Shadows & Shading Blog Hop

Note: Commenting is now closed. Winner will be posted Monday. Thanks for commenting!!

Book Giveaway
The Shadows & Shading book is now available at many of your favorite retailers (sorry, we do not sell direct or else I could post a link), and so we wanted to offer a chance to WIN a copy for yourself. Thursday the Copic Instructors in the US and Australia are doing a Blog Hop!!!

My new book, Shadows and Shading is great for beginners, either papercrafters or artists - this is the reference book you have been looking for to help you add shadows to give your projects more dimension. The book does not teach you to draw, rather to help you add shadow and shading. This is a wire-bound book that comes with 4 clear printed guides to help you add shadows properly on your own work. So far, the people who have read it love it! There's a lot to digest, so take it slow and read it often to let the concepts sink in.


Now, a Blog Hop wouldn't be as much fun without BLOG CANDY!!! Today or Tomorrow each of the blogs listed below will be posting an opportunity to win. One lucky commenter per blog, so you have lots of chances to win. That's right, simply leave a comment on this post and you'll be in with a chance to WIN this fabulous book!! You have until Sunday to leave a comment on my blog or any of the following blogs.

Here's the list of blogs you can comment on for your chance to win. Please note, this contest is only open to North American Residents on the North American blogs, and Australian Residents on the Australian blogs.


North American Residents only:

Copicmarker Blog

Marianne Walker

Lori Craig

Sharon Harnist

Jenn Balcer

Jennie Black

Colleen Schaan

Bianca Mandity

Debbie Olson

Sherrie Siemens


If you live in the land down under, then you can win from one of the Australian Blogs:

CopicOz (Australia)

Kathy Jones (Australia)

Mandi-Lee Klinger (Australia)

Ok, Happy Hopping!!

Coloring Shadows Example - toy guitar
I don't know if I've shown this picture before on this blog, but it really does a nice job of showing a cast shadow. Cast shadows can be scary! You have to draw in a shape that isn't there. Aaack! However, it is worth it. Practice makes perfect, and the clear lighting placement guides included in the book are perfect for practicing without wasting paper.

Look at the first picture, without a cast-shadow shadow. While the object is beautifully rendered, it has no "place". It is a floating object without reference. This looks strange, because it is easy to see the dimensionality of the guitar and where the light is hitting it. The easiest way to "ground" our image is to add a cast shadow.

The shape of the shadow mimics the shape of the guitar. On this image, it is almost parallel. If you are worried you're not doing it right, you can take a second copy of the image, slide it over a bit, and trace it.

On this example you'll notice that my shadow is purple, not just gray. The shadow gets more gray as it gets farther from the eye. The shadow gets lighter under the neck because there is more ambient light.

Notice the neck and the top area with the tuning pegs. These are not colored a flat color, even though the light would hit those surfaces uniformly. By giving them slight color variation (lighter in the middle) it helps to add to the shine/dimensionality. The texture on the main body of the guitar was made with a colorless blender. This created the splotchy blended/washed out look you see.

I hope that you can come to see how much more life a shadow gives, have a wonderful creative journey, and good luck with the contest!