Excellent video. I especially love that you get right to it instead of blabbering aimlessly for the first 10 minutes as so many of these RUclipsrs seem to do 😆 Got great benefit from your simple and concise demonstration/explanation. Thanks for posting.
Massive help, Michael. Clear and concise and something we can really use on a practical level. Perhaps you could do some tutorials on how to sketch tonal values in landscapes/still lifes and how to convert them into the correct hues (preferably in soft pastel). I really could be doing with the help. So glad I came across your tutorial. I'll be spending the crest of my day watching any others you've made. Thanks again, mate. Really appreciate artists like you who take the time to help those of us who are dying to create something but run into so many fundamental problems.👍
I totally thought you were stoned, and looking at the comment section, glad to know I wasn't the only one- it made the lesson much more enjoyable knowing it was done with a free spirit. The information was absorbed with enthusiasm from my end. Thank you.
Many thanks for this great tutorial. I took notes, and will certainly use your teachings to do shadows appropriately. Also, I will make myself more familiar with the color wheel!
It would also have been good and informative to see a demonstration of cast shadows from each of these coloured balls unto different coloured grounds !
Appreciate this so much! Wonderful tutorial. Cleared up so many things for me. Thank u so much. Best video I've seen so far on shadows and shading. Takes me to the next level.
This is absolutely THE BEST, most simple explaination I have EVER read n unfortunately I've read books about shading n didn't get as much understanding as I got in your short video! THANK YOU THANK YOU! I am now a subscriber. Too bad I can only like this once!
I've been watching so many totorallys to show me how to paint and every time i see them paint i look at there hands and see how clean they stay while painting and then i look at my hands (I'm painting while watching this vid) and then i wonder "HOW DO THEY KEEP THEIR HANDS SO DAMN CLEAN OMFG!!!!" Xp
Just learning which colors to use for shadows & ty for this video as was going to use orange to shade some place on blue pants! Now going to try Burnt Umber. My question is must you use a cool shadow w a cool color? If you use a warm color for a shadow to a cool color will it look strange? Ty
There are warm colors in shadows sometimes. It depends on your light source and any bounce light coming off of subject. Regardless you can paint whatever you want. If it works it works. Shadows just require a correct value of light for your brain to register it as a shadow. Color comes after value.
excellent using the color wheel and demonstrating how complementing colors create excellent shadows. I have had a very hard time teaching this to students, they run for black. Excellent not using black and demonstrating it. hues and imitations/ substitute colors are another thing.
OMG thank you so much this video was so helpful!!!!!!!!! I have just gotten back in to painting and had to do shadowing in a portrait and used black (because i couldn't remember anything from art in school) and it completely ruined my painting and I was about to give up when I found this video it honestly makes so much sense now and I really appreciate the help! I'm gonna try some shadowing tomorrow before I get back in and try fix up my portrait! Thanks again!
Thank you for your great explanation! But as videographer who want to now color theory well, i want to make one notice. In this video you did 2 mistakes when shooting it. Perhaps you did not set white balance of the camera correctly, that is why white background of the paper is not constantly pure white, as it has to be. And looks like you was using key falling light (main light in your room) , you use two different color temperatures of that light, there were more then one light source, with tottaly different temperature (tint) of white, warm and quite neutral. And they cover paper from different sides. So when you move your arm, one of the lights making warm cast on the paper, and other time light with colder cast (tint) apeared on our white paper. That things could make any confusion for eyes of beginers.
TY. This concept was never really explained to me and I was just thinking about that recently when implementing a shadow for a tree- I used dark green/brown. green red combo would have been better
When doing the shadow for the blue, instead of using brown (which i do like) Could you instead just use less yellow instead of doing a 50-50% mix of the blue and yellow?
Do you mean red and yellow? If I'm mixing from the basic colors then I wont use a 50-50% of red and yellow to make orange. I'll use more red. I find it easier to mix a brown first then add blue. To make brown I first make purple, then mix in yellow for more color control. Yellow is strange in that it can make for some great shadows but its a fickle color to mix for shadows. I hope that answered your question.
