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New piece
- Thread starter wrastor
- Start date
I started out using dodge and burn for shading but now after i get all my base colors I just pick darker colors from the pallete, sometimes mixing them with other base colors to blend the entire drawing more. I give every color its on shadow and highlight color, sometimes to shadow colors. That for more of a cell-shaded look though otherwise, I'll use a lot more colors.
His eyes look uneven abit, but it looks nice other than that.
His eyes look uneven abit, but it looks nice other than that.
Dodge and Burn are your enemies. If I were you (which I am not) I would take the first step towards great coloring now. You simply need to remember this basic tidbit of color theory:
Yellow=Highlight ; Purple=Shadow
I'm not saying to use pure yellow and purple to shade (though you most certainly could for a dramatic look), but when you're choosing highlight and shadow colors, try to move you color selection slider at least a bit towards those tones to add some depth and realism. Also generally shadows are less saturated in color than midtones or highlights, that is they're closer towards grey, so by using burn, which not only darkens the color, but also raises saturation, you're really messing with how shading should work.
As to the structure of your shading, establish a light source (half the time I'll draw a lightbulb where my light is coming from) and draw invisible beams in your mind to see which parts of the face would be hit with light. Right now the face looks very flat with the only form establised is beneath the eyes and on the cheeks, be sure to shade the contour of the chin, the depressions from the nose to the corners of the mouth, the shadowline under the nose and the shadows created by the hair. Right now you have highlights directly under the bangs, which would instead be casting heavy shadows.
I think you have potential, but are starting down a line of coloring (encouraged by anime art no doubt) that is completely unrealistic, break away from that early and then you won't have huge problems changing years down the road.
Edit:
I learned HOW to shade by my art teacher telling us to paint a cow skull on black draping fabric and locked all the black and white paint away. All we had was red, yellow and blue. It works.
Yellow=Highlight ; Purple=Shadow
I'm not saying to use pure yellow and purple to shade (though you most certainly could for a dramatic look), but when you're choosing highlight and shadow colors, try to move you color selection slider at least a bit towards those tones to add some depth and realism. Also generally shadows are less saturated in color than midtones or highlights, that is they're closer towards grey, so by using burn, which not only darkens the color, but also raises saturation, you're really messing with how shading should work.
As to the structure of your shading, establish a light source (half the time I'll draw a lightbulb where my light is coming from) and draw invisible beams in your mind to see which parts of the face would be hit with light. Right now the face looks very flat with the only form establised is beneath the eyes and on the cheeks, be sure to shade the contour of the chin, the depressions from the nose to the corners of the mouth, the shadowline under the nose and the shadows created by the hair. Right now you have highlights directly under the bangs, which would instead be casting heavy shadows.
I think you have potential, but are starting down a line of coloring (encouraged by anime art no doubt) that is completely unrealistic, break away from that early and then you won't have huge problems changing years down the road.
Edit:
I learned HOW to shade by my art teacher telling us to paint a cow skull on black draping fabric and locked all the black and white paint away. All we had was red, yellow and blue. It works.
Diaforetikos
Member
As for coloring, don't stick with any colors. If you are using photoshop, look at the color box selection menu. See how white is in the top left corner, and dark is in the bottom right? And see how the most saturated color is on the right?
When you choose shadows and highlights, dont just go white and black.
Shadows are still colors. As shadows become darker, they also become more saturated. What I do is, as I get darker in my picture, I tend to head towards the right of the the color selection and downwards. Also move the slider on the right up and down. Don't just stick with a color and go darker, change the color as well.
The same goes with highlights. The only difference is that highlights become less saturated as they get brighter. So head towards the whiter region, but don't pick white all the way. It tends to make your art less believable. Stick with yellows.
Look at a picture of a light bulb. Notice how the center gets whiter and as you move away from the center, the bulb becomes more yellow and orange? Thats lighting at work. That works for pretty much any highlight color.
Also, I don't know if your using a tablet, but try to use hard round brushes with a set width. I'm not saying its the right way, or the only way. I'm just saying out of experience that softer brushes tend to muddy up pictures. If you don't like it, stick with what you know.
When you choose shadows and highlights, dont just go white and black.
Shadows are still colors. As shadows become darker, they also become more saturated. What I do is, as I get darker in my picture, I tend to head towards the right of the the color selection and downwards. Also move the slider on the right up and down. Don't just stick with a color and go darker, change the color as well.
The same goes with highlights. The only difference is that highlights become less saturated as they get brighter. So head towards the whiter region, but don't pick white all the way. It tends to make your art less believable. Stick with yellows.
Look at a picture of a light bulb. Notice how the center gets whiter and as you move away from the center, the bulb becomes more yellow and orange? Thats lighting at work. That works for pretty much any highlight color.
Also, I don't know if your using a tablet, but try to use hard round brushes with a set width. I'm not saying its the right way, or the only way. I'm just saying out of experience that softer brushes tend to muddy up pictures. If you don't like it, stick with what you know.