Need Help on this illustration using Scott Robertson's Halfway to Black Rule

Trill_Clinton

Hey guys back here with another art question. Sorry If I keep spamming this forum btw you guys have helped me so much recently that I am very grateful. I just wanted to ask a question based Scott Robertson’s rule on halfway to black to find the shadow side of an object. I am able to understand and utilise the rule for simple geometric forms such as boxes and cubes but when I get to character rendering I feel like my comfort with the rule is ultimately lost. I find that I don’t know how exactly to approach a painting. Recently I have been blocking in the colour which I believe will be the basis of my light side, then applying the halfway to black rule and then going on top of the colour with a lighter tone to create a highlight or specular. I am not entirely sure if this is the best way to go about it but could you guys please give me some feedback on work I have produced trying this idea out I would be very grateful as well as some explanation on how to use this rule/idea right because I feel like I am quite lost right now :L 

EricElwell

The method of Halfway to Black is more a principle of how much light will bounce off of a local color. Less contrast in darker local color. In my opinion it is somewhat of an oversimplification. A fine process to get a baseline rendering, but doesn't account for material properties, bounced light, etc.

That said, simple is not bad. In fact, for concept art and speedy turn around time... simple is great! From what I can see, it may be more important at this stage for you to consider your lighting choice. Try a few different light angles with cast shadows to see what is most flattering to the forms. As far as color.. in my opinion, you could get away with the color not being perfect as long as you've nailed the shadow shapes. Though, when you are laying in color, consider also the color and intensity of your light, the color bounced off of the environment. Hue shift in your color can signify form change to the eye. For example: warm sunlight, cool ambient (sky fill), bounced light from green grass. Sneaking in a bit of the hue shift in the appropriate planes of the form gives information to the eye as to what direction those planes are facing. Your local color, brightness, material type will determine how much light they will bounce back to the eye. That's why (in my opinion) it is more important to carry through those shadow shapes before getting to material. 

Easier said than done though. It's a learning process. Hope that helps bring some clarity for you.

Trill_Clinton

Man from your description Its clear there is a lot about lighting that I don't quite know /understand yet :l. Thank you for the reply . Do you mind if i ask what would be the best place/resource to learn from if I want to gain a better understand of such subject

miguelnarayan

All you have to do is convert your character or any other object into geo-forms and render it as if it was another geo-form with HTB rule.
For instance, a neck is sort of a cylinder, a face is a geo-form with a bunch of planes on different angles.
Stop. Think. Note which planes are facing the light and which aren't, then apply the corresponding value.

EricElwell

@Trill_Clinton  Sorry if I made that sound more complicated than it is. As for resources, observational drawing is your best friend for learning, and ctrlpaint.com or proko (on YouTube) is a good resource for principles. This particular ctrl+paint video speaks to shadow shapes: https://www.ctrlpaint.com/videos/shadow-shapes

I would assume that at this point in your schooling you have already seen this material in some form. It's just a matter of practicing and putting it to work in your own designs. In a nutshell, my recommendation is to start here, with shadows, on your designs. Do a few variations before you get to color. Then you can relatively simply apply local color and value after that. 

Trill_Clinton

Ahh thank you for the response guys. Im really sorry about the late reply I will definitely follow this video tutorial as I think I am starting to get confused about what is the right about of shadow shape on more complex forms and shapes