Some colors are just going to be lighter by their very nature. Its okay to mix more of a tetrarch of colors. Once you get to your shadow maximize your darkness with burnt umber and blue. Then either pick a different blue color like ultramarine and burnt umber. If you are trying to go for a pure dark shadow mix up some cadmium and viridian. That will give you a deep black. Remember value is more important than solely focusing on colors. Especially when it comes to shadows
How do you know which shade or tint (not sure what the correct terminology is) of color to use as a shadow? FOr example for Yellow orchid, you use magnese violet. I understand purple is the opposite on the color wheel, but how did you determine what shade of purple? Thanks!
That's up to your artistic license. Ultramarine violet makes a great natural color. Manganese purple is more of an unnatural color. Some pigments make darker colors than others but shadows aren't always super dark.
One question. "If we need to darken our base colour, add the next colour down on the colour wheel". A bit misleading? Adding orange to yellow makes it orange. It doesn't exactly darken it. It changes the colour.
You would need to add a dark version of the colour down so to darken yellow with Orange you will use brown, think of brown as a dark Orange. And same for green you would use a dark blue not a light one, well, to the degree of colour of the paint your starting with and how much you want to darken it. And then if its too bright desaturate with the opposite colour. Hope that helps.
cnith2 I'm sorry if you just confused it, but I have to point out that PURPLE is the opposite of yellow, and orange is the opposite of blue. They are complimentary colors, it's even showed in the color weel in the video..
Thank you Michael your video is clear nd informative , I would be grateful for a reply to my query which is for the highlights since ur using a combination of yellow and white does this go on top of the base color or mixed into it
Wow!! This is the best video i have seen. I have a lot of problems with shadows. How would i transfer this knowledge when i have to do skin color palets?
+mangoekiwi If you are looking for colors to start with I would go with the good old red, yellow and blue. In theory you can make every color. However pigments and dyes are limiting. I would go with ultramarine for blue. Terra vert or red ochre for an earthy red. Bright reds are useful too so I would go with a imitation cadmium red (cad red hue). Unless you want to spend the money on the real stuff. That can come later though. I would always suggest yellow ochre or raw umber for a starting yellow. As with the red you will need a bright yellow. I would go with a hue or a cheaper yellow first. You sometimes get what you pay for but practice shouldn't be TOO wasteful when you start. Expensive paints are better but they can come later. You can also just buy a little starter oil or acrylic set. I hope that answered your question..
Very nice! I learned a lot. Did you know that when you moved your body that you stepped in and out of the light and the colors changed? It was interesting to me because when I paint- I can really see something totally different depending on where I stand or where the light hits.
Caren Kaziyev When I was a boy I went to a museum in Philadelphia. They had a room with a color chart and three light switches: red, blue, and green. The lights demonstrated how colors of the lights would change the colors on the color chart. Every color changed dramatically. Even as a young boy that exhibit really fascinated me. Good eye and good brain you got there!
Michael Schmitt Thank you for your reply! Sounds like a really cool exhibit and a great way to demonstrate how colors blend. As a child I would have liked that, too. Hmmmm.....maybe I will make something like that for my children. Probably not difficult to make..... I find light fascinating and when I am painting I am very aware of it. In your video I actually thought there was some kind of editing going on with the colors until I realized it was your body was moving in and out of the light. I really enjoyed watching you paint the shadows (and highlights) on the ball and the colors you used. I am going to try and stay away from black and see what happens. I grad from photography school many yrs ago and so I see things that way- but I have always loved to paint even though I have had no formal training. Thank you for your tutorials. Also- can you explain more about a color picker? My eyes can become confused as sometimes and I will literally just blink and then look back and see different colors.
