Beautiful colors Karen! The cut piece on the left is a little hard to read. I think adding more dark toning on the left side and a highlight on the right side (rather than the middle) would help that inside curve read better. I would also add more dark toning to the right side of the whole kimchi. It looks like you have a cast shadow on both sides of the cut piece and the seed. The cast shadow should only be on the right side. Great subject!!!! You are almost there!!!
Thank you Doug. Can you clarify something about highlights: Wendy’s lesson in Basics says always put the highlight in the upper left quadrant, no matter where the light source is coming from. Am I misunderstanding something? For sure the inside right of the lychee peel was lighter than the left side. I tried your suggestions and they work!
03 June 2021
Karen, there is no one true “formula” for highlights. The best way to determine where a highlight will go is to place your subject under that ideal light source and see where the highlight falls. Certainly, you want to avoid drawing the highlight in the middle, for clarity’s sake, and often the highlight will fall at the upper left corner of a round form. For a cup shape, however, like your lychee peel, the highlight would be a bit different because of the “hollowed out” shape. Have you watched this video? It might help you with the highlights and shadows on cup shapes. 🙂 https://youtu.be/15fXS3npMO8
Beautiful colors Karen! The cut piece on the left is a little hard to read. I think adding more dark toning on the left side and a highlight on the right side (rather than the middle) would help that inside curve read better. I would also add more dark toning to the right side of the whole kimchi. It looks like you have a cast shadow on both sides of the cut piece and the seed. The cast shadow should only be on the right side. Great subject!!!! You are almost there!!!
Sorry lychee, not kimchi!
Thank you Doug. Can you clarify something about highlights: Wendy’s lesson in Basics says always put the highlight in the upper left quadrant, no matter where the light source is coming from. Am I misunderstanding something? For sure the inside right of the lychee peel was lighter than the left side. I tried your suggestions and they work!
Karen, there is no one true “formula” for highlights. The best way to determine where a highlight will go is to place your subject under that ideal light source and see where the highlight falls. Certainly, you want to avoid drawing the highlight in the middle, for clarity’s sake, and often the highlight will fall at the upper left corner of a round form. For a cup shape, however, like your lychee peel, the highlight would be a bit different because of the “hollowed out” shape. Have you watched this video? It might help you with the highlights and shadows on cup shapes. 🙂 https://youtu.be/15fXS3npMO8
I’m enjoying your observation and attention to the different textures – the lychee skin and the shine of the seed.