HTDT? 05.27.09 Coloring with Copics - WHERE do I shade??: My Favorite Things

CandiceL · 05-26-2009

Hello and welcome to another Copic installment of HTDT!! So we’ve gone over how to color and shade with your Copics (for a refresher see this HTDT? Post) and today we’re gonna go over WHERE to shade. Let me put a disclaimer on this tutorial – I was NOT an art major – LOL – but you don’t have to be an art expert to get a nicely shaded image – it’s really just about keeping your shading balanced. Before I even start coloring an image – I take a look at my image and decide from which direction my light source is hitting my image. Take a look at the pic below – for this image – I’ve put my light source in the upper right hand side of the image – so the light is hitting my girl and her picnic from that direction. I’ve drawn arrows to shown how the light is hitting my image. I’m going to add my shading to those areas that are farthest away from my light source – I’ve added some dark lines with a black pen to show the areas that I want to shade. (This is only a sample image I am using to explain light source and I will not use this image for my actual coloring.) Also – your light source doesn’t have to be in the same place as mine – it can be hitting your image from any direction – the key is to keep your shading balanced – the darker areas of your image will be the parts furthest away from your light source no matter where your light source is.

Here I’ve started adding my shading to her arms and legs – remember – in my example – my light source is hitting my image from the right side – so I am adding my shading to the left side of her arms and legs. And don’t forget to go back and blend the area where the light and dark shades meet with your LIGHT color to blend the two shades together!!

I’m adding shading to the dress on the left side – this keeps my shading balanced…

Something else to keep in mind when shading an image is that objects and people within an image will cast shadows around them and onto each other – notice here that I’ve added some shading in the sky around the girl – being sure to go heavier on that left side to keep my shading balanced.

CandiceL · 05-26-2009

Here’s an example of objects casting shadows onto each other – in this case – the cheese and knife are casting a shadow onto the cutting board and the grapes are casting a shadow onto the plate. I’ve gone right underneath them along the line of the object with my dark color to create their shadows.

Also – my girl would be casting a shadow onto her picnic blanket as well – so I’ll add some shading underneath her as well onto the blanket – notice that I’m following her shape as well to make the shadow look realistic.

Here’s our finished image alongside the sample image I showed at the beginning of the tutorial – you can see how our shading turned out.

And here’s our finished image on a card!! Oh - and BTW - don’t ya just LOVE this new Who’s That Girl? image?? Isn’t she awesome!? She’s from the new Who’s That Girl? “Let’s Picnic” set being released next week – but you can own her early by purchasing the VIP kit this Wednesday, May 27th – the set will be available here – quantities are limited and the VIP kit is available for one day only – so be sure to act fast!! Now that you’ve seen my tutorial – it’s your turn to play – check out the WUW challenge here. I hope you’ve enjoyed my HTDT? Tutorial – let me know if you have any questions!!

jackie1 · 05-26-2009

Thank you for this, I am always interested in how to use my Copic's. I keep learning so much on the way to use them. I would love to be able to take a Copic class but because I live in Saskatchewan and can't really afford to travel much it is really great when talented people like yourself shares there secrets with the rest of us.