Caren Kaziyev No problem! I'm here to help. I take color a little too seriously sometimes. I go a little crazy sometimes. A color picker can be made with a hole in a piece of cardboard or wood. Paint the cardboard white or black for more contrast. Hold the color picker hole like a telescope towards the color you want to figure out. Without a color picker and your eyes are confused Squint! Squinting helps you see color and value. Allowing your eyes to go out of focus can really help with shadows, colors, and value. If you ever take a portrait painting class they will drill squinting into your head. I believe this gentleman has a video about making a color picker out of a spoon. This is very helpful because you can compare the paint to the actual color. ruclips.net/video/ZbQepj179RQ/видео.html
Michael Schmitt Thanks, Michael. I see you have other tutorials. I am going to check them out! I hope you have a classroom to share your knowledge and skill. You are very clear when you break things down.
Does black hurt people? Of course you don’t need to use black in some painting contexts but that doesn’t mean you don’t have to use it when mixing if we perceive there’s black, you’ve used different colors to create one result which is black color
this was very helpful! can you please do a quick demo on creating shadows of a white object? such as the shadows of teeth or a white ball in a white background or a white wall? thank you so much if you can do that
how would you accomplish shadow colors in digital painting? Use a layer with opposite fill color & lower opacity? How do you determine what value the shadow should be in relation to the core color (not highlight)?
These are just tricks because we're working with so few colors when painting but digital is limitless and does a lot of your work for you. If you open up your color picker you'll notice a big colored box with a rainbow colored slide on the right. Let's say you picked red on the color slider. The colored box would have 100% saturated red in the top right and moving left across the box the color changes to white.. what's happening is you're removing the saturation as you move closer to white. If you move down from the 100% saturated red you're darkening the red to black. So if you wanted a darker color you'd just open your color picker then move your selected color to the bottom and left to darken and remove some saturation. Another cool trick you can do in digital is making a top layer and filling it with black then setting the layer to saturation. This will turn your painting black and white and you can test your values reaaaal easy then. Then make a new layer and set it to multiply with 10% opacity to darken your value where you need to.
like in your video- you show that to get a shadow color, you mix in it's opposite-- but in digital, it's not possible to just mix in the opposite (unless you do a layer, then lower opacity, or paint with lower opacity over the color- )- woudl you just move the slider slightly in the direction of the opposite (and maybe lower the value some?) You say use multiply- will this keep the color hue, but lower the value?
You don't have to worry about opposites when it comes to digital because you don't need to mix paints. In digital if you want to make a color darker you select the color then open up your color picker and move it down and to left if it's darker and desaturated or down and to the right if it's darker and more saturated. You aren't moving the slider just the picker within the box. So a multiply layer will make your values darker but remember to use black when painting on it and only at like 10% opacity. Any higher and the effect will be too harsh
ok i see what you're saying- I'll give that a try- I struggle trying to get the right value for shadows- they always look out of place somehow- either too light or too dark, or the wrong color
Maybe you should try using more greys. Grey colors will let your other saturated colors appear more saturated. Try to get a hold of values from the middle of the spectrum. You might not even have a bad eye for value but maybe you don't have a correct gradient between your values. The concept of Chiaroscuro might be something you study up on.
Excellent video. I especially love that you get right to it instead of blabbering aimlessly for the first 10 minutes as so many of these RUclipsrs seem to do 😆 Got great benefit from your simple and concise demonstration/explanation. Thanks for posting.
As a beginner, this is by far the best tutorial I've seen. Thanks for this. Subscribed.
the best shading video that makes simple sense thanks.
Massive help, Michael. Clear and concise and something we can really use on a practical level. Perhaps you could do some tutorials on how to sketch tonal values in landscapes/still lifes and how to convert them into the correct hues (preferably in soft pastel). I really could be doing with the help. So glad I came across your tutorial. I'll be spending the crest of my day watching any others you've made. Thanks again, mate. Really appreciate artists like you who take the time to help those of us who are dying to create something but run into so many fundamental problems.👍
I totally thought you were stoned, and looking at the comment section, glad to know I wasn't the only one- it made the lesson much more enjoyable knowing it was done with a free spirit. The information was absorbed with enthusiasm from my end. Thank you.
Far out myan!
