Artist's Studio - Tonal Impression

Would you like to turn your nature photos into a tonal picture? Here we have a step by step guide to transforming your favourite photo into a hand drawn picture.

Here's what you'll need:

A black and white print out of your photograph

A white sheet of paper

A pencil

An eraser

A bit of tape

And a window

Step 1: Tape your photo to a window (just small pieces in the corners will do)

Step 2: On the blank piece of paper cover the surface with light shading.

Step 3: Take a look at your photo coming through your shading. It will not be very sharp but you should be able to make out very light shapes and very dark shapes.

Step 4: Using your eraser, rub out the lightest parts of your picture. It doesn’t matter if the edges are unclear

Step 5: Using your pencil, build up the dark shaded areas that you can see. Again follow the shapes. Don’t worry about copying the photo exactly.

Step 6: Then with your pencil you might like to add some extra shading, or a few lines to help with definition. Don’t be tempted to do too much.

You should have a lovely tonal impression of your photo.

Next week we will be creating a tonal impression of Oxford architecture.