# Problems with shading



## IRQ (Mar 15, 2016)

Whenever I start drawing I'm doing just fine until I get to shading. When I'm supposed to start shading I kinda freeze for a long time. When I manage to get the shadings done I'm left with a feeling that the shadings are completely f*ed up. I usually don't have problem with simple shapes like arms and legs, but when it comes to heads, faces and hair... I have watched countless shading tutorials but I can't get a hold of things. What should I do?


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## Mel_Robertson (Feb 23, 2016)

hi irQ are we talking pencil here?
sorry I've just noticed this is in the digital section... hmmm ill make a short vid for you of how I shade


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## abt2k15 (Jan 9, 2016)

hi - it would be easier to actually look at your problem  my first idea is that you have problems thinking in 3d or you dont have ( yet ) a good workflow to break things down so you dont get lost.
( like f.e. seperate layer for shadow, ambient light, texture, color, highlights and such. ) a thing that helps me is imagine light particles as pixels. i watched a nerdy video about how computer render
and in it a math dude explained that the light particles actually go through the object - then depending on what material it hit more or less light particles leave at a different anchle. this is how we see
those objects. i defly havent mastered the whole thing but thinking about light with that information made it alot more easy.

but like i said w/o seeing some of your tries its hard to spot your problem


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## Mel_Robertson (Feb 23, 2016)

what software do you use?


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## IRQ (Mar 15, 2016)

abt2k15 said:


> hi - it would be easier to actually look at your problem


Here is some of my stuff. The quality of the shading depend on whether I got help or not. Though, how , much I learn something from the help I receive depends greatly on the person's ability to actually teach stuff properly.

http://tracethekriken.deviantart.com/gallery/



meli said:


> what software do you use?


Krita


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## abt2k15 (Jan 9, 2016)

sry for the late reply - i was too busy. i think the sketches are not originally made by you but rather copied/ traced?
you need some more basic skills and/ or a workflow that suits your needs. you said you paint with krita.

so whats your approach? i think the WOlf from your deviantpage is a good start. lineart. then "block" in the whole
wolf to get his shape. another layer for shadows, maybe one more for highlights and a background. from the looks
id say you got help on that. so this is what you need to practise on. thinking where light will hit and where not.

if you want to achieve semi realistic rendering you will have to study what makes it real. its not only
light and shadow - well it is - but its more complicated than that because light particles literally bounce around.










knowing this you will have to find a suitable approach to mimic the behaviour of light ( and with it the created shadows ).
i will show you a good tutorial kind of video regarding that matter from aaron blaise ( worked with disney on lion king and such )
but its done with photoshop so a 1:1 copy of his method might be hard BUT it´s a good approach and you can learn alot
about how to tackle something like that.






it alway looks easy but you dont see how much someone had to study before he knew the physics so there will be no easy way


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## IRQ (Mar 15, 2016)

abt2k15 said:


> i think the sketches are not originally made by you but rather copied/ traced?


They are made by me. The ones that look traced are most likely ones I've drawn from reference. It has been suggested to me multiple times.



abt2k15 said:


> so whats your approach? i think the WOlf from your deviantpage is a good start. lineart. then "block" in the whole
> wolf to get his shape. another layer for shadows, maybe one more for highlights and a background. from the looks
> id say you got help on that. so this is what you need to practise on. thinking where light will hit and where not.


Can you be a bit more specific about this whole thing. To me at least some sentences seem confusing as what they mean.



abt2k15 said:


> if you want to achieve semi realistic rendering you will have to study what makes it real. its not only
> light and shadow - well it is - but its more complicated than that because light particles literally bounce around.


Cell shading is enough. I just need help with how to apply shadows in correct places. Simple shapes are not a problem, but something like heads/faces are a big problem.Also, for highlights, I can't make them look good. It always makes things look way too shiny than what they are supposed to.


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## abt2k15 (Jan 9, 2016)

well you have to imagine the object in 3d.. but i guess you figure as much. if you have troubles with it maybe study it on basic geometric figures first?

if you are looking for a method in krita i found this tutorial on yuotube :






if you have trouble with head and face you will need to study how to break it down. there is a free book in pdf form
available from andrew loomis like this f.e.:

http://www.alexhays.com/loomis/Andrew Loomis - Fun WIth a Pencil.pdf


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## dickhutchings (Oct 6, 2015)

I just paint what I see and everything takes care of itself. I'm sure it wouldn't be so easy I was trying something out of my head.


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## IRQ (Mar 15, 2016)

Do you think that this looks right?










Also, another thing, which is not directly related to this topic: I have hard time trying to control pen pressure and draw a good line at the same time. Is there anything I can do here? All my search results were "how to fix/enable pen pressure in software X", which is not what I'm looking for.


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## abt2k15 (Jan 9, 2016)

looks right but the front of the mouth/ nose area upper half is in the light. i dont know about pen pressure settings. never experienced problems with it.
i know for photoshop there is lazy nezumi plugin that smothes your lining but krita has it built in...


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