Original subtitles

Chapter 3, Learning how to draw each part.

How to color shadows.

Next is about how to draw and color shadows.

We have been drawing illustrations together throughout the tutorials so far.

I'm sure you had this question while drawing.

"Naoki said to draw shadows, but I don't know where to draw them."

"In what standard, and what color shadow should I draw?"

It's amazing if you had that question in mind.

I told you to firstly just draw for the purpose of digging up those questions.

These questions that rise spontaneously will be the reason for your growth.

You are doing well if, as a result of actually moving your hands, you start thinking about shadows.

Good job!

As for how to draw shadows, this is the basic idea behind everything.

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So far, I have introduced how to draw eyes and how to draw hair.

And from now on, I will introduce how to draw wrinkles on clothes and how to color skin.

This concept applies to everything.

So this video is for you to get back to the basics again.

This will improve your basic skills to think about drawing shadows naturally.

By watching this video, you can learn more about shadows that you have been casually drawing.

"I now understand this shadow is drawn with this reason, so let's me try it this way."

That way you will be able to draw shadows with confidence.

As a result, you'll have the foundation of improving your illustration significantly.

Please watch till the end.

Let's get started!

Types of shadow.

I said, "This tutorial raises your basic ability."

So, I will introduce the basic idea first.

Look at this diagram.

Two circles are drawn.

Imagine that this is a picture of two spheres floating.

If so, what kind of shadow would you draw?

I would draw shadows like this.

Here it is.

With shadows, it's no longer a simple flat circle.

What kind of shape is the sphere? Under what circumstances does it exist?

Is it floating or is it set on the ground?

If it's floating, how high is it floating?

By drawing shadows, you will be able to understand it in more detail.

As you can see in this example, drawing shadows have two main effects.

The first effect is to make the shape itself easier to identify.

A shadow drawn in the circle like this gives the viewer a visual indication that it is a smooth sphere.

If it is shaded like this, it conveys that it is not a smooth sphere but a sphere with bumps.

And if the shadow is drawn like this, it is not just a sphere, but a shape with square protrusions sticking out.

Shadows clarify the shape of the object itself.

The second effect represents the situation of the object.

The first shadowing shows that two spheres are floating.

For example, if it looks like this, the two spheres are on the ground.

And when it looks like this, you can assume the ground is slanted.

You can also tell that the sphere in front is set on the ground, while the sphere in the back is floating.

First, let's try and understand the reason behind this shadow.

Then, while drawing, you will be able to clearly understand why the shadow is being drawn.

So you can use shadows more effectively and learn methods of drawing well.

The two shadows I just introduced have different roles.

The pink shadow shows that the sphere is three-dimensional.

This is a shadow created by darkening the areas where the light does not hit.

The other part, this blue part, is called the "fallen shadow".

This is the shadow that shows the situation of the object.

It's not the shadow on the three-dimensional object itself, but the shadow that occurs because the object blocks the light from the light source.

Basically, if you are aware of these two shadows, you can draw shadows without any problems.

I personally think there is another type of shadow.

I didn't mention it at first since it may be confusing.

I see this as the third shadow.

This is the shadow of depth.

This shadow that shows depth, is applied to the furthest part of the screen.

By adding this at the end, the illustration becomes richer and easier to understand.

It's not too difficult to understand the circumstances of using this.

In a nutshell, it is a shadow drawn to express the darkness of objects placed further back on the screen.

This is what I think personally, so it's not formal or academic.

So, in general, you don't have to apply this shadow.

However, by adopting this concept, your illustration will become more spatial and less flat.

With this idea, let's see if we can actually classify the shadows in the illustration.

This is the illustration used in the tutorial on how to draw hair.

Let's classify shadows using this illustration.

The first thing that is easy to understand is the fallen shadows.

In this figure, it is the blue part.

In terms of the illustration, it's this part.

The lower part of her neck is dark due to the shadow of her head.

The fallen shadow is also used in parts of the illustration where something is attached to something else.

For example, the shadows that cast on her forehead under her hair.

It's subtle, but the shadow of the whites of her eyes falling on her eyelids.

And a shadow falling from the collar of her sailor suit.

These are the parts that are attached to something, so they need shadows.

These fallen shadows represent the situation.

So it shows that there is an object is above it and what it's doing.

For example, if you draw a lot of shadows on her forehead, you can express that her bangs are floating.

If there aren't too many shadows drawn there, you can express her bangs sticking to her forehead.

It's such a small detail that I hesitated to say.

For example, the upper part of the iris is often darker.

This is actually the equivalent of fallen shadows.

This is a conceptual diagram of the eye when viewed from the side.

The actual eyes have a structure similar to what I explained when I introduced how to draw eyes.

Strictly speaking, this diagram is inaccurate.

When coloring the iris, I draw shadows like this in the diagram.

On its surface is a transparent cornea.

