Many of my students are afraid to draw glass. And this fear can be caused for various reasons. Some say that they can’t see anything in glass and don’t know what to draw, because it’s transparent. Others, on the contrary, say that there is too much in glass, all kinds of glare, colors and reflections. Let's try to figure out what the real problem is in the image of glass and glass objects, and how glass differs from other materials.

Properties of glass objects

To begin with, I propose to remember that the natives exchanged glass for gold. And I don't think it's stupid, glass is really very beautiful material! The natives did not know the objective value of glass and gold and assessed them visually. So, when you sit down to draw glass, try to see all its beauty. Look at it through the eyes of a native who has seen something like this for the first time in his life. Glass can have all sorts of and maximum rich colors, while it can transmit light, can be transparent and literally invisible, glass can reflect the world around it to the smallest detail, or can transmit it through itself, bizarrely deforming it. I am certainly one of the people who, when looking at glass objects, see an endless array of incredibly interesting details.

Glass and light. How to draw highlights on a bottle correctly

Does this mean that we need to draw all the highlights that we see in the bottle? Of course not! You always need to make a selection. Let's say there is a glass bottle in front of you. Six lamps shine on the bottle, and the light falls from the window. All light sources are reflected in the glass of the bottle, and each can be reflected several times! In such lighting, you shouldn’t chase all the highlights; take those that fit most clearly in shape. I always turn my head and watch the reflections dance across the surface. As a rule, I ignore the glare that appears and disappears. I paint highlights that change their shape but remain. I almost never copy the shape of the highlight, since it is really unstable. I draw a highlight of a shape that fits better on the surface of this bottle. Having noted the brightest white highlights, I begin to mark the reflections using the same principle. I turn my head, watch how they are distorted, and choose the most interesting ones that fit the shape better. IN pencil drawing bottles, I try to mark as many highlights and reflections as possible so that they all have clear boundaries.

How associations will help you draw a bottle

I often ask my students to describe glass and what associations they have with the word “glass.” Sometimes I ask them to hold the bottle in their hand and describe how they feel. Typically, I hear something like - sharp, cold, smooth, hard, transparent, etc. And then I ask them to paint so that their stroke can be described in the same words. The stroke should be sharp, smooth, hard, and transparent. Even if you draw an orange bottle, it should have cool colors, since by association you remember that glass feels cold to the touch. It is very important to change the nature of the stroke depending on the subject being depicted. Let's say, when drawing the bark of a tree, we will not apply a stroke in the same way as when depicting glass.

Features of drawing a glass bottle

We always start working from the brightest pure colors. If the bottle is orange, then you can start with pure yellows, oranges, reds and other colors. We always remember that it is never too late to apply dark brown, purple and other shadows, as well as reflections, but we can add bright and pure shades only in the first layer. Also, I don’t use any one color in the glass image; I work out each highlight and reflection marked in the pencil drawing separately with a different color and assemble it like a mosaic. At the first stages, this approach seems unnecessarily fractional, but in the end I summarize everything, and the bottle is assembled. When the surface of the entire bottle is collected by color, I wait for it to dry completely and apply dark reflections. To achieve glassy shine, you need to work in very contrast. Light highlights should border on dark reflections without any transitional tones.

How to draw a highlight on an object in Photoshop - this is always actual question. In order to draw a highlight correctly, you need to study the theory of the formation of light and shade in drawing, I will not discuss it, but will devote the lesson to the technical part - assuming that you have an idea where the highlight should be, but you don’t know what it should be and how It's better to draw it.

But before moving on to practice, a little theory.

What exactly is a glare? Conventionally, we can say that glare is the brightest place where a light source is reflected from an object.
What it will be depends on the material of the object itself: if it has a smooth polished surface from which light is reflected, the glare should be bright, its shape follows the contours of the object, and, moreover, sharp corners the light is reflected more strongly.
On less smooth surfaces, the glare is duller; rough surfaces scatter light. This must be remembered before applying the highlight.

The picture from the site render.ru quite clearly demonstrates the type of glare depending on the surface on which it falls.
(to view the picture in full size click on it)

For glare to appear, the object must be brightly lit and direct rays must fall on it.

How to determine the glare area?

If you are drawing an image from scratch, you need to select a light source and determine the highlights from its location. If you are working with a picture and do not change the light source, select the lightest places in the original image and transfer it to yours.

BUT! Often you come across works that have glare superimposed on them that shouldn’t seem to be there (like glare on car tires). You look at this, you know that there shouldn’t be a glare, at least not this bright, but damn, it looks cool!

Here is the most important conclusion for you: rules exist to be broken, the main thing is not to overdo it.
Here is a selection of several types of highlights - some of them are drawn, some are real.

Let's move on to the technical part.