Many thanks for this great tutorial. I took notes, and will certainly use your teachings to do shadows appropriately. Also, I will make myself more familiar with the color wheel!
I had been struggling during a few days, but now it's all simple man, thank you so much really
For
Your the first person I can understand when it comes to shadowing. Thank you so much
I love short and sweet and simple explanations. Thanks. I like 'purple' also!
"Look how soft that's gettın', Ah yea *snicker*" 😉
Thank you so much! I was just adding black to the color. I can't wait to start painting! 🤗
It would also have been good and informative to see a demonstration of cast shadows from each of these coloured balls unto different coloured grounds !
Thank you for your simple explanations and demonstrations. Not a lot of unnecessary talk, right to the point. Thank you!
Awesome !!!! I feel as though I learned a lot about color and using the color wheel. Thank you so much for sharing
THANK you so much. Being a beginner Im always looking to discover how things are done. YOU hit it out of the park for me today, thank you!
Really useful especillay the blue. I wish someone had explained the colour wheel to me 50 years ago!
Paul Stratford Upon Avon UK
When you know what your are teaching you make it simple and easy to understand. Great job thank you.
This is the best video on shadows, no more adding blacks for me. Thank you!
That was good Bob Ross kind of tutorial, dude. I can see that you try to use the same tone as him, good call.
Great teaching. No artist provides me this info.explicitly. It's the first time I learn about the use of opposite colors for shadows.
Dude, 35k+ views with 1k+ subs, fuck yeah man!!! Awesome
This sure created beautiful rich colors! I'm eager to try it. Thanks for sharing.
Appreciate this so much! Wonderful tutorial. Cleared up so many things for me. Thank u so much. Best video I've seen so far on shadows and shading. Takes me to the next level.
This is absolutely THE BEST, most simple explaination I have EVER read n unfortunately I've read books about shading n didn't get as much understanding as I got in your short video! THANK YOU THANK YOU! I am now a subscriber. Too bad I can only like this once!
Great advice my man
“Have fun!” So tough to do but do right
I've been watching so many totorallys to show me how to paint and every time i see them paint i look at there hands and see how clean they stay while painting and then i look at my hands (I'm painting while watching this vid) and then i wonder
"HOW DO THEY KEEP THEIR HANDS SO DAMN CLEAN OMFG!!!!" Xp
That answered questions I've been asking for too long, thank you. That was lovely.
used this with my students. you do not appear stoned!
😂 wtf
Well that explains it 😃
Would you be surprised tho ? 👀
wtf
Thanks! I really liked the video and I'm excited to get started on my painting
Very well done. I like that you also speak to watercolorists.
Just learning which colors to use for shadows & ty for this video as was going to use orange to shade some place on blue pants! Now going to try Burnt Umber. My question is must you use a cool shadow w a cool color? If you use a warm color for a shadow to a cool color will it look strange? Ty
There are warm colors in shadows sometimes. It depends on your light source and any bounce light coming off of subject. Regardless you can paint whatever you want. If it works it works. Shadows just require a correct value of light for your brain to register it as a shadow. Color comes after value.
good basic advice, and very helpful. shadows are very deceiving & hard to figure out for their colours, as often as not
Your tutorial will be very helpfull to me. Thank you.
darker shade of the color can make a shadow effect
Yep! Easy to follow for a beginner like me. Informative and very helpful. Thanks Mike!
I was looking for such a video for a long long time. Finally I found one. Thanks a lot
Thank you for short and yet clear explanations and nice demos.
and what would be the colour of the cast shadow?
For a beginner like me this has been a real help, thanks!
excellent using the color wheel and demonstrating how complementing colors create excellent shadows. I have had a very hard time teaching this to students, they run for black. Excellent not using black and demonstrating it. hues and imitations/ substitute colors are another thing.
You can make a great black with Ultramarine and Burnt Umber... you can take towards warm or cold depending on the proportions.
+Fabrizio Aldonne That is a great point. I love playing with those colors on skin.
OMG thank you so much this video was so helpful!!!!!!!!!
I have just gotten back in to painting and had to do shadowing in a portrait and used black (because i couldn't remember anything from art in school) and it completely ruined my painting and I was about to give up when I found this video it honestly makes so much sense now and I really appreciate the help! I'm gonna try some shadowing tomorrow before I get back in and try fix up my portrait!
Thanks again!
Of course. I am so glad to help. Yellow and purple make a great shadow color for many skin tones.
Thanks!
Thanks
Thanks Michael for this video. You need to do more.
This is really good. I wish you did more on acrylic painting. I struggle more with highlights than shadows.
Great video! Very helpful 👍🏼 Thanks for a clear, concise demo.
Thank you for your great explanation! But as videographer who want to now color theory well, i want to make one notice. In this video you did 2 mistakes when shooting it. Perhaps you did not set white balance of the camera correctly, that is why white background of the paper is not constantly pure white, as it has to be. And looks like you was using key falling light (main light in your room) , you use two different color temperatures of that light, there were more then one light source, with tottaly different temperature (tint) of white, warm and quite neutral. And they cover paper from different sides. So when you move your arm, one of the lights making warm cast on the paper, and other time light with colder cast (tint) apeared on our white paper. That things could make any confusion for eyes of beginers.
Love this I understand now why my shadows always looked out of place. Thank you
Me too
TY. This concept was never really explained to me and I was just thinking about that recently when implementing a shadow for a tree- I used dark green/brown. green red combo would have been better
Read Betty Edwards book on "Color Theory." Complete all the exercises, which gives one a good understanding and application of color theory.
There are other ways. For example, try using the colour next on the colour wheel
thanks for the video 👍
It was very nice to watch, this is a very soulful video 😌
Help, I'm having some issues with shadowing. I have a black base canvas it has a blue ring around a red, orange and yellow flame??? Any suggestions?
thank you for this I always wonder about the shadows on paintings
When doing the shadow for the blue, instead of using brown (which i do like) Could you instead just use less yellow instead of doing a 50-50% mix of the blue and yellow?
Do you mean red and yellow? If I'm mixing from the basic colors then I wont use a 50-50% of red and yellow to make orange. I'll use more red. I find it easier to mix a brown first then add blue. To make brown I first make purple, then mix in yellow for more color control. Yellow is strange in that it can make for some great shadows but its a fickle color to mix for shadows. I hope that answered your question.
it would be nice to see your pallet while you're mixing. Nice tut, though.
hi! how would you approach this on a dark blue turqoiuse color? im struggling getting dark enough, without it becoming grey
Some colors are just going to be lighter by their very nature. Its okay to mix more of a tetrarch of colors. Once you get to your shadow maximize your darkness with burnt umber and blue. Then either pick a different blue color like ultramarine and burnt umber. If you are trying to go for a pure dark shadow mix up some cadmium and viridian. That will give you a deep black. Remember value is more important than solely focusing on colors. Especially when it comes to shadows
Loved the way you explained that. Thank you!
How do you know which shade or tint (not sure what the correct terminology is) of color to use as a shadow? FOr example for Yellow orchid, you use magnese violet. I understand purple is the opposite on the color wheel, but how did you determine what shade of purple? Thanks!
That's up to your artistic license. Ultramarine violet makes a great natural color. Manganese purple is more of an unnatural color. Some pigments make darker colors than others but shadows aren't always super dark.
@@MichaelSchmittMasterMadCraft okay so the type of purple is really up to us, The color wheel is more of a guide…Thanks for the reply 😊
One question. "If we need to darken our base colour, add the next colour down on the colour wheel". A bit misleading? Adding orange to yellow makes it orange. It doesn't exactly darken it. It changes the colour.
You would need to add a dark version of the colour down so to darken yellow with Orange you will use brown, think of brown as a dark Orange. And same for green you would use a dark blue not a light one, well, to the degree of colour of the paint your starting with and how much you want to darken it. And then if its too bright desaturate with the opposite colour. Hope that helps.
but the opposite of orange isn't yellow... yellow is the opposite of blue.
cnith2 I'm sorry if you just confused it, but I have to point out that PURPLE is the opposite of yellow, and orange is the opposite of blue. They are complimentary colors, it's even showed in the color weel in the video..
Nice video. Good delivery of the subject matter.
Great demo. Now I know how to mix shadow colors.
Excellent tutorial for this beginner! Thanks. Judi
great tutorial Michael
Would you paint the shadow cast on the table/plane/surface the spheres sit on with the same color?
Thank you Michael your video is clear nd informative , I would be grateful for a reply to my query which is for the highlights since ur using a combination of yellow and white does this go on top of the base color or mixed into it
Very helpful. Thank you. Your light was giving a glare, but very helpful.
I am now a fan of you I wish we could hang out and just paint the day away you seem like and awesome dude yo. forever be a fan now
Wow!! This is the best video i have seen. I have a lot of problems with shadows. How would i transfer this knowledge when i have to do skin color palets?
what does this mean for the beginner in terms of the colours to buy in the initial stages?
+mangoekiwi If you are looking for colors to start with I would go with the good old red, yellow and blue. In theory you can make every color. However pigments and dyes are limiting. I would go with ultramarine for blue. Terra vert or red ochre for an earthy red. Bright reds are useful too so I would go with a imitation cadmium red (cad red hue). Unless you want to spend the money on the real stuff. That can come later though. I would always suggest yellow ochre or raw umber for a starting yellow. As with the red you will need a bright yellow. I would go with a hue or a cheaper yellow first. You sometimes get what you pay for but practice shouldn't be TOO wasteful when you start. Expensive paints are better but they can come later. You can also just buy a little starter oil or acrylic set. I hope that answered your question..
Very nice! I learned a lot. Did you know that when you moved your body that you stepped in and out of the light and the colors changed? It was interesting to me because when I paint- I can really see something totally different depending on where I stand or where the light hits.
Caren Kaziyev When I was a boy I went to a museum in Philadelphia. They had a room with a color chart and three light switches: red, blue, and green. The lights demonstrated how colors of the lights would change the colors on the color chart. Every color changed dramatically. Even as a young boy that exhibit really fascinated me. Good eye and good brain you got there!
Michael Schmitt Thank you for your reply! Sounds like a really cool exhibit and a great way to demonstrate how colors blend. As a child I would have liked that, too. Hmmmm.....maybe I will make something like that for my children. Probably not difficult to make..... I find light fascinating and when I am painting I am very aware of it. In your video I actually thought there was some kind of editing going on with the colors until I realized it was your body was moving in and out of the light. I really enjoyed watching you paint the shadows (and highlights) on the ball and the colors you used. I am going to try and stay away from black and see what happens. I grad from photography school many yrs ago and so I see things that way- but I have always loved to paint even though I have had no formal training. Thank you for your tutorials. Also- can you explain more about a color picker? My eyes can become confused as sometimes and I will literally just blink and then look back and see different colors.
Caren Kaziyev No problem! I'm here to help. I take color a little too seriously sometimes. I go a little crazy sometimes. A color picker can be made with a hole in a piece of cardboard or wood. Paint the cardboard white or black for more contrast. Hold the color picker hole like a telescope towards the color you want to figure out. Without a color picker and your eyes are confused Squint! Squinting helps you see color and value. Allowing your eyes to go out of focus can really help with shadows, colors, and value. If you ever take a portrait painting class they will drill squinting into your head. I believe this gentleman has a video about making a color picker out of a spoon. This is very helpful because you can compare the paint to the actual color. ruclips.net/video/ZbQepj179RQ/видео.html
Michael Schmitt Thanks, Michael. I see you have other tutorials. I am going to check them out! I hope you have a classroom to share your knowledge and skill. You are very clear when you break things down.
Caren Kaziyev Thank you very much.
Can one painting use different colors for shadows in different areas? Thank you
When adding the lights and shadowing you can do this when example the red ball is dry?
I also think everything can use more purple! :)
What colour do I need to make a shadow on something white?
I love this guy,he helped me so much!(coming from a BEGINNER artist) :)
but what about reflected light?
just find out bout your channel, its old i know but still gonna say thanks, now i am sharing this with my students.
Loved this. So clear and simple
How would this technique apply to reflected light in the shadows?
No. Reflective light color depends on the surface of the light is reflecting off of. Its usually the same color but not always.
Thank you, great tutorial (very stoned yeah hehe), but where did you get the purple from? :)
I don't know where I got the paint but I remember it was the pigment Ultramarine Purple.
What's the shadow colour for light orange? Dark orange with black?
Beautiful!! This is extremely helpful!
Does black hurt people? Of course you don’t need to use black in some painting contexts but that doesn’t mean you don’t have to use it when mixing if we perceive there’s black, you’ve used different colors to create one result which is black color
You made this so much more SIMPLE for me THANK YOU
this was very helpful! can you please do a quick demo on creating shadows of a white object? such as the shadows of teeth or a white ball in a white background or a white wall? thank you so much if you can do that
+Sahgee Totally.
+Michael Schmitt (Master MadCraft) thank you SO much. you're the best and i value the time and effort you put into your videos. :) thank you sir.
Sahgee Oh wow. Thank you
Can you do one on skin tones?
Good info, can always learn more...
Thank you verry much love from thailand
thank you, i struggle so much with shadows,
You're such a stoner. I like you. This is a valuable lesson.
Dave N y
simple and clear. thanks for this video!
Great video. Thank you.
what would you use as a shadow for permanent rose?
This was awesome!!!! Thank you!
This is so what I needed. Thanks 👍🏾
In digital medium all goes dessaturated when mixed
Thank you for sharing this.
Shereen Timmerman No problem. I'm glad it helped you.
Great lesson well demonstrated
how would you accomplish shadow colors in digital painting? Use a layer with opposite fill color & lower opacity? How do you determine what value the shadow should be in relation to the core color (not highlight)?
These are just tricks because we're working with so few colors when painting but digital is limitless and does a lot of your work for you. If you open up your color picker you'll notice a big colored box with a rainbow colored slide on the right. Let's say you picked red on the color slider. The colored box would have 100% saturated red in the top right and moving left across the box the color changes to white.. what's happening is you're removing the saturation as you move closer to white. If you move down from the 100% saturated red you're darkening the red to black. So if you wanted a darker color you'd just open your color picker then move your selected color to the bottom and left to darken and remove some saturation.
Another cool trick you can do in digital is making a top layer and filling it with black then setting the layer to saturation. This will turn your painting black and white and you can test your values reaaaal easy then. Then make a new layer and set it to multiply with 10% opacity to darken your value where you need to.
like in your video- you show that to get a shadow color, you mix in it's opposite-- but in digital, it's not possible to just mix in the opposite (unless you do a layer, then lower opacity, or paint with lower opacity over the color- )- woudl you just move the slider slightly in the direction of the opposite (and maybe lower the value some?) You say use multiply- will this keep the color hue, but lower the value?
You don't have to worry about opposites when it comes to digital because you don't need to mix paints. In digital if you want to make a color darker you select the color then open up your color picker and move it down and to left if it's darker and desaturated or down and to the right if it's darker and more saturated. You aren't moving the slider just the picker within the box. So a multiply layer will make your values darker but remember to use black when painting on it and only at like 10% opacity. Any higher and the effect will be too harsh
ok i see what you're saying- I'll give that a try- I struggle trying to get the right value for shadows- they always look out of place somehow- either too light or too dark, or the wrong color
Maybe you should try using more greys. Grey colors will let your other saturated colors appear more saturated. Try to get a hold of values from the middle of the spectrum. You might not even have a bad eye for value but maybe you don't have a correct gradient between your values. The concept of Chiaroscuro might be something you study up on.
Thank you Michael that was very helpful!🎨👍🌈