt, start shading with for lightest pencil (H) and if that isn't dark enough mover down to your darker pencils until your shading looks about right.
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Start moving towards the left by roughly shading in the next section of trees. Concentrate on tree trunks and the stream bank.
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Add a bit of definition using a B pencil and use an H pencil for light shading once more. I chose not to get too carried away with leaves and details. If you are a detail oriented person go ahead and draw in more details. I decided in the long run to
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Roughly shade in the rest of the trees. Try to leave some light spots around for tufts of leaves.
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Use a B and H pencil to refine you shading a bit more. If you shade lightly enough you will start to see all sorts of unique texture pop up in you drawing. Try to use these to add a bit of realism to you drawing. Avoid blending in you shading.
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Roughly shading in the rest of the rocks in the stream and on its banks using a 9B pencil.
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Use 9B graphite to shade in the rocks first in order to add more rocky texture. Use a B pencil to refine your shading, an H pencil work on you lighter shading, and a kneaded eraser to add a bit of highlight where needed.
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Add rough shading to the river again. All you need to do is get a smooth layer of shading that is dark enough to erase.
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Using a kneaded eraser add in some foamy highlights to the water.
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Use a blending stump to blend your water in a bit. Don't blend the whitest parts of the water just concentrate of making the edges of the foamy water blend in with the rest of the water.
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Start adding final details by moving from left to right. Use a 9B pencil or woodless graphite to add darker shading and a bit more texture to the drawing. Sharpen the outlines of the rocks on the left side and add some slightly darker values to the w
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Finish up the drawing by adding finishing touches to the right side. Remember that you can take you drawing as far as you would like. You can add as much or as little detail as you see fit. I hope this tutorial proved useful to you and if you have an
