Shadows and highlights

C

calrytorres

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Hi guys. I would love to learn how to propertly do shadows and higlight when using a stencil or fre handed without a reference picture. I will appreciate any help. Thanks.
 
Using a single stencil?you should just lightly dust over it to help show you where shadow should go,as for highlights just think of where the light would hit on the object your painting. and build up to it easy way to learn is to paint a ball or box shape and place an arrow showing you where your light is coming from and paint the shadows and highlights in where they go( on a ball shape with the light coming from above the top would be the highlighted side down to the midway point of the ball and the shadows would be the bottom half from midway down) just work at it remembering that the closer the shadow gets to the light the lighter it will be, and with the light part the closer the light is to the shadow the darker it will be
 
Using a single stencil?you should just lightly dust over it to help show you where shadow should go,as for highlights just think of where the light would hit on the object your painting. and build up to it easy way to learn is to paint a ball or box shape and place an arrow showing you where your light is coming from and paint the shadows and highlights in where they go( on a ball shape with the light coming from above the top would be the highlighted side down to the midway point of the ball and the shadows would be the bottom half from midway down) just work at it remembering that the closer the shadow gets to the light the lighter it will be, and with the light part the closer the light is to the shadow the darker it will be
Thanks a lot. For the help I will start practicing that. What I mean with the stencil is that I need to learn how to make the outline look realistic and 3d with the shadows and highlights. I will practice shadowing circles and boxes with the technique you say to help myself out. Thanks
 
imagination my friend the arrow is a big help for learning the basics but it can get complicated as you add more light sources or want a light source an arrow doesn't exactly show. Practice and look at reference can help also along with what @basepaint said will help allot I posted a bunch of art links and allot of useful art info a while back. Maybe it's time for a new subject.
 
There is no easy explenation for this once you go beyond drawing cilinders and piramids etc. these shapes are most often used to explain the basics of shadows but the moment you start doing more complicated and organic shapes with multiple lightsources (as in doing realistic stuff) you get into a whole different ball game.

The mentioned cilinders etc are esential to gain a basic understanding of the theory but after that it will unfortunately just amount to practice and study, there are no real shortcuts here (once again I'm talking about when you try to achieve some degree of realism).

The quickest way (and that way is by no means quick :p) to realy get a grip on this is just coppying photo's. It is very important though that you don't just paint what you see but also constantly ask yourself "why do I see what I see and what is the cause of this", so instead of just coppying it you study it. This will in time create an understanding of how light affects shapes and forms upto a point that (if you have reasonable drawing skills) you have enough knowledge and understanding of how to apply the techniques and tricks you learned while studying references to create realistic light and dark values.

It might be a bit depressing, but to realy get to grips with this will probably take years of practice and study, there just isn't a quick way.... if there was everybody would be "an artist" and there would be nothing special about what we are doing :D

Some links to "the basics" which might be helpfull:

http://www.craftsy.com/blog/2015/08/how-to-draw-shadows/
http://design.tutsplus.com/articles...y-learning-to-see-light-and-shadow--cms-20282
 
imagination my friend the arrow is a big help for learning the basics but it can get complicated as you add more light sources or want a light source an arrow doesn't exactly show. Practice and look at reference can help also along with what @basepaint said will help allot I posted a bunch of art links and allot of useful art info a while back. Maybe it's time for a new subject.
Thanks. I will probably start recreating paints to get the idea on where to make shadows and highligts
 
There is no easy explenation for this once you go beyond drawing cilinders and piramids etc. these shapes are most often used to explain the basics of shadows but the moment you start doing more complicated and organic shapes with multiple lightsources (as in doing realistic stuff) you get into a whole different ball game.

The mentioned cilinders etc are esential to gain a basic understanding of the theory but after that it will unfortunately just amount to practice and study, there are no real shortcuts here (once again I'm talking about when you try to achieve some degree of realism).

The quickest way (and that way is by no means quick [emoji14]) to realy get a grip on this is just coppying photo's. It is very important though that you don't just paint what you see but also constantly ask yourself "why do I see what I see and what is the cause of this", so instead of just coppying it you study it. This will in time create an understanding of how light affects shapes and forms upto a point that (if you have reasonable drawing skills) you have enough knowledge and understanding of how to apply the techniques and tricks you learned while studying references to create realistic light and dark values.

It might be a bit depressing, but to realy get to grips with this will probably take years of practice and study, there just isn't a quick way.... if there was everybody would be "an artist" and there would be nothing special about what we are doing :D

Some links to "the basics" which might be helpfull:

http://www.craftsy.com/blog/2015/08/how-to-draw-shadows/
http://design.tutsplus.com/articles...y-learning-to-see-light-and-shadow--cms-20282
Thanks a lot for your help. I will take a look at the links
 
Want to learn shadows here is a very old pbs drawing show I use to watch. It's great for learning shadows as well as vanishing points. These voids are very chappy but we are talking 80s TV.

That is cool the way they explain everything. Thanks a lot!
 
If you have any more questions just post them up and someone will reply as you have seen here we are here to help
 
I just mailed in for my card anyone else getting one? Awesome video I remember other drawing shows when I was kid one with a talking pen.
 
When I was younger I wanted to be an animator and wanted to be able to draw anything with exceptional lighting and shading. Now I'm happy to draw from reference. I have come to accept my mediocrity in life now.
 
Glad ya enjoyed the video. This guy helped me to improve my skills a lot. I remember drawing a over grown yoda once and the shading made it look great. Probably one of a handful of drawings I loved to bad I lost it.

Oh and a really good book is "drawing on the right side of the brain" saw it still being sold at a hastings. But ya could check it out at a library maybe to see if you want to buy it. It's on amazon

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/15854...+the+brain&dpPl=1&dpID=516I7mz+ZEL&ref=plSrch
 
Glad ya enjoyed the video. This guy helped me to improve my skills a lot. I remember drawing a over grown yoda once and the shading made it look great. Probably one of a handful of drawings I loved to bad I lost it.

Oh and a really good book is "drawing on the right side of the brain" saw it still being sold at a hastings. But ya could check it out at a library maybe to see if you want to buy it. It's on amazon

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/15854...+the+brain&dpPl=1&dpID=516I7mz+ZEL&ref=plSrch
Wao.. Thanks for the link . seems to be interesting book.
 
where do you live ?U.S.A. ,UK? I Have a copy you can have just have to find it:D send me a pm and I'll get it to you when I find it
 
Read some of reviews about V4 of the book and they said V1 was better and it had info on colors that was left out of new book.
 
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