Twisted Wonderland Fanart- Vil Schoenheit

So this isn't a complete paint over because I didn't want to ruin your style, but I did paint over the face and adjust a few features just for the sake of showing shading. This is what the piece would look like with a more artistic-style cell-shading approach. One of the things to focus on when you want to do cell shading is that you want clean linework and to use line weights/ t-intersections to show where things are heavier/darker than where they are lighter. Another thing to really focus on is "where is your light source". From looking at your original piece, I couldn't easily tell. Is he backlit? Are there multiple light sources? Where am I supposed to be getting cast shadows versus ambient occlusion from? This is when lighting models can be really handy so you have some idea of what should be in shadow versus what should be in light. LightDropper is one I've used. I've also used Blender and MagicPoser. Cell Shading also relies on hard edges and "gradients" that aren't really a gradient so much as they are varying levels of darkness pushing toward your darkest value in an area. I didn't redo the hand or the coat because I thought just the face would help. If you need any clarification, please let me know!

Hey! Finding a style that suits you is a long journey. What you could try to do is render basic shapes first: draw a cube and experiment with different shading styles (see top right corner). Once you found a style you like you can translate it in more complex shapes like hair or face. The paintover is an example of what can be done: you can start with cell shading but give it more soft edges following the form of your drawing. I think the issue with this particular drawing is not even cohesive rendering style but flat shading (character seems to be lit from all sides) and values. What you can do about it: - decide on 1-2 light sources before shading and stick with it - look up tutorials on face planes - turn drawing into greyscale mode to check values Hope it helps.