Thoughts on lighting & confidence
Someone asked a question in a server I'm in that got me thinking about light and shadow, specifically that they were struggling with their shading feeling too smooth and lacking definition. so here's those thoughts
Although it is worth remembering that light gets gradually weaker the further away from the source it gets, creating a natural gradient of light to dark as things fade away into the shadows...
A smooth gradient of light to dark does not describe form, and rather than looking like a 3D cube, this looks like a flat hexagon with a gradient in it.
Describing form requires contrast between light and shadow, defined edges where things turn away from the light:
You can simplify any form into a series of flat planes, like on this cube, to make it easier to find these edges. For example, the human face:
If we think of the face as being made up of lots of mostly flat surfaces, it becomes much easier to think about where to define our shadows
These planes are simplifications of where the big angle changes are on the head, for example the top vs the bottom of the cheekbone, or the underside of the brows and the eyes.
Planes describe form shadows, as things turn away from the light, the value of each plane gets darker, allowing you to depict the form of the subject.
Another important kind of shadow are cast shadows, these are shadows that are formed by the light being blocked by something and casting a shadow onto another surface.
Another really critical thing is confidence, compare one sleeve here to the other, which one feels like it was drawn with more confidence? Which one feels more believable?
Placing down shadows is a commitment, it can be quite scary and cause you to shy away and blur them out or use only the lightest little indications and use colours that are close together to make the shadows softer...
Now, there is nothing wrong with creating art that has soft, minimal shadows by any means!
However, if your desire is to describe form and depict light and shadow, then shying away from harsh edges and strong contrast is counter to that goal, so youโll need to find the confidence to commit to those distinguished shadows.
So how do you find that confidence? How do you know where to place shadows and where to place light? How do you make it look good?
You have to know what youโre drawing.
If you donโt understand the subject youโre depicting, then you canโt describe it clearly!
For example, do you know how clothing folds are formed? They are created by a combination of two opposing forces:
The weight of gravity, pulling against the pinching points of the clothing, where it rests against or grasps onto the subject
By identifying where these pinching points are, one can visualise how the clothing bunches up against and hangs between these points:
And define our folds along those lines.
(This isn't a clothing tutorial as that's another topic entirely, but for more information on this I direct you to these posts: one, two, three [last image])
But hereโs a little secret for you: I used a reference to draw those examples. I own a poet shirt specifically so I can take photos to help me draw the complex folds of such a loose and light piece of clothing.
Understanding your subject and having the confidence to describe it well is a combination of theoretical knowledgeโknowing the anatomy, practice breaking things down into simplified shapes and forms, knowing the different forces that are acting on your subjectโand good use of references.
If you draw the same subject many, many times over and use lots of references, eventually over time youโll build up a mental library of what it looks like and need to use references less, but if youโre struggling to draw something, that means you donโt know what youโre drawing! Which points either to a lack of understanding, or a lack of reference.
And with a solid understanding of the subject that you are drawing comes the confidence to make strong choices, like exactly where to place that shift from light into dark!