Always remember to blend highlights into the finished image.

1. Preparing the file for applying highlights

First, I carry out all the operations of retouching and composing the scene: I have a cut out photo of a glass bottle with a metal cap. I draw a reflection for the object (read how to do this in the lesson Drawing a reflection in Photoshop) and break the background into squares, supporting the corners on the bottle. There are highlights in the source material, but they seem inexpressive to me, so I need to accentuate them.

2. Determine the location of glare

As I said above, when drawing from the source, these are the lightest places in the image - they are marked as an area in the picture.

3. I focus light on the subject

I fill the marked areas with white, blur them a little using Gaussian, and change the blending mode to “ Bright light"(Vivid Light) and reduce the fill to 40−60%. The light areas became brighter, and a small glowing halo appeared around the light spots. I wash it in places where I don’t need the glow - these are the edges of the lid ring, in that place the light will flow along the ring itself.
Using a one-pixel hard brush on a new layer, I paint highlights along the edges of the object.

4. Glowing highlights

On a new layer with a soft brush white In the supposed places of the brightest highlights, I draw small dots (marked in red in the picture for clarity), add non-monochrome noise (Filter-Add Noise) and duplicate the layer (Ctrl+E).
I blur one take in motion (Motion Blur) at an angle (Angle) of 30-60 degrees (I choose the degree of displacement by eye), the second I blur in motion in the direction opposite to the first and with a lesser degree of displacement. It looked like a star in the place of the brightest highlights. I merge these layers and change the blending mode to “Screen”, fill 60-80%.

5. Using a hard white brush, I once again go through the places of the brightest glow and use the “Finger” tool to smudge the edges. Change the blending mode to “Overlay”, fill 30-60%. I duplicate the layer and use Gaussian blur.

6. Adding lighting effects

1. There is a flash on the object itself:
I find a suitable flash on a black background, change the blend mode to “Screen”, and move it to the place I need. If desired, you can add another one.

Now I don't like the background color, I change it to purple.

I find a picture with an interesting lighting effect and place it above the subject. I change the blending mode to “Screen” and use a soft eraser to erase the edges so that the sharp transition between the image with the glow and the background is not visible. I add reflection from sparks.

I add more lighting effects, again - don’t forget about reflection.

7. Reflexes

Since the object is illuminated by colored rays, reflections from the rays must be added to it. I duplicate the layer drawn in step 5 and apply a layer style to it with the following parameters:

8. You can also add light to the background and stop there.

The overlay of various lighting effects allows you to achieve a result that is radically different from the source, and no one limits the freedom of creativity.

Majority art schools and drawing courses primarily teach how to draw shadows. Constructing and drawing such primitive figures as a cylinder, ball, cone, cube is a rather tedious and uninteresting task. However, it is precisely tasks like this that are the first step towards understanding the shape and volume of a geometric shape, as well as the ability to depict its dark and bright sides- that is, to the ability to draw shadows with a pencil step by step. In future artistic practice, the ability to correctly feel the dark and light sides will be a good help in any drawing.

If you want to make the sketch visual and realistic, you need to give it volume. In this article we will tell you how to draw shadows with a pencil correctly.

Light and shadow

Drawings should be realistic and pleasing to the eye. Therefore, it is necessary to correctly combine light and shadow in them. This will give the drawings contrast, depth and a sense of movement. shadows to make your drawings look more alive, attractive and interesting?

A little theory

Have you ever wondered what allows us to see the shape of objects? Let's reveal a secret: this is a collision of light and shadow. If we place an object on a table in a room without windows and turn off the light, we will not see any form. If we illuminate an object with a very bright lamp or spotlight, then again we will not see its shape. It can only be seen by light that collides with shadow.

Neither light nor shadow falls on objects at random. There are certain patterns. They allow us to guess how the light will be located on the object, on its forms, and where the shadow will begin. And the person who draws needs to know these patterns.

Elements of chiaroscuro

In drawing, the following elements of chiaroscuro are distinguished: highlight, light, penumbra, own shadow, reflex and falling shadow. Let's consider each of them in order.

Glare called a spot of light that is located on a convex or flat glossy surface and is obtained due to the strong illumination of the object.

Light- These are the surfaces of an object that are brightly lit.

Penumbra called a faint shadow. It occurs if an object is illuminated not by one, but by several light sources. In addition, it forms on surfaces that face the light source at a slight angle.

Shadow- these are those areas of the subject that are dimly lit. A falling shadow is one that an object casts on the plane on which it stands. And his own is the one that is on the unlit side of it.

Reflex called a weak spot of light that is located in the shadow area. It is formed by rays that are reflected from other objects nearby.

The depiction of these light gradations allows the artist to visually depict the shape of an object on a sheet of paper, convey its volume and degree of illumination.

