You have a really nice style and a great vision, and I think your self-diagnosis is accurate. I can see there's a lot of hesitance and uncertainty in your shadow forms. There is a very strong shadow under the chin in the left drawing, but the way the rest of the face is shaded, while not wrong by any means, doesn't follow a rule you've unintentionally set by adding that one deep shadow there. That rule being, if there is a strong, deep shadow under the chin, there must be a bright light coming from somewhere above to create it. What I did here was add a multiply layer to add the shading on the left drawing. If you're worried about ruining your piece, either make a copy of the file or experiment on a new layer. Digital allows us a lot of freedom, so make the best of it! For future study I suggest playing around with some 3d head lighting reference tools, they can be found easily through google search and usually run in your browser. Move the light sources around and see how the shadows on the head respond. Keep at it!

I can't get the volume

Künstlernotiz:

I feel like my drawings look flat, no matter how much I try to create a sense of volume with the lighting. This is one of my recent pieces. I think I’m afraid to make the shadows on the face too dark or to push the contrast, because I like everything to be clearly visible. But because I don't fully grasp form and volume, I’m afraid I’ll ruin the drawing with my coloring and lighting. I have a somewhat surreal style, but that’s not the issue here: I feel like my work clearly shows I don't know where the light is coming from, how it hits the character's forms, or how it casts shadows. Yet I can't quite put my finger on what's missing; I watch tutorials on lighting and volume, but I still can't seem to apply those concepts to my drawings.

Kommentare 1

@magnus01144vor 6 Tagen

You have a really nice style and a great vision, and I think your self-diagnosis is accurate. I can see there's a lot of hesitance and uncertainty in your shadow forms. There is a very strong shadow under the chin in the left drawing, but the way the rest of the face is shaded, while not wrong by any means, doesn't follow a rule you've unintentionally set by adding that one deep shadow there. That rule being, if there is a strong, deep shadow under the chin, there must be a bright light coming from somewhere above to create it. What I did here was add a multiply layer to add the shading on the left drawing. If you're worried about ruining your piece, either make a copy of the file or experiment on a new layer. Digital allows us a lot of freedom, so make the best of it! For future study I suggest playing around with some 3d head lighting reference tools, they can be found easily through google search and usually run in your browser. Move the light sources around and see how the shadows on the head respond. Keep at it!

@mira72602vor 6 Tagen

maybe pick one clear light direction and push the planes that turn away a little more, especially cheek and neck, before worrying about every shadow. the mid values can stay readable while the form gets rounder.

@name74321vor 6 Tagen

thank you very much!

@luca53023vor 5 Tagen

idk if every shadow needs to match the chin depth. maybe lock one bright plane on the forehead and cheek first so the light direction is obvious, then keep the side of the face softer so it doesnt go muddy

@priya97570vor 2 Tagen

idk if the whole face needs that chin level dark, maybe deepen just the neck and under the brow so the cheek stays a mid plane and still feels round

@tomas54508Gestern

yeah the chin shadow idea helps, maybe keep the light a little higher and let the cheek turn through a softer midtone first, then push the neck shadow so the volume reads without muddying the face