Hey! I think focusing on a simpler way of rendering can really help, and that is painting your shadow mapping—in other words, blocking in the shadows according to the direction of the light. Blocking shadows this way gives you a solid foundation, whether you want to continue refining within the shadows and midtones (adding ambient occlusion, bounce light, softer transitions between light and shadow, etc.), or just keep a simple shadow block-in and focus on cleaner, higher-quality linework (thick vs thin lines). Try to keep things simple, just focus on blocking in shadows: “Shadows carrying color without destroying the overall light relationship.” Antonio recently shared a video about these lighting and rendering principles on the ArtWod YouTube channel. I highly recommend it! On another note, the sword would realistically be more in shadow, so the metallic shine wouldn’t be as visible. However, I painted it this way to show that even a simple gradient can help convey that metallic feel. You don’t need any special brushes for this—just understand that metal often behaves like a gradient: the area where light hits directly will be the brightest, while the rest falls into shadow. Keep practicing and hope this helps!
