Q&A: More about shading!

Hi again, thanks for joining me on another lovely Monday :)  Today's blog is in response to a question posed by Amber the other day. So here we go!

Question: "At the end of the video [Santa timelapse] you went over some spots (like the blue bag) with a darker shade to add shading. I read the post on how you did shading on the bridge, but I'd like to hear more about how you add more organic looking shading like you did on Santa's bag"

Answer: First, always pick where the light is coming from. Imagine where the light would hit, and what would be cast in shadow. This gets easier with practice. I'll go over some poster examples, but first lets just look at the basic shading of a rounded object. You'll notice three different basic shades on this ball: a whitish highlight, red, and black shading. Following this idea, you can add shading to any objects in your posters, understanding that you'll have a lighter spot where the light directly hits, midtones, and then a darker area where the curvature of your object (in this case, the roundness of the ball) puts the rest of the item in shadow.

Check out my shading for Carnival Unicorn.

• I chose to have my light source shining from the top right.
• I highlighted all along the top lines of the unicorn (light pink or left it white) as this was closest to my light source.
• I assume that its body is rounded, so like the ball mentioned before, everything underneath would be cast in shadow. I shade the lower lines of the unicorn with a darker purple along the belly and underside of each leg. The body of the horse also casts shadows on the legs as well.

Then we have the poster Pup. 

• The light is shining from the top right.
• I add shadows to his belly, under his paws, ears, and side of the face where his nose would block out the light.
• I also add a slightly darker brown to the lines in his fur, just to give the poster a little more depth. The more shades of one color you have (brown in this case), the more realistic and deeper the poster.

To directly answer Amber's question in regards to Santa's bag, I first pictured that the bottom of the bag would be cast in shadow as it was a rounded object. I then shaded along the lines of the bag as each fold or bulge would cast a shadow on the fabric directly below it. For even more depth, I could have added a lighter blue for a highlight wherever the fabric bulged out, as well as the top of the bag (closest to my light source).

Finally, I want to mention one more trick to shading... Don't forget that some objects will cast shadows on the objects around them. In this case of Turtle, the light shining from above would create a shadow on the sand below him. 

Hopefully I answered the question clearly enough, please let me know if further information is needed in the comments below or if any new questions arise. Thanks for tuning in!

Erin