Character Lighting Effects

I have been working on my coloring skills as of late. My goal is to have my art appear less “flat” so to speak. A big part of that is how lighting effects the different colors cast across the subject. It’s been a really interesting journey in figuring out highlights versus shadows versus how much of each. This project on the side here is a valiant effort in trying to get reflective surfaces on the body. I haven’t quite figured out the ins and outs of it yet as I think the colors are a little subdued even with the saturation turned way up.

What I attempted here was two light the whole thing in greyscale (black and white). As a non-colored photo it looked amazing! Then I started adding color and now I’m struggling a bit. It might be the color of the background that has made it seem more flat. Maybe adding a little more color too the background will help give it a more 3D look.

Also, the pose is a little off as I did not use a reference image. I cannot stress this enough, ALWAYS USE A REFERENCE! I know I didn’t follow my own advice in this case, but I really wanted to get to the coloring portion of the drawing. Unfortunately, I think the whole piece suffered for it.

The big thing though is that this is the first step in trying a new style of coloring. If you’ve checked out my art page, then you’ve seen my coloring style already. I’m going to see where this step of the journey takes me.

Until then, keep drawing!