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Lesson kit

Lesson 5 · Level 3

Basic Shading

Learn to create light, medium and dark areas.

Recommended wood

Basswood

Soft and even — the easiest surface for smooth tone.

Recommended tip

Shading tip

Broad, soft footprint that blends passes together. In the studio: Shading Tip.

Heat level

Warm

Low heat with repeated passes is the secret to smooth shading.

Technique

Three values first

Light means minimal burning, midtone moderate burning, dark heavy and dense burning. Get three convincing values before you attempt five.

Build in layers

Multiple light passes give a smoother tone than one hot pass.

Keep the tip moving

Small circular or side-to-side motion prevents hard edges inside a shaded area.

Demonstration

A value scale where each step is clearly different from its neighbours, plus a gradient with no visible banding.

Practice board guide for lesson 5: Basic Shading

Digital practice exercise

  1. 1.Fill the three-level scale: light, medium, dark.
  2. 2.Fill the five-level scale: very light through very dark.
  3. 3.Burn a smooth gradient with no visible steps.

The practice board loads as a reference overlay on the wood canvas — set the wood, tip and heat above, then burn over the faint guides.

Beginner challenge

Shade a simple circle so it reads as a three-dimensional ball, with a highlight and a soft shadow edge.