CriKai

Art Tip: Shading with Hard and Soft Edges

Added 2022-11-16 00:00:03 +0000 UTC

Hi everyone.

Here's a new art tip.

I've seen beginner artists rely on soft shading too much sometimes. Shading with too many soft or blended edges makes a drawing look blurry. Not every edge has to be blended. I think shading with all hard edges is generally accepted as good. It's pretty much cel shading, like Wind Waker or most anime, where all the colors are hard edged. Mixing both hard and soft is more advanced and is closer to how real shadows are.

What I do personally is start with everything hard and then soften/blend only what I need or want. Some things to keep in mind when deciding to soften: whether it is a cast or form shadow, how far the cast shadow is from the casting object, how round the form is, the intensity/type of the light source. I'll make notes on all this over time.

As always, if you have any questions, feel free to ask, either in a comment or DM.

Thanks!

-CriKai