Really nice page Denise! Nice smooth toning and the range of tones on these subjects is much better! The branch is looking good! It just needs dark shadow toning on the right side that will emphasize the branches cylindrical form. The spheres are great, but have one common area to revisit – the reflected light. The reflected light is not as white as the main highlight and is an easy fix by adding a little color to tone it down. The other aspect of a reflected light is trickier to achieve and takes some practice. Since the reflected light is light bouncing off the surface the subject is sitting on, it generally is not a distinct line. You are trying to achieve more of a glow, so the reflected light blends into the dark tone above it. As I said it takes some practice, but you will get there! Lastly, the cast shadow on the grey sphere is the most successful, just work on having a smoother transition getting lighter as it moves away from the subject (and the angle- see note below). The cast shadow is more of a suggestion. You don’t want it to be too dark so that it competes with the subject. It’s main purpose is to ground the subject to the page. Also, since we consider our light source is coming over our left shoulder at a 45 degree angle, the cast shadow should go back at a 45 degree angle rather than horizontal as you have shown. You are doing really nice work I am looking forward to seeing more!
Really nice page Denise! Nice smooth toning and the range of tones on these subjects is much better! The branch is looking good! It just needs dark shadow toning on the right side that will emphasize the branches cylindrical form. The spheres are great, but have one common area to revisit – the reflected light. The reflected light is not as white as the main highlight and is an easy fix by adding a little color to tone it down. The other aspect of a reflected light is trickier to achieve and takes some practice. Since the reflected light is light bouncing off the surface the subject is sitting on, it generally is not a distinct line. You are trying to achieve more of a glow, so the reflected light blends into the dark tone above it. As I said it takes some practice, but you will get there! Lastly, the cast shadow on the grey sphere is the most successful, just work on having a smoother transition getting lighter as it moves away from the subject (and the angle- see note below). The cast shadow is more of a suggestion. You don’t want it to be too dark so that it competes with the subject. It’s main purpose is to ground the subject to the page. Also, since we consider our light source is coming over our left shoulder at a 45 degree angle, the cast shadow should go back at a 45 degree angle rather than horizontal as you have shown. You are doing really nice work I am looking forward to seeing more!