Step 1 — Block-in
The first stage is the block-in, it’s the early part of the work: in this step, we take our time and we focus on going from mark to line. It’s all about proportion and placement and we don’t let anything else disturb our process.
What we’re trying to establish at this stage is extremely basic — but absolutely fundamental: How tall is the subject? How wide is it? What are the main angles? Where can I find visual landmarks? How do the shapes relate to each other?
We’re flattening the subject and thinking purely in two dimensions, purely in terms of lines and abstracted measures. We work with straight lines. Simple angles. Clear boundaries. We avoid curves at all cost!
Not because straight lines are beautiful — but because they are easier to measure and correct. Curves can always be implemented later.
Structure comes first.
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Step 2 — Mass-In
When we’re done with the block-in we move on to stage two: Mass-in.
We go from line to shape. We need to prepare the transition from a two-dimensional to a three-dimensional drawing. It won't happen at once, but step by step. The mistake to avoid is jumping into modeling too soon, when shadow shapes have not been carefully established. We stop thinking in terms of outlines — and we start thinking in terms of value masses. And to facilitate visualizing masses of value, we simplify everything into two families: Light vs
Shadow.
No half-tones. No gradient, no shading. Just a clear separation.
What we do is we apply a very light, uniform value in all shadow areas. Press gently to obtain a veil that is visible but easy to erase in the event of a mistake. The aim of this light gray is not to represent values realistically, but simply to oppose light and shadow in two distinct camps. Greying out the areas will offer us a new way of seeing, not just in terms of lines, but also in terms of masses of values.
An empty drawing made only with contour lines can be very misleading, even confusing, like an empty enveloppe. When you fill in the shadow masses as flat tones, shapes start to finally make sense. It’s a mindset shift: things start to slowly turn into shapes. Often, this is where the drawing truly starts to feel solid.
So the mass-in is not just about adding tone. It’s a second verification of proportions — this time through shape instead of line.
Step 3 — Values
Now it’s time to move on to values and shading and here, the most typical problem is very common: People try to identify values as if they were isolated. And they shade areas as if they were independent from everything else.
But values don’t exist on their own. They only exist in relationship.
In this stage, we work on the whole and we use a strategy called keying. We establish a value key — a range of light to dark that governs the entire drawing. Then we adjust neighboring value zones so they match each other.
A value can be perfectly copied from observation — and still be wrong in your drawing. Because what matters is not whether it matches the reference in isolation. What matters is whether it fits into the structure of your drawing. If one shadow is pushed too dark compared to the others, the hierarchy collapses. So this stage is about calibration.
We compare. We adjust. We make sure that the difference of value between area A and B on the model is the same as our values for areas A and B.
With it, the drawing begins to feel unified.
Step 4 — Modeling
Now it’s finally time to do the thing people love doing the most: shading and blending. And see how we’re doing this very late in the process. We’re only starting to do modeling now because we’re trying to avoid the most typical problem at this stage: overmodeling.
Overmodeling is essentially getting lost in the blending process and forgetting about the values.
The good thing is that with our method, overmodeling is impossible because we make sure to fully apply the values before we blend and model. That’s the benefit of apply well throughout process.
But overmodeling is still a possibility: we can still ruin what we did in the previous stage because of too much blending. Blending can help a little but too much blending can be detrimental.
And what happens when we over-blend? We destroy the value relationships we just worked so hard to organize.
That’s why the value stage comes before modeling.
Step 5 — Rendering
The last stage is all about finishing but it’s not as easy as one may think.
Some students stop too early before most errors were fixed, and they call it done because they have no way to evaluate their work and do self critique. Others do the opposite, they never know when to call it done. They keep adjusting. Keep reworking. And the drawing slowly loses freshness.
Both problems come from the same place: a lack of clarity about the process.
That’s why we have our final stage: rendering. It’s the final articulation of what has already been built.
At this point: Proportions are established. Masses are clear. Value relationships are organized. Forms are modeled.
Rendering is where we refine: Edges. Accents. Subtle shifts, reflected lights. Texture. Unity and harmony.
Many students stop before the drawing has been pushed far enough and, I get it, it’s complicated for self-taught artists.
That’s why I created my drawing course, the “Systematic Drawing Method” with self-critique techniques to help beginner self-assess their progression and correct mistakes without help.
These five stages form a systematic progression — one inherited from the Atelier tradition — designed to build clarity, control, and ultimately mastery.
More coming up this week on this topic...
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Until next time—joy and inspiration to you, my friends.
