Or your favorite image editing application such as Photoshop
Steps
Decide whether you'll do this assignment digitally or traditionally, and download the project files. If you do it traditionally, you'll draw on the printout.
Identify and label all modeling factors by drawing an outline for each of them and coloring in the area. For "Ambient Light Intensity", estimate a percentage. 0% is no ambient light at all, 100% is extreme ambient light Intensity.
Upload your labelled image.
Duration
This project should take 30–60 minutes to complete. Start with the sphere and if you want to challenge yourself, do the monkey afterward.
I'm looking at the example given on the lesson page (sphere and torus), and thinking something is wrong about the way the dark area on the sphere under the top of the torus is treated.
This dark area is marked as a cast shadow, and ambient occlusion is marked on it (as I believe correct), but its fuzzy edge is not identified as penumbra (as I believe it should be).
AND its edge is also marked as a terminator; its bulk is marked as form shadow, and core shadow is marked on it—all of these incorrectly, IF it is a cast shadow).
To be clear: it looks to me like the torus is casting a shadow on the sphere—the dark areas that wouldn't be there if the torus were taken away—and that this cast shadow has two edges: a fuzzy edge angled near the center of the sphere and a sharper edge near the lower right of the sphere.
(Also, I'm intrigued why the sharper edge looks so sharp: my current theory is that the penumbra of the shadow is foreshortened.)
The red and yellow for the sphere are my original guesses. The white/black Xs are the parts that I guessed wrong and the green are the parts that I missed.
Hello, these assignments are difficult as I thought, especially the monkey one, not sure about "center light" area. And how can I know the value of ambient light intensity, I compared with the video, it looks about the same (maybe).
And I have one question, is "form shadow = reflected light + core shadow" ? or is there some halftone between? 🤔
I appreciate any feedback, thank you.
If we are thinking about the terminator dividing the object into the side of light and the side of shadow, the form shadow refers to this general grouping on the shadow side. Core shadow, reflected light, and ambient occlusion are more specific terms referring to parts that make up that shadow region.
As for your answer sheet, it looks pretty spot on! The only thing I would note is that the dark halftones are more contained to a smaller portion as they transition into the lighter halftones. A smaller detail, but it's good to be aware of it, especially as this change can happen pretty quickly under strong/direct lighting.
This was a way more challenging exercise than it first appeared. Grateful for critique because I'm quite unsure in several areas, especially the difference between dark halftones and center light.
I went back a few days later to repeat and did the extra. For some reason, this was easier in some ways but harder in others. With the glossy surface and increased ambient light, I'm not sure I completely got it. If anyone solved this, too, please reach out!
Nice! Just a few things to keep in mind:
- The core shadow will typically be more along the same lines as the terminator.
- The dark halftones will be a smaller area, the area of shadow before other factors (ie reflected light) take effect.
- Reflected light affects any area near another surface receiving light, so this will also affect the left cheek, jaw, and eye/note bumps to varying degrees (depending on the strength of light coming from the nearby surface).
- The highlight in this scenario will be more limited, still in the same areas you correctly marked, just smaller. The surface texture of the monkey appears matte, so that will limit the amount of reflectivity to create a highlight.
- Ambient occlusion will also affect any crevice with a pocket of shadow, not just between the object and ground. You can find some areas around the eye surface crevices, and the nose/ear/mouth bumps.
These may be smaller corrections, but understanding the components of light both separately and how they work together early on can really help in the long run once you enter more complex subjects, as even the most masterful and complicated scenes build on top of these principles. Happy drawing and I hope this helps!
My attempt of drawing the modelling factors with the example white ball. I found it quite hard to make the ball appear white while also differentiating the shadow mid-tones and the darkest cast shadow. Critique welcome!
I have now seen the instructions and made my best of it. Took a peek at the final correct monkey-shart.
Questions:
I wonder what kind of dark shading is it in the eyes, under the eyelid?
Is the penumpra always only located to the cast shadow on the surface/like utside the figure?
Here is my first take on this exercise. After looking at the solution and reading some comments I realize I totally forgot about the cast shadow on the face itself, which made me realize I am a bit confused about the difference between the terminator and the penumbra. If the terminator marks the frontier between light and shadow, shouldn't it also exist around the cast shadows on the face itself ?
I think I was the most confused about the cast shadow on the form itself
as well as the highlights but I'm sure I've made many more mistakes. Some critique would be very much cherished, thank you.
Former program director at Barcelona Academy of Art. Passionate about teaching craft and exploring the inner game of art.
Help!
Browse the FAQs or our more detailed Documentation. If you still need help or to contact us for any reason, drop us a line and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible!
Overview
Let's practice identifying modeling factors!
Materials Needed
Steps
If you do it traditionally, you'll draw on the printout.
Duration
This project should take 30–60 minutes to complete. Start with the sphere and if you want to challenge yourself, do the monkey afterward.
Example