This document provides an overview of techniques for rendering realistic light and shadow in 2D artwork. It discusses two main types of lighting - diffused light and direct light - and how they affect values, colors, and shadow shapes in a scene. For diffused light, it emphasizes how top-facing planes have slightly different values than side-facing planes. For direct light, it stresses paying most attention to dramatic shadow shapes while local color and value matter less. The document concludes by showing examples from artists who demonstrate masterful use of light and shadow to create a sense of depth and realism in their compositions.

1. 2D ARTIST’S TOOLBOX

2. Smart use of
references
Creativity,
Originality,
THE SHOCK
OF THE NEW
Color
Anatomy
Perspective
Realistic light
& shadow
Composition
Value

3. Value + Realistic Light/Shadow
1. Diffused Light
Image from Dice Tsutsumi and Robert Kondo

4. Value + Realistic Light/Shadow
When you’d see diffused light:
• Under a cloudy sky
• Sometimes when light streams through the
window into a dark room
• From a portrait photographer’s soft box
1. Diffused Light

5. Diffused Light causes:
• Soft cast shadows,
• Occlusion shadows
• Strong local color
• Top-facing planes have
slightly different value
from side-facing or
front-facing planes
Images from Dice Tsutsumi and Robert Kondo

6. Pieter Bruegel the Elder, 1565, Netherlands

7. Annie Leibovitz, The White Stripes, 2003

8. Value + Realistic Light/Shadow
Diffused light - Bonus advanced techniques
You can also try
narrowing the range
of any painting’s
values for a special
artistic effect.
Claude Monet Marc Shetabi

9. Marc Shetabi

10. Emil Robinson

11. See how woodgrain
nearly disappears.
Value + Realistic Light/Shadow
2. Direct Light
Image from Dice Tsutsumi and Robert Kondo

12. Important:
Local value and color matter less
under direct light. 80% of your
attention should go to the shadow
shapes.
Also, contrast is highest in the
foreground. Everything gets grayer
in the middle- and background.
Value + Realistic Light/Shadow
2. Direct Light

13. When you’d see direct light:
• Direct sunlight
• Indoors under a spotlight
Value + Realistic Light/Shadow
2. Direct Light
Vocab:
A core shadow is the one
wrapping around the body
of the object (in this case,
it’s right on the sphere).
A cast shadow is cast onto
the surface.

14. Value + Realistic Light/Shadow
Bumblebee the Robot says:
Your human minds are programmed to pay
attention to local color/value. But you’re
oblivious to how light changes local value.
That’s why you fail this easy test . . .
Which square is lighter: 1 or 2 ?

15. Value + Realistic Light/Shadow
. . .

16. Value + Realistic Light/Shadow
. . . And a glossy black surface in bright light
can be lighter (aka higher value) than a white
surface in shadow.
A painter must be able to see these relative
values.

17. IN LIGHT
SHADOW
Maciej Kuciara

18. A painter must be able to see these
relative values . . .

19. Intermediate-level painter Expert-level painter

20. Look: Dark fur in
sunlight and white
fur in shadow are
the same value.

21. It’s the same
optical illusion we
saw before.

22. According to the same
principle, an eyebrow in
bright light should be
about the same value as
skin in shadow.
IN LIGHT
SHADOW

23. from Craig Mullins demo (Schoolism)
Intermediate-level painter Expert-level painter

24. Value + Realistic Light/Shadow
Putting it all together
Dean Cornwell

25. N.C. Wyeth

26. Value + Realistic Light/Shadow
Putting it all together

27. Value + Realistic Light/Shadow
Putting it all together
Thomas Moran

28. Value + Realistic Light/Shadow
Putting it all together
Kevin Zamir Goeke

29. Grant Wood
When your scene has extreme light/dark contrast
and lots of busy shadow shapes, use subtle colors.
Save your expressive colors for diffused light.
---Paraphrased from Harvey Dunn

30. Value + Realistic Light/Shadow
Putting it all together
George Inness
Notice the shadow
is transparent (like
a Photoshop
multiply layer)

31. Value + Realistic Light/Shadow
Putting it all together
Edward Hopper

32. Value + Realistic Light/Shadow
Direct light - Bonus advanced techniques
Hard-edged
cast shadow
Soft-edged core
shadow on cylinder

33. Zudarts Lee, 2019
(Taipei, Taiwan)
Hard-edged cast
shadow from hair
onto left cheek
Soft-edged core
shadow on right
cheek, forehead

34. Cast Core
Transparent
shadow

35. Value + Realistic Light/Shadow
Wayne Thiebaud, 1920
Direct light - Bonus advanced techniques
Colorized shadows
on a simple subject
(though I’d avoid this
embellishment for a
complex scene)

36. Value + Realistic Light/Shadow
Wrap-up
• In diffuse light, your front-, side-, and top-
facing planes should have different values
• The most dramatic light/dark contrast
happens in the foreground. The
background gets grayer and hazier.
• In direct light, worry about the light and
shadow shapes first. Local color and local
value aren’t too important here.

37. Perspective + Realistic Light/Shadow
(a sneak preview)

38. Smart use of
references
Creativity,
Originality,
THE SHOCK
OF THE NEW
Color
Value
Anatomy
Perspective
Realistic light
& shadow
Composition