Comments: 12
My-Anne In reply to Lienwyn [2014-07-29 20:01:06 +0000 UTC]
do you have any tips for a fellow traditonal artist who uses colored pencils? Something about shading and highlights maybe? I'm struggling with that, you see.
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Lienwyn In reply to My-Anne [2014-07-31 14:31:47 +0000 UTC]
Gosh, I always feel a little lost when asked that question since I'm still learning myself, but when I browsed through your art I guess the tips I can give is that you could try and use more contrasts and mix in some other colours. Your shading is really good - you know where to put the shading and you make things seem round and firm - but a little added colour could help make it look even more alive. Like a little blue or brown here and there to make grey less flat (that's something it took me a while to learn) and mix in a little yellow, red, purple or blue just on certain places on people's skin etc. You can look back at my tutorial (the second one) and do the apple exercise maybe, trying to mix in a lot of different colours?
Adding contrast could also help (on the pictures where it's suitable, of course). I mean, add darker areas to contrast the lighter ones, either with black or just darker colours in general. These areas don't always have to be big but it will add depth if you dare to make the shift in colour and tone more bold. You did that on your "Coloring Sunny" picture, where there's a lot more depth in the skintone as well as her hair (especially on the one marked with a 2), and I think you should keep heading in that direction And small note on Sunny's pale skin: try adding soft layers of purple or blue. That will make skin look paler, given that you haven't already shaded them too much. Stick with cold colours anyway, and they will automatically seem less tanned
Also, a good way of practicing both of the above (and highlighting) is to make sure to draw a picture where you HAVE to use a limited light source, since it will throw everything else in shadow and make the contrasts more important - like a girl sitting in the light of one candle in an otherwise dark room. And if the light is coloured you'll learn to blend and shade using colours you might not usually combine. Like this: lienwyn.deviantart.com/art/Lat⦠ (and to a lesser extent: lienwyn.deviantart.com/art/Per⦠)
Those books were A PAIN since I had to blend the yellow and orange into purple, pink, green, blue, red, brown etc etc, but it was awesome practice, that's for sure. And you really have to pay attention to how everything curves and is angled - his arm, the book he's holding, his face (one part being almost completely shadowed). Look at references if you need them and try to stick to the light source since it will help a lot in learning how to shade and where to put highlights Don't be afraid to use black! (although still in moderation, of course)
... I hope this made sense and helps in some way x'D
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