Hey there! Good work so far! I really like the illustration up to this point :D If the light is coming from a 3/4 angle rather than directly from the front, you could keep only the upper part of the body illuminated, mainly from the chest upward, to help describe the volume of the torso and the merman’s face. The rest of the body could remain mostly in shadow. You can still give volume to the tail, but while keeping it within a darker value range. As the artist, you have that “power” to guide the viewer’s attention wherever you want. Even though logically, the front of the character would receive more direct light based on the lighting direction, I think it’s more visually interesting if you keep the lighting concentrated on the upper section. Also, handling the lighting this way gives the impression that the body has a slight tilt, which helps reinforce the sense of perspective and depth. Hope this helps!