Do these rules work for computer graphics?

Yes. Computer graphics- this is the same drawing. Therefore, how to draw shadows in SAI or Photoshop is no different from drawing them on paper. All the theory and all the rules that work for an image on canvas or paper are also valid for a computer.

Step 1: Selecting the Right Materials

How to draw shadows with a pencil? First of all, you need to choose correct pencil. Of course, you can paint shadows with charcoal, sanguine, gouache, and acrylic. But at first it is better to limit yourself to a pencil.

For shadows, special drawing pencils are used. They are sold in sets. A budget option can be found at any office supply store. There is also special paper for drawing: it is better to choose thicker and stiffer paper.

There are many types of drawing pencils. There are ones with a soft (M, 2M, 3M, ..., 8M, 9M) lead, and there are ones with a hard one (T, 2T, 3T, ..., 8T, 9T). In sets from foreign manufacturers, M is replaced by B, and T by H.

To depict shadows, a set of 3T, 2T, T, TM, M, 2M and 3M will be enough for you. To depict light it is better to use hard pencils, and for shadow - soft. This way the drawing will look more natural and will be easier to draw.

Let's talk about paper. Too smooth sheets, like the ones we print on, are not suitable for drawing. Don't use paper that is too hard. It will be difficult to draw shadows on it. It is best to use special drawing sheets, which are sold in a folder at office supply stores. How to draw shadows correctly? First of all, purchase the right materials.

Step Two: Linear Sketch

How to draw shadows in a drawing? First of all, make a line sketch of what you want to draw. It is advisable to do this from life, but you can also use a photograph of the object. The most important thing is that the object you choose is motionless. In this case, you will have a lot of time to sketch it.

Take a close look at your home environment. You can draw flowers, watches, kitchen utensils, and items of clothing. All of these are excellent subjects for sketching.

If you use a photograph, it is better to print it in black and white. This way you will be able to more accurately depict the outline and shadows.

Step 3: Achromatic Colors

How to draw shadows? When working with a pencil, all of them start with white and end with black, with several shades of gray in the middle.

How to create an achromatic scale? Draw a rectangle: this can be done on a separate sheet of paper or in the corner of your drawing. Divide this rectangle into five equal parts (you can do more, but 5 will be enough to start with), then number them.

The very first square will be white, and the last one will be black. The parts between them need to be painted with three different shades gray, dividing them by tone. As a result, you will have something like your pencil's palette: the first rectangle is white, the second is light gray, the third is medium gray, the fourth is dark gray and the last is the darkest tone the pencil can produce.

Step 4: Shadow Theory

How to draw shadows? To do this, it is necessary to understand their nature.

Find the main light source. Observe that the lightest are often closest to the light, the darkest are further away, and the shadows fall opposite it. Special attention You should pay attention to reflections, as they can be the brightest place of the object chosen for drawing.

Step 5: Choosing a Hatching Method

How to draw shadows? Using shading. It is placed on top

Choose the way you will hatch the sketch, depending on the object itself, the light source and There are many types of shadow hatching, and the most popular ones are straight, circular and cross.

Drawing a set is called a straight line parallel lines as close to each other as possible. This method is great for objects without texture and for drawing hair.

For circular shading, you need to draw many small circles. This shading can be used to create interesting texture by scattering circles and adding lines to them. In addition, you can more clearly show the density of the object you are depicting by placing the circles close to each other.

Shading objects by drawing intersecting lines is cross hatching. This method is great for adding depth to a drawing.

Step 6: pen test

Try making shadows. Since your drawing is still initial stage, you should not make them too dark. This way you can easily erase them if necessary. Draw, gradually filling in the places that are needed, and leaving the lightest places white.

As you paint, compare your work to the subject or a photograph of it to make sure you're putting the shadows in the right place.

Step 7: Patience and step by step work

Add shadows in several layers. They must be gradually darkened, layer by layer. There should be a noticeable contrast between dark and light areas. Do not forget to use an achromatic scale: the drawing should not be in the same gray tones.

There's no need to rush. The process of shading shadows is similar to developing black and white film: it must happen gradually. Patience is your key to success and beautiful drawings.

The more you deepen the shadows in the drawing, the less noticeable its contours will become. And that’s right, because in real life almost nothing has a black outline. The same should be reflected in your drawing.

Step 8: Shading the Shadows

Now blend the shadows in your drawing. It is necessary to make them more realistic and smooth. You need to control the pressure so that it is not too strong and too weak. Blend until you are satisfied with the result.

If you don't have shading, you can use a small piece of paper. An eraser will help you highlight those places that you accidentally covered up. This could be a highlight, or a contour that is not completely hidden under the shading layer.

The main thing is to remember that most people who draw, including the most famous artists, at the initial stage creative path made mistakes.

