One comment about my shading totally changed how I paint faces

I've been posting my digital portraits in this group for maybe 6 months now. Last week someone said my shadows were all too warm and I should try cooling them down near the edges of the face. I always just used a darker version of the skin color and called it done. So I gave it a shot on my latest piece, a portrait of my sister from a photo we took at the beach. I pulled in a desaturated blue-purple for the core shadows and kept the midtones warmer. The jawline and nose shadows actually look like they sit on the skin now instead of being painted on top. It took me like 3 tries to not overdo it but the final result has way more depth. Has anyone else gotten that one tiny piece of feedback that made a huge difference in their workflow?

2 comments

2 Comments

dylanmurray21d ago

That bit about "shadows were all too warm" really hit me because I've noticed the same thing in photography and even just walking around outside. Like when you look at someone's face on a sunny day, the shadow under their nose or chin has this cooler, almost blue tint because it's lit by the sky instead of the sun. It's crazy how one detail like that can make everything click into place. Did you try pushing the warmth back into your highlights too, or did you keep the whole face more neutral?

gavinlopez21d agoMost Upvoted

Warm highlights would just make it look like a Instagram filter lol.