Critique on lighting and shade
3yr
Zachary Rains
Throughout my art journey, I've always learnt passively, mostly through observing other artists, and experimenting. However more recently, I've been taking a more active approach to learning. Through reading books and watching other artists on youtube.
The first area I've decided to read up on is lighting and shading. I've been using toned paper to pay extra attention to where I'm dropping my highlights. I would love to hear your feedback for my most recent piece. Not just on lighting and shading, but also on any other areas I should focus on improving :)
Also any resources and book recommendations are more than welcome. I've started on reading Burne Hogarth's Dynamic Light and Shade.
I like the piece a lot. I think idea and composition are wonderful.
I am not an expert for realistic lighting, so these are just some beginners thoughts. I think your shading is very good for bringing the foms out and the texture. The direction of the light is generally clear. I think you ignored the bouncing light a bit. I might be wrong, but because the ground is so light and flat and it seems to be straigth daylight there should be a lot of bouncing light, for example it might light the botton of the head piece more and underneath the jaw. I might be wrong though, just my own practice to get an eye for light and shadow.
And one tiny thing, there are some small places where some rays would shine through the bones and make light spots on the body underneath (ribs).
Besides that I only think chosing a different light source that not just baths everything in light but creates more interesting shadows could be a fun pratice.
The art is awesome, it totally works as it is!
Thanks, I'm glad you like it :) I think you're right about the bounce light. I was making this piece up as I went along, and didn't do the background until last. Completely forgot to account for the light reflecting off of the ground. Bit of an oversight, but i guess ill put in bit more planning next time hahah. Cheers for the feedback, really appreciate it :)
It seems to me that the rendering and shadows work well.
Also: great design
Awesome painting! Looks super cool!
When I look at the creatures in the backgrount the shadows from them make it seem like the light source is coming from the left but on the one in the front I can not really say where the light comes from. Therefore I think you can go a lot more darker in the Neck area since the head will cast a shadow in this area, espacially the shoulder. Also the right side of the rib cage can go way darker. Attached you an example from alien for the rib cage :)
Duuude, this looks so cool! I really like art that sparks my imagination and I’m already imagining so many cool ideas of what’s going on and where they’re going.
As far as lighting goes (and keep in mind I’m new so you can totally ignore this if you disagree), I think it might help give it more depth if you consider the lighting for larger sections of the form. So for example, if we look at the ribs area, each rib has lighting and shading on it and it looks cool, but if you look at the whole rib cage area from the clavicle to the bottom of the rib cage, the light value doesn’t really change, so as a whole it can seem a bit flat, even though individually, the ribs have light and shadow.
Again, I might be totally off with this, but either way, I reeeeeally enjoy your style and I find your work inspiring so thanks for sharing it!
Cheers Tony, love to inspire others more than anything! Yeah, you're right, i kinda got bogged down in shading all the details of the ribs, that i forgot to look at the shape as a whole. Really appreciate the feedback man, and i look forward to returning the favour :)
I would second Tony's comments on lighting larger areas. Additionally, you could consult some reference of desert scenes (or a place with similar light conditions to your setting) for ideas on how to apply light and shadow to those larger forms. In cloudy, overcast conditions you would see more of the individual details and textures as you've shown whereas under direct sunlight there might be more big bold pockets of shadow, which would be a fun place to play with some shadow shape design if you wanted to apply a more graphic approach.
This looks nice. I especially like the way you created a tension in the neck-area! :)) as for Lighting / shading, I think you could use the brightest white and the darkest darks a bit more sparingly (save it for some of the more important areas like the head for example). If you keep the contrast in the important areas and leave it out of, say, the background you will create a more atmospheric composition and separate the background from the foreground. I admire your dedication to details in the ribcage, and it does look cool. If you want it to look more round or give it more form, I would make sure the simplest version of the form (an egg) feels round and then add the details. Good job, and great creativity :))
Thanks, think the tension in the neck is my favourite part :) I can get a bit carried away with creating contrast details, i have too much fun hah. Guess i have to learn to restrain myself a bit and be a bit more sparing in my placement. Cheers for the feedback, i really appreciate it :)
Same thoughts I had. Loving the character's design and detail. By putting highlights all over, it makes the style appear more like an anatomical study (i.e. a natural history drawing) rather than a concept piece. But that's not necessarily a bad thing if intentional.