But the shadow is not there.

Shadow from the upper eyelid is cast on the surface that is recessed further back.

In anime style drawing, shadows in the eyes are often drawn like this.

In order to actually reproduce this impression, many anime figures have intentionally concave eyeballs.

This is surprisingly important, so if you keep this in mind, your drawing will improve.

Next is about the pink part that expresses the three-dimensional effect.

Within this illustration, it's this part.

This is most of the shadow except the fallen shadow.

This shadow expresses what kind of shape is making the shadow.

For example, as in the previous example, if you add uneven shadows, you can express that it is an uneven shape.

It's pretty straight forward.

If you darken the shadow like this to create a clear contrast between the illuminated side and the shadowed side.

It will make the character more three-dimensional.

So, when you want to express the character's presence, it's good to add a clear shadows like this.

On the other hand, if you want to focus on the transparency and cuteness of the character rather than the presence of the character, light shadows are effective.

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If you want to draw a cool male character, you can emphasize the three-dimensional effect and presence by increasing the contrast.

As for the shadow that expresses the three-dimensional effect, adjust while thinking about the shape and contrast.

And finally, the third shadow, the shadow of depth.

It's this part of the character.

To be precise, this may overlap with the other two shadows I introduced.

Therefore, it is difficult to determine which type of shadow it is.

Considering the depth of the screen, it is usually the shadow cast on the further part of the screen.

The shadow of this part does not necessarily become dark according to the laws of physics.

The idea is similar to aerial perspective.

Suppose there is a layer of air surrounding the character, and the deeper you go, the less light reaches it.

Draw shadows that are darker at a certain distance from the camera.

By doing so, it is possible to exaggerate the depth of the illustration, even though it is deceptive.

This is a sneaky trick.

But it's a very useful concept to keep in mind.

Applying large shadows first.

I have just described three types of shadows.

It is not necessary to color each shadow differently.

Strictly speaking, shadows do have color variations.

When drawing realistic pictures, you need to be very conscious of which shadow you are drawing.

When drawing anime-style illustrations, you don't need to use different colors for different types of shadows.

Shadows representing solids, fallen shadows, and shadows of depth.

Wherever one of them hits, simply draw a shadow.

You may think I'm annoying because I say this so many times, but there's one thing.

That is the order in which the shadows are drawn.

As I said when I explained about hair, people who aren't very good at drawing tend to draw fine shadows like this first.

However, if you proceed in this way, there is no sense of unity when the picture is viewed from a distance.

This increases the risk of the illustration becoming flat and unattractive.

For example, let's use this picture of a sphere to make it easier to understand.

If you draw a fine shadow on the surface first, you can tell that it is bumpy.

But it becomes difficult to convey that this circle is a sphere.

Rather, ignore the fine shadows on the surface and apply large shadows like this first.

After that, if you draw fine shadows on the surface again like this.

It looks more like a sphere as a whole.

Now you can see that it is shaped like a moon with unevenness on its surface.

First draw a large shadow that expresses the three-dimensional effect as a whole, and then draw fine shadows on the surface.

By drawing in that order, you can create a three-dimensional sense of unity as a whole.

You will end up with a good illustration with detailed texture.

The order in which the shadows are drawn is very important, so please be very conscious of it.

Determine the depth of the shadow according to the color and texture of the base.

The next trick to keep in mind when drawing shadows is the darkness of the shadows.

As I said in Chapter 2, I use reddish grays like this.

The shadows of the hair, skin, and clothes, I color them all at once at first.

After coloring in the shadows, I think about the base color and texture.

"Maybe the shadow here should be a little darker."

"No, on the contrary, it would be better to make it a lighter color."

Like that, I explained adjusting it after applying.

Texture is an important factor in deciding the darkness of the shadows.

Shadows cast on glossy and hard objects can be adjusted to be darker to express the texture more.

On the other hand, it is easier to express a soft texture by using a light, thin shadow for a soft object.

For example, what about shiny buttons and accessories like this?

It's hard and metallic, so if you apply a slightly darker shadow, you can enhance the effect of it being glossy and hard.

Also, try adding another dark color between the highlights and shadows like this.

It will further increase it's metallic feel.

On the other hand, the cloth part of the sailor suit is soft and lacks luster.

So, you can emphasize the soft feeling by applying a lighter shadow.

If you are aware of not only the density but also the color of the shadow, you can manipulate the impression as you wish.

If you use cool shadow colors such as blue or green shadows, it can give a clean and refreshing impression.

If you use warm shadows such as orange or beige, you can create a lively impression with a feel of the sun and earth.

Do not to use too many dark achromatic colors for shadows.

If you use black as a shadow color, it may create a slightly dirty impression.

Of course, there are times when black is used for that effect.

For those of you who haven't thought too much about its colors, try choosing shadows that are either warm or cool colors.

It's a good practice to manipulate an image.

