Five-Value Shading Sphere

Practice five-value shading in this art lesson: five-value shading sphere.

🎨 Studio Brief #1

Learn to shade a circle into a sphere using five values: highlight, light, mid-tone, shadow, and reflected light.

🎯 Your mission

Trust your hands more than your head.

⚡ The twist

Don't fix mistakes. Build with them.

What you'll learn

Learn to shade a circle into a sphere using five values: highlight, light, mid-tone, shadow, and reflected light. This fundamental skill makes flat shapes look three-dimensional.

Get ready

Techniques you'll practise

five-value shadingform renderingcast shadow

You will need

Sketch paperBrushes

Step 1 of 3

Draw a circle with a pencil. Decide where your light source is (usually upper left).

Step 2 of 3

Leave the highlight area white. Fill the light area with very light shading.

Step 3 of 3

Gradually darken the mid-tone area and the core shadow (the darkest part of the sphere).

Did you know?

🤯 Mind = Blown

🤯 Art rules exist mostly so you can break them on purpose.

🌟 Artist Spotlight

🎨 Every artist you've heard of started with one wobbly first try.

You did it!

Next: Shading Techniques Sampler All lessons

🎯

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✨ More to explore

🌍 Where you see this: Art shapes everything you look at — once you notice, you can't unsee it.

🏆 Try this week: Make one piece of art today — even tiny, even messy.

👨‍👩‍👧 At dinner: “Tell me about the part of your art you love the most.”

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Five-Value Shading Sphere

Techniques you'll practise

You will need

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Five-Value Shading Sphere

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