Shadows

[Cealocanth]

For the past few weeks I've been trying to add shadows to my avatars. Mostly, the avatars I've seen that I thought were really good mostly had shadows to show for it. They add to the depth and to the feel of the avatar, as well as making minor details noticeable but not completely black lines. I've figured out a way to create them by using gradients, as evidenced in Sticktheif's avatar here:

http://img192.imageshack.us/img192/3739/perrinsticktheifshadows.png

(He gave me permission to show this by the way. :smalltongue:)

Now, the gradients work well for showing a dark environment without actually drawing the environment itself but I'm just about stumped on how to do shadows in an environment like daylight.

Now, it's kind of a round about way of asking it, but I'm curious on the technique involved in adding subtle shadows to your avatar to enhance it's depth and detail. An example of the type of shadows I'm looking for learning how to do can be found in most things created in the Iron Avatarist threads.

[Cealocanth]

Wow, nothing huh? Maybe I should rephrase.

Are there any guides or tutorials out there that can teach the technique for adding shadows to OOTS avatars?

[Domochevsky]

Well... i guess the first question to ask is, what program are you using? From there any other directions can be added. :smallconfused:

[Fin]

A simple thing I used when I had access to computer that was more than a glorified calculator was duplicating the shape in question making it darker and less opaque (the outline for the new shape needs to be completely transparent). Then crop away all of the side of the shape that light is coming from in your image and use the nodes to position the remainder into the outline of the original shape. You might have to play about with it a bit to make it work but the result is usually pretty good. However that is only one way of doing it and I defer to the talents of other artists here that have better methods.

[Cealocanth]

Well... i guess the first question to ask is, what program are you using? From there any other directions can be added. :smallconfused:

I'm using Inkscape.

[AsteriskAmp]

I would say there are several methods.

The question to ask is, what do you want?

There is gradient shading which takes the longest IMO and involves both using the pen tool and giving the resulting form a gradient and transparency (I think Ego Slayer uses this)
There is Mad Mask method, where you have several layers of shading instead of one gradient, looks a lot more OoTSy and my guess to how its is done is that you use shapes for shading, but give different transparency values, when stacking shapes, the transparency begans stacking (2 layers of 20% transparency mean 40% transparency, or something like that)
There is form shading where you use the pen tool to make shapes, make them black and then add transparency or you use white to give an effect of shine (Which is what I use).

I could probably make a tutorial of the last method.

[petersohn]

I think this tutorial (http://vector.tutsplus.com/tutorials/illustration/create-a-realistic-candle-in-inkscape/) will give you some ideas. Also, here (http://speckyboy.com/2009/04/28/35-tutorials-to-create-amazing-vector-graphics-using-inkscape/) are some more Inkscape tutorials.

[Cealocanth]

I would say there are several methods.

The question to ask is, what do you want?

There is gradient shading which takes the longest IMO and involves both using the pen tool and giving the resulting form a gradient and transparency (I think Ego Slayer uses this)
There is Mad Mask method, where you have several layers of shading instead of one gradient, looks a lot more OoTSy and my guess to how its is done is that you use shapes for shading, but give different transparency values, when stacking shapes, the transparency begans stacking (2 layers of 20% transparency mean 40% transparency, or something like that)
There is form shading where you use the pen tool to make shapes, make them black and then add transparency or you use white to give an effect of shine (Which is what I use).

I could probably make a tutorial of the last method.


I think this tutorial (http://vector.tutsplus.com/tutorials/illustration/create-a-realistic-candle-in-inkscape/) will give you some ideas. Also, here (http://speckyboy.com/2009/04/28/35-tutorials-to-create-amazing-vector-graphics-using-inkscape/) are some more Inkscape tutorials.

Ahh, very helpful indeed. I will experiment until I find a method that I like.

Thanks all! :smallbiggrin: