IF you have a strong singular light source, there are some patterns of light and shadow that you can start to look for and anticipate when you are drawing. These are the different parts of light and shadow. There are some variations to this list, depending on who you are talking to, but this is the version I rely on.
- Highlight or burn area. This is where the light is the brightest. On a rounded shape, if you imagine a line extending perpendicular out of that highlight area, it will connect and point to the location of the light source.
- Light area. This is the side of the object that happens to be in the light. This area should always be treated a separate area from the shadow side, especially in terms of value.
- Half-tone area. This is where the form starts to turn into the shadow area. Whenever you have a rounded object, the delineation between light and shadow is not a hard line, but rather a soft transition, especially with weaker light sources. The half-tone area is where that transition begins. If you have color, this is where you have the purest form of that color.
- Core shadow. This is the darkest part of the shadow on the object. The shape of the core shadow takes on the shape of the rounded object… in perspective to the viewer. So the more that shadow moves towards the center of the object, the more it will flatten out, and vise versa. For those who have learned out to calculate shadows using a light source point, the core shadow will start and end at the places where your “light lines” kiss the outer edge of the rounded form.
- Reflective light. The strength of the reflective light will depend on the smoothness and reflectiveness of the object, as well as the ambient values around it. A shiny ball on a white table is going to have a very strong reflective light, where as a fuzzy ball on a black surface will have a very dark, or weak, reflective light area. Regardless, except in extreme cases, the reflective light area should still be darker in value than anything in the light area.
- Cast shadow. What is a cast shadow? A cast shadow is a two dimensional representation of a three dimensional form, flattened, from the position of the light source. The shadow also takes the shape of the object onto which it is cast. If the ground, then a fairly flat, straightforward shape. If over other objects, say a log, or a frog, or a sleeping dog, then the shadow will go up and over that object, much like a blanket might. That is the shape of the shadow, and using light source point and shadow vanishing point, one could calculate exactly what that shadow shape should look like, on any form. That lesson, is for another day, however. For now, use your observational skills to draw out the cast shadow area as best as possible.
Regarding the value of the cast shadow, it is usually the darkest value. The cast shadow is also the darkest where the object rests on the surface. This is known as the “occlusion” shadow. The shadow may get lighter as it moves away from the object, due to reflective light bouncing into the cast shadow area. The edges of the shadow may soften as well, depending on how strong the light source is, and how far away it is from the object.
That’s our drawing lesson today! I hope it helps you better “see” the light and shadow values of things in front of you. Comment below if you found this helpful, and if there’s any other quick tidbits you would like to hear from me.
