Half-Arab Stud - Lineless

[Sarah Badr]

I absolutely love Silv's tutorial!!!

Getting better!

[Kahlira]

I think I like this one XD Not sure about the tail though, might be the glowing white that was used though.

[Silvanon]

Oh yup, getting better indeed!     Nice job!


Ok, suggestion time:  Hum, I agree with Kah, the mane & tail need to better match the shading values of the body around them.  Shading that changes too abruptly ends up looking odd.

Hum...I'm certainly guilty of not always considering my light source as much as I should, but I'll bring it up anyway because there are some rather contradictory shadows going on here.  Especially with the mane & tail again, but some other places on the body too.  There is some amount of "inner glow effect" aka "pillow shading" (outsides shaded, middle highlighted) that can't be avoided with this method, since all around the edges need at least some shading to make sure both dark & light coloring still work ok with any background.  However, it's best to minimize that effect as much as possible.  I'm not sure if I'm explaining myself very well.  If I've just confused you, let me know and I'll try again.

[Sarah Badr]

Less highlighting?

[Silvanon]

Mm, it's not so much how much shading/highlighting there is, as it is where it's placed.

So, here's the classic four light sources:



And here's "inner glow effect" aka "pillow shading":



And come to think of it, this is a separate problem that's more like what Mr. Half-Arab is experiencing:




Do the visual examples help?  Or would it be more helpful if I drew in the light sources I'm noticing on Mr. Half-Arab?  If so, I think it'd be best to do it on an example where he's just all one color (preferably not white or black; maybe chestnut), if you're up for posting one.

[Sarah Badr]

Your half-arab is pretty much all chestnut. Will he do?

[Sarah Badr]

But, basically I need to pick a point of light (say upper right corner) and shade heavier away (heavier towards the bottom left corner) and highlight heavier towards (upper right corner) the light source?

[Silvanon]

But, basically I need to pick a point of light (say upper right corner) and shade heavier away (heavier towards the bottom left corner) and highlight heavier towards (upper right corner) the light source?

Yup, that's the idea.  Of course horses do have bumpy muscles (and lips) to be taken into account, you've got some lovely musculature going on that I don't want to see get lost, but still, yes.

Huh..... is the mane on my boy colored with the same chestnut shade as the body?  Or is it a darker shade?  Because otherwise... I'm confused.  XD  Maybe just paint-bucket the whole thing green for me.  ^^

I do want to restate this in case I wasn't clear before.  I'm nitpicking the finer details here, really he's already quite lovely.

[Sarah Badr]

  It's a lil darker.



Let me go make a green one for you.

[Sarah Badr]

[Sarah Badr]

Hey now......they DO glow with their own inner light!  They are special. ROFL.

[SkySong]

Haha, pretty green horse. I definitely agree with the nit-picking - also, something else to think about - the mane/tail should be thought of more or less as one shape. So once you shade it as a general shape, then you can go and add the detailed shading of the individual hairs sorta thing. This will help your manes and tails look the same color as the rest of the horse, instead of lighter.