Carl de Jager
Carl de Jager
Computer programmer turned artist and teacher at the Barcelona Academy of Art. My work is influenced by existentialism, philosophy & psychology.
Tony Vu
not sure if I shaded the creature correctly, but this is what I did
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Carl de Jager
You did well, Tony. Perhaps a little too much reflected light around the eyes and the bottom of the belly could do with some soft ambient occlusion. I would also lighten the halftones on his back a bit!
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Jean-François (Jeff) Durix
I ended up redrawing this little cutie as I like to work « traditional Â». I added a 5th step which consisted of a cleanup and rework of some of the values. The only digital part is the fun one at the end. if it would not be in space this cutie would Muuh…
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Carl de Jager
Nice work, Jeff. To push this drawing even further, you could do a bit more island hunting in the lights, tone down the reflected light a notch, and soften the ambient occlusion.
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@gasyadocro
This one was tough. I stuck in ambient occlusion. I am doing my own research, but currently trying to simulate in combination of simple objects. in this case, it seems like this creature is combination of 2 balls (head and body ) plus 4 cylinders. Anyway I submit as I committed.
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Carl de Jager
There's lots of good things happening in your drawing. There is perhaps a bit too much reflected light around the eyes, and the core shadow feels somewhat disconnected from the rest of the values. Try making the core shadow lighter or soften it with a bit more transition.
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Yvann Innocent
This was a difficult one for since I had to change my shading process. Still loved it though.
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Carl de Jager
You did a great job, Yvann. I would add a bit more transition between the dark halftones and the centre light - it would make your creature's head look more rounded/spherical.
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Brayden Copley
Here's my first attempt.
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Carl de Jager
Nice, Brayden. The reflected light between the legs is perhaps a little light. Try making the entire form shadow a little darker. This would give you an extra bit of value range in the shadows, allowing you to differentiate between core shadow and reflected light while still keeping the shadow values in the same value family.
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Laura Barr
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Carl de Jager
Good effort, Laura. You might be surprised at how much difference some island hunting in your halftones and an extra layer of pencil over the entire shadow family would improve your drawing. Try to keep your cast shadow a single, flat value, apart from where it goes darker (ambient occlusion) as it nears the egg. You have correctly shown how the edge of the cast shadow (penumbra) can vary in edge softness, but at the moment it also appears to incorrectly form a dark ring around the cast shadow.
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Henri Gerrits
Identifying Halftones
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Carl de Jager
Nice work, Henri. In the final image, I would say that we are seeing a halftone on the side of the finger.
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Félicia Gagnon
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Carl de Jager
The first image has two light sources, making it tricky to decide if the side of the hand on the floor is receiving direct light or not. Considering the shadow shape on the pinky, my guess is that the side of the hand is receiving direct light. The light source in the third image is very diffuse. It may even be a photographic light box. You can see this by the lack of a clear cast shadow. Again this makes separating light from shadow more tricky. You did a good job nevertheless!
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Brayden Copley
I figured with an image of myself I would have any usage issues with:
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Carl de Jager
I hope you signed a model consent form. :) You perhaps made things a little hard for yourself by using a setup with such a diffuse light source and a lot of ambient/reflected light. It makes it quite hard to clearly distinguish shadow from light. For example: consider the direction of light needed to throw light past your chin onto your Addams apple (A). Now look at the bottom of the cheek (B) and consider whether the same direction of light might reach this area. Is (A) even receiving direct light?
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@gasyadocro
I feel this training is handy when I can’t draw or paint something. Anyway I submit as I committed.
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Carl de Jager
Good work, Gasy. On the bust, there's a couple of places where I see halftones instead of shadows.
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Jean-François (Jeff) Durix
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Carl de Jager
Good work, Jeff. You picked some difficult images to work with. The second image (neck) has two almost equally bright light sources. The third image (seated lady) has a very diffused main light source and a lot of ambient light. Considering the light is coming from the front/top/left, do you think the area on her neck will be in shadow?
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Jean-François (Jeff) Durix
Here’s my 5-tone value study
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Carl de Jager
Good effort, Jeff. I would make value #3 a bit darker. The 'effect' of your value study feels like there is a lot more ambient light than in the reference image. Also, did you notice that the background does not include any values lighter than value #3?
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Tony Vu
I did some extra 5 value studies. I'm most happy with number 2
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Carl de Jager
You've got the hang of this, Tony. :) In the final image, try using a darker value for the the shadows of the lips.
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@gasyadocro
I did 2 tris. I know this is just beginning. I feel like I don’t get the concept of effect enough. But anyway, I submit as I committed.
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Carl de Jager
Good effort, Gasy. I think the first try works the best, especially the way you organised your values in the planes of the face. It's only missing the large triangle of the core shadow in the neck!
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Katelyn Brown
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Carl de Jager
Nice work, Katelyn. It would look even better if you adjusted the shadow value on the face (value #3) to be a little lighter.
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Jean-François (Jeff) Durix
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Carl de Jager
Nice work, Jean-François. You selected value #1 for the shadow shape on the cylinder. Since the cylinder is made of the same material as the box and sphere, it would make more sense for it to have the same shadow value. The floor is a different, darker material, so it makes for the cast shadows to use value #1.
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Tony Vu
Don't think I nailed the values. I might try the assignment again in the future
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Carl de Jager
You did great, Tony. Perhaps the top of the box would be better organised with the lights, rather than with the dark halftones.
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@gasyadocro
This assignment was so fun. My brain is reconstructing. And I begin to feel the price is very kind. I never went to Art school but I imagine this level of sophisticated class are not easy to access even in art school.
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Carl de Jager
Nice work, Gasy. I would recommend grouping the top of the box with the lights, rather than organising it with the dark halftones.
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Yvann Innocent
I have not used traditional pencil in a while but it was fun to go back.
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Carl de Jager
Hi Yvann. Your value study is well organised. You could improve the visual accuracy by selecting a value for the lights that more closely matches the reference image, and by including a dark value in the background. The goal here is to get your value study looking as close to the reference image as possible, while using a limited palette of values.
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@gasyadocro
This was fun. anyway I submit as I committed.
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Carl de Jager
Nice. I would suggest removing the dark outlines between value tiles. If your values are smooth enough, and if there is enough contrast between values, you should not need a darker line to create crisp edges.
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