
In traditional art hatching, cross-hatching, stippling, scumbling, and blending/ smudging can all be used to shade. There are many methods and techniques for shading in traditional and digital art.

This is the last step that can be done after completing your piece. In PaintTool SAI you can easily adjust the brightness and contrast in an image using Filter > Color Adjustments > Brightness and Contrast. While shading it is important to keep this relationship in mind to create a dynamic and visually-appealing piece. To learn the basics of shading light and shadow watch the video below.īrightness and contrast refer to the relationship between the brightest lights and darkest shadows within a piece. While it is not necessary and you can certainly use your own intuition to do so, it can never hurt. Learning the basics of color theory along with light and shadow will help you build a solid understanding of the mechanics of how you should shade a given piece. Cast Shadow: Shadow cast by the object, but not on the object itself.Bounce Light: Light bounces back on an object from the surrounding objects.Halftone: Tones that transition from light to dark.Highlight: The lightest part of an object where the light directly bounces off of.The visual appearance of interactions of light and shadow on an object can be described in specific terms within art.

Experiment to find which modes feel the most natural in your workflow.Ĭombining multiple blending modes at various opacities is the best practice for creating the most realistic and dynamic shadow. In PaintTool SAI version 1 some of these modes have different names such as Linear Burn (Shade) and Linear Light (Shade/Shine). My favorite blending mode to shade include Multiply, Shade/Shine, Shade, and Luminosity.

Including normal, PaintTool SAI has 23 blending modes. They can be found in almost all drawing software with similar names and effects. You can adjust the brightness and contrast in an image using Filter > Color Adjustments > Brightness and Contrast.īlending modes are layer effects that change the relationship between how colors blend on the layers below them.Learning and studying them will help you gain a more intuitive sense of how to shade. There are different types of light and shadow.PaintTool SAI has 23 blending modes that change the relationship between how colors blend on the layers below them.