Try and understand shadows from photos.

If you have no idea how to draw large shadows, you can experiment with photos.

Use this photo to get a feel for how to draw large shadows.

For those who are having difficulty understanding big shadows, when they see a photo like this.

That person will notice the unevenness of detailed shadows like this.

Then the person starts drawing from there.

But that's not the first thing you should notice.

People who are good at noticing shadows see it this way.

First, de-saturate this photo, as we only want to see the gradation of the shadows.

Press Command and U to decrease the saturation value.

Then try image, color correction and posterization on Photoshop.

Try editing, color correction, and gradation with Clip Studio Paint.

And lower the tone to about 4 or 5 like this.

Then, although it is a little rough, the gradation is gone and the color surface is clearly divided with a solid color.

This is the side with light.

And everything below that is a shadow plane.

In this way, you can clearly see that it is a very large division.

This is what it means to draw a big shadow.

First, shade the area below the chest.

Then draw the detailed shadows.

If you can't tell what the large shadows are, you can use the picture like this to understand.

Please, try it.

Shadows that emphasize three-dimensional effect.

Let's go back to the illustration of the girl from earlier.

From now on, I will introduce a small trick to make the shadows that I have drawn stand out more.

The first thing I would like to introduce is the shadow drawing technique for emphasizing the three-dimensional effect.

What should I do to emphasize the three-dimensional effect?

If I explain it with the illustration of the sphere, it will be like this.

The part between the light and the shadow is called the edge.

Try drawing a darker shadow here.

As a result, the shadows appear to protrude towards the viewer like this.

So, it has the effect of further emphasizing the three-dimensional effect.

This property can also be applied to illustrations.

Let's try it in practice with the illustration of the girl.

Apply a slightly darker color than the surrounding shadows to the areas where the border between light and shadow sticks out the most.

What do you think?

Do the same for her hair.

It turned out like this.

Let's compare before and after emphasizing the edges.

What do you think?

It's really a little bit, but the three-dimensional effect was improved by emphasizing the edges.

As I said earlier, the greater the contrast between light and shadow, the more rigid the impression.

So, you have to choose the right time and place for this technique.

However, it is a very convenient solution when it looks flat.

Try using this technique in cases like that.

Make the shadows transparent.

This is also a supplementary technique.

This is the shadow of depth I mentioned earlier.

If you just darken this area, the overall impression of the illustration may become a little too heavy or dull.

In a case like this, you can put a little bluish color on the shadow that expresses depth.

It is a technique to make shadows seem more transparent.

It's easy to do.

Add a hard light layer to the top layer.

Choose a bluish color and try to put some color on it once.

Then press Command and U in this state to adjust the hue and saturation.

Please press the OK button with just the right amount of blue.

And erase unnecessary parts.

This added a bit of aerial perspective to the depth.

It looks dark in the distance, but it also has a sense of transparency.

It is possible to achieve a light expression that does not become too heavy.

If you look carefully at various contents, you can discover that this expression is actually widely used.

Illustrations of famous social games also use this technique a lot.

This is a technique that you should try when you want to express depth but also want to bring out lightness.

Shadows for guiding the viewer's sight.

One more thing.

What I just introduced is enough, but I will teach you one last thing.

You can also enhance the picture even further by adding shadows to guide the viewer's eye.

It's super easy to do.

Add another multiplication layer.

Use a brush with a strong blur to add a slightly darker shadow with a gradation toward the part far from her face.

Please do it gently.

What do you think?

I used very light shadows and the effect is evident.

Compare this with and without shadows.

It's totally different, isn't it?

The brightness around her face and the brightness of the part far from her face became a big difference.

So naturally your gaze is guided to her face.

This is the final touch, the shadows guiding the viewer's eye.

"I worked on the whole illustration, but for some reason it's flat!"

"I want people to look at the face the moment they see the illustration, but it's kind of unsettling and confusing."

In such cases, adding a shadow that guide's the viewer's gaze perfects it.

Today I put a shadow that guide's the viewer's gaze on a illustration of a person.

It is also effective to draw shadows that brighten the center and darken the surroundings against the background.

If you incorporate all the shadowing methods introduced today, it will be a very fine adjustment.

So you may find it a bit cumbersome.

But the effect, as you see now, is outstanding.

So, I would be very happy if you could try incorporating the techniques I introduced, even if it's just a little at a time.

Those are the ideas and techniques of how to draw shadows that I wanted to introduce.

How was it?

By the way, the way to draw Japanese anime is the way I introduced today.

The most common way to do this is to first draw in a lighter color and then draw shadows over it.

However, if you think of it in terms of a drawing technique, there is also a method of drawing the dark shadows first.

And a method of painting the bright color that the light hits later.

For those who have difficulty adding shadows, there is also the method of adding light.

Please create a wonderful illustration while searching for a method that suits you best.