In case you haven’t already figured it out, I’m somewhat of a Star Wars fan. This Darth Vader pencil drawing was finished all the way back in May 2012 when I finally decided to put some time into doing a bit more than my daily doodle.
Between school, work, maintaining any social life, and the very little sleep that any college student actually gets, this drawing took much longer than it should have. But I digress.
Materials Used
Super basic for this one. For this pencil drawing of Darth Vader, I used:
- Paper – Pro Art 9×12 Sketchbook
- Any paper will do, but a sketchbook is my personal preference for this project
- Drawing Pencils – Faber-Castell 9000 Graphite Sketch Pencil Set
- I recommend you don’t cheap out on pencils if you can avoid it. Faber-Castell is a good brand and you’ll be able to tell the difference between these and a cheap set.
- Kneaded Eraser – Prismacolor Kneaded Eraser
- You really knead this… I’m sorry, I just have to say that every time. Actually, no, I’m not sorry. Puns are amazing. There. I just kneaded to let that out… Ok, but seriously, these things are great.
- Mechanical Eraser – GPBM2-BP Factis Pen Style Eraser
- This thing excels with creating thin highlights on any drawing. If you don’t have one, you’re missing out.
Darth Vader Drawing Tips
I’m not a writer, so it’s foreign to me trying to put things like this into words, but here it goes for the sake of trying to help random folks on the internet (hi by the way).
Drawing Darth Vader’s Helmet
Lay out the location of the mask with light pencil strokes before diving in. I made the mistake of going straight to bold, dark pencil lines and couldn’t go back without needing to start over. If you lay out the structure first, the proportions will end up better in the end.
The face on my drawing is a bit thin, which I hadn’t noticed until it was finished, but there wasn’t an easy fix now that all the shading had been done. The more I look at it, though, the more I’m ok with it. I’ll just title the image “Vader on a Diet” or something.
Highlights and Shadows
Much of Vader’s gear is reflective, so having an eraser that can do various highlights in all their forms is a crucial element in this Darth Vader pencil drawing in order to emulate the reflective properties more accurately.
Also, don’t be afraid to make your darks darker and your highlights lighter. I’ve previously been afraid of making my darks and lights too bold, but you’ll see a dramatic improvement in your drawing quality if you have a larger contrast between lights and darks. Plus, this is Darth Vader we’re talking about. Don’t be afraid to join the dark side, amirite?
Final Thoughts on My Darth Vader Pencil Drawing
This drawing is unusual for me since the core of my work has always been more abstract, such as many of the images you’ll see in the main gallery. From time to time, though, I’ll be inspired to draw something outside of my usual abstractions.
Let me know what you think about my Darth Vader drawing in the comment section below, and be sure to contact me if you have any questions, or even just to have a good conversation.