• Between your hand and the paper you are drawing on you can put Blank sheet printing paper: this way you will avoid stains on the drawing.
• To avoid dirtying the sketch and correcting mistakes, it is better to use a vinyl eraser. Erasers made from this material do not damage paper and erase pencil marks well.
• Don't use your finger to blend the shading.
• To make the difference between light and shadow more noticeable, you need to use good lighting.
• It is better to hold the pencil at a smaller angle to the plane of the paper so that you can draw with the side of the lead rather than its tip. This will make the shadows more natural.

To prevent a drawn vector object from appearing flat, shadows and highlights are added to it. The techniques described in the lesson will help you draw a shadow and add volume to your vector drawing.

Shadows, as a rule, are located inside the object and extend along the edge, therefore, it will be convenient to use the " Creating Shapes(Shift+M)" to cut off excess or create new figure based on two existing ones.

To do this, draw two offset circles as shown in the image below. Or other necessary figures. It is important to remember that when drawing a shadow, the main thing is to correctly draw a line inside the object and close it; everything outside will be cut off. Select both items. And grab the Shape Builder tool. Hold down the ALT key and click on the extra area and it will be removed.

If you want to make the drawing more beautiful, create a second shadow outline next to the first. The second shadow will be lighter than the first and this will add volume. After all, what more details drawn, the more beautiful the drawing.

The color of the shadow and highlight should be, respectively, slightly darker and lighter than the main color of the subject. You can change the color in two ways:

1. Double-click on the color swatch and drag the pointer higher or lower.
2. Leave the color the same. But change the blending mode. For shadows, “Multiply” is suitable, and for the illuminated part of the object, “Lighten”.

The second method should be used carefully, as any effects may not be read correctly in earlier versions. And for, it’s better to avoid such tricks altogether and change only the color.

It also has a good volume effect. This tool allows you to “stretch” the mesh over a shape and paint each of the links a different color. Using a mesh gradient, you can not only create shadows and highlights, but also give photorealism to a vector drawing.

Other ways to draw a shadow

In addition, beautiful shadows are obtained using the Gradient tool. If you put black on both sides and change the transparency value from zero to 50%, you will get a beautiful shadow with a smooth flow. In combination with the “Multiply” blending mode, it will look very realistic, even on a colored background.

For example, an ellipse with a radial shadow was drawn under the ball, which also had to be changed to the shape of an oval. This shadow looks very realistic.

Below is another example of such a shadow. The collar of the shirt stands out a bit thanks to a linear gradient with minimal opacity values.

Folds on clothing or shadows do not have the correct shape, so the Pencil tool is suitable for drawing.

Often, shadows are located along the edges of clothing so that they do not peek outside; we will cut off the excess with the “Create Shapes” tool described above.

A real example of working with shadows can be seen in the lesson

Video lesson: Drawing shadows and highlights in Adobe Illustrator.

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Making a shadow effect on a figure in CorelDRAW X6

Choose what you especially liked and get to work.

We will look later on how to apply light and shade to the face, since first you need to master some techniques in drawing the details of the face: nose, mouth, eyes and eyebrows.

Let's use this example to study in detail the application of light and shade on the nose.	Draw a 25mm grid (4 cells). Draw a line drawing. make sure it is accurate.
Using a dark tone of No. 1, shade the nostrils and the falling shadow on the left.	Apply shadow #2 to the areas indicated here.	Using feathering, create penumbra No. 3. Shadows No. 2 soften at the same time.
We need to make the skin a little darker, so apply the shadow again.	Blend the tonal transitions again. Don't forget to squint. If you see small light areas, shade them. If you see small dark areas, lighten them using the sharp edge of the rubber band (if the edge is blunt, make a cut; the scrap can also be used as this).

3. Mouth.

A closed mouth is easier to draw than an open one. For the latter, I recommend a finer mesh - a lot small parts. Each tooth must be the proper size, shape, and in place.

When drawing the mouth, stick to following rules:
1. The upper lip is usually darker than the lower lip.
2. The lower lip contains highlights.
3. There are light shadows around the mouth.
4. Never outline your finished mouth.
5. The line dividing the lips is very uneven. In some places it thickens, and in others it is very thin. The corners of the mouth are shaped like a quotation mark or a teardrop. It is very important to depict them - the mouth looks like it goes inward, rather than lying flat on the surface of the face.
6. Men's lips are sometimes very light. Their shape is then determined not by outlines, but by shadows above and below.

We will now draw a closed mouth. I recommend practicing with photographs from magazines.

4. Eyes, eyelashes and eyebrows.

The entire drawing can be just a background for one eye, so you should pay special attention to drawing the eye.

6. Apply shadows to the face.

And here is the finished portrait.