April 2013 Video Tutorial: Making a Diffuse Shadow

[Gare]

First, Stygg—hit "Pause" and consider what it is you want to visually express.

Don't consider my render as a template for your work, but instead, something just to reflect on for future work.

What artistic "truths" do you see in the picture?

Should your horizon be unven, or blurry? Should it be a sunny day?

What is it you want to express?

Drawing is the execution of a graphical composition. Art is the graphical expression of an idea.

-g

[stygg2003]

First, Stygg—hit "Pause" and consider what it is you want to visually express.

Don't consider my render as a template for your work, but instead, something just to reflect on for future work.

What artistic "truths" do you see in the picture?

Should your horizon be unven, or blurry? Should it be a sunny day?

What is it you want to express?

Drawing is the execution of a graphical composition. Art is the graphical expression of an idea.

-g

Gary taking onboard what you said I think I was trying to make what is a graphical composition into an Art idea, I was really trying to show the image as graphical with shadow. I think perhaps you would show it as I have now if you were trying to sell this product. Considering what you said about the light coming from top left, I applied the shadow in the position you see with just a bit of blurring but was not sure if the shadow would be elliptical or cylindrical shape as the AirPath instrument.

Stygg

[Gare]

It's a good shadow, stygg.

But the shadow off the text is absolutely wrong for the composition. you now have two composition elements with shadows going in different directions. Your device is lit from upper left and is casting a shadow downwards. Your text, meanwhile, is being light from the left but from the front, and the shadows are traveling up, not down as the object's shadow is.

Compositionally, is there anything else you could add to reinforce the idea that the surface is rough? A pattern perhaps? You have a tough one to complete here, stygg: Clearly, the soft shadow is a product of the surface and not diffuse lighting because the specular highlights on the device are quite focused, not dull.

Soft and sharp shadows also set a mood, they convey power or softness. I might even use a hard shadow for this composition, Stygg, not that it's the topic this month, but because it's appropriate for your composition.

And by the way, I've assumed the instrument is a photo, but if not, your work is magnificent on it!

-g

[stygg2003]

Thanks again for more feedback Gary, I assume then I could leave the yellow background as it is and change the shadow to a hard shadow and alter the text shadow to the right position. The instrument is a line drawing of a photo I have, it took me a good while to get it right, especially the screws. I like the background for the instument so would like to get the shadows correct. Sorry were slightly off diffuse shadow topic but I really like the finished instrument but never got around to finish my work with the correct shadow, did'nt know much about shadows until the Xone

Stygg

[Gare]

What you might to try, Stygg, is angle the text so its face lies along the same frontla plane as your instrument—use the Mould tool in Perspective mode—and then calculate how shadows of essentially 2D text might fall on the same ground plane.

These two images are NOT "good design work", they're awkward and I'm posting them just to show you how the text would need to be angled in order to make it both legible and cast a shadow: it's a given that you can't rotate or modify the device.

Just get thinking about how light casts on shapes and where the shadows would be. And got get some cheap building blocks at the Salvation Army toy department and play with them and a camera on a sunny day. I don't see enough Xara artists doing what we called "Life Studies"; very, very few people can calculate everything in a scene they think up entirely in their head.



-g

[stygg2003]

Sorry to be a pain Gary but here's my final effort, quite difficult to angle the text and line a shadow up with it, but I still learned a few things from this. I'll have to root my old camera out and do as you said, a few life studies. Thanks for your patience and replies, which were very enlightning.

Stygg

[Gare]

You did good, and the concept is just wrong for this composition. Clearly, the text is at an awkward angle regardless of how one positions it in 3D space.

But you did good!

-g

[stygg2003]

Cheers Gary, it all helps the learning process so I don't consider it a loss but something to reflect on and think about in future work.

Stygg

[stygg2003]

Well Gary I've messed around with this file until I was blue in the face, as you said in an earlier post, it's a bad concept and I can see that but I thought I'd have another go at it and at least try and improve it, so this is my last effort, no more aircraft instruments!

Stygg

[Gare]

If you took the text out of the upper left corner—where it's a distraction and the drop shadow flattens the look of the overall composition—me, I'd consider it well-done and finished.

Why the text in upper left? Asymmetrical is better than symmetrical!

-g