Community breakdown: Improve Volume, Focus, and Depth

Good scene rendering is not only about adding more shadows and highlights. Lighting needs to explain the forms, establish depth, and guide attention toward the most important part of the composition. Combining all of those is NOT for the weak! In this example, @taphic06713 asked about perspective, form and depth, composition, values, light and color, anatomy, and line quality. The community feedback focused especially on lighting and focal hierarchy.

Insights shared in this blog post are by: @gabrielle34427. You can also request feedback on your artwork in Artwod’s Art Community.

The artist, @taphic06713, wrote:

“I'm struggling with perspective, form&depth, composition, values, light/color, anatomy, line quality”

The artwork was submitted in the Anime category and received a paintover from @fosco.

Rather than trying to change every aspect at once, the feedback identified lighting as an important way to take the illustration further.

The feedback assumes that the main light is coming from the upper left.

That immediately gives you a rule:

Planes facing the light are lighter
Planes turned away from the light are darker 

This sounds simple, but it has a major effect on how three-dimensional an anime character feels. I tend to draw the direction or source of the light, this reduces the guesswork when lacing the light. Instead of shading individual objects based on intuition, identify the planes of the character first.

Ask:

• Which surfaces face the light?

• Which surfaces turn away from it?

• Where does the form begin to fall into shadow?

• Which areas should receive the strongest illumination?

Once those decisions are consistent, the character starts to feel like a solid object occupying space. If you have trouble understanding which planes face the light, try our Intro to Drawing road. It will most certainly help.

One of the main points in the feedback is that shading the planes away from the light gives the character stronger volume. This is more effective than simply placing shadows wherever you think they look aesthetically pleasing. 

Think about the character as a collection of three-dimensional forms.

For example:

• A cylindrical limb has a light-facing side and a shadow-facing side.

• A rounded head turns gradually away from the light.

• Clothing folds create smaller planes that can face different directions.

• Hair consists of larger masses that also respond to the light source.

The more consistently these forms respond to the same light direction, the more convincing the scene becomes.

Here's another Artwod submission as an example. @name74321 wrote: “feel like my drawings look flat, no matter how much I try to create a sense of volume with the lighting,”  I could see why putting down heavy values could be intimidating, however, a good way to make everything readable is placing the values carefully. Additionally, making the darks of the skin approximate to the skintone. An easy way of defining values is thinking of the face planes, and applying the value range to it.

The first feedback also makes an important compositional point: not every part of the scene needs the same amount of light. The foreground beast, for example, was identified as a secondary element rather than the main point of interest.

So instead of giving it the same lighting intensity as the character, the paintover keeps it darker with only selected areas receiving light.  

This creates a visual hierarchy. 

A focal point does not have to be created only through size, detail, or color.

Value contrast is one of the strongest tools available.

If the main character is important, you can give that area stronger light-dark separation while keeping surrounding areas more subdued. There are a couple of ways I would do this. You make the subject have the deepest values or lightest values. In this paintover having the highest level of contrast, or both the darkest and lightest in the value scale, on the subject helps lead the eye.

A great way to test this is to temporarily convert your drawing to grayscale.

And then ask youtself:

Where does my eye go first?

If the answer is not the intended focal point, your value structure may need adjustment.

You do not necessarily need brighter colors. You may simply need a clearer difference between important and secondary areas.

An Artwod user was struggling with rendering lighting on this subject on a stage, and the paintover shows being selective with highlights is important. The yellow highlight is used in abundance, making the subject and objects muddied.  Focusing the highlight on a few select places following a light direction makes the character the focal point. The brightest values are also used on the subject, which guides the eye to her instead of the background element.

Try this exercise on a finished drawing before changing the details.

Pick a simple direction such as upper left. Do not introduce multiple light sources yet.

Mark the surfaces of the character that face the light.

Shade the planes facing away from the light. Ignore small details. This is called shadowmapping.

Decide which character or object should attract attention first.

Keep less important elements darker or less contrasty.

Look at the image from a distance or as a small thumbnail. The focal point should remain visually clear.

Lighting every object equally: This can flatten the visual hierarchy.

Adding random shadows: Shadows should respond to the established light direction.

Making the foreground too bright: Secondary objects can compete with the main character when their contrast is too strong.

Rendering before deciding the focal point: You can end up with beautiful details competing for attention.

Ignoring spatial relationships: Props such as spears, weapons, or environmental objects need to occupy believable positions relative to the character.

Using color to solve every problem: Value and lighting structure often matter more than adding brighter or more saturated colors.

Choose a clear light direction and shade the planes that face away from the light. Keep the lighting consistent across the character and environment.

Shading planes according to their relationship with the light source helps communicate the three-dimensional structure of the character. To understand the form better, try our Intro to Drawing road.

Give the focal area stronger value contrast and keep secondary elements darker or less visually dominant.

No. Secondary objects can use lower contrast or darker values so they do not compete with the main focal point. If you want to know more about values, check out our Intro to Painting road.

Use overlapping forms, consistent perspective, clear value separation, and lighting that distinguishes foreground, middle-ground, and background elements.

Convert the artwork to grayscale and check where your eye goes first. If the intended focal point does not stand out, reconsider the value hierarchy.