Rendering: colouring and shading

Designer have to illustrate products that do not exist yet. Line drawings give people a good idea of what a design will look like but it is only when light, shade and colour are applied to a drawing, that the design looks realistic. 

Adding light, shade and colour to drawings is called rendering.  Rendering drawings so that they look realistic takes skill and lots of practice. 

Try a rendering exercise

Click on one of the links below to open an easily printable PDF worksheet, then render the line drawing next to the finished example.

• marking gauge
• power drill

You do not have to use the same colours.  The aim of the exercise is to develop your rendering skills so that when you apply your skills to your own designs, your illustrations will look realistic.

You will need a PDF reader to view these exercises.