AuthorTopic: [CC] Spheres  (Read 3164 times)

Offline BadMoodTaylor

  • 0010
  • *
  • Posts: 179
  • Karma: +0/-0
  • Lou Bagel: Combo Number Five!
    • @LouBagelCombo5
    • LouBagel
    • View Profile
    • Lou Bagel: Combo Number 5

[CC] Spheres

on: October 06, 2017, 08:09:27 pm
Areas to improve?  I have no clue how a sphere's shadow ontop of another sphere should look and couldn't find a reference.



I took several shortcuts/cheats as I didn't have the time to commit: ellipse tool (GIMP), copy/paste spheres, rotate tool (on an ellipse) to create the big shadow).

I'm learning to draw right now so thought I would try to convert to pixel art:

Here to learn pixel art.  Feedback always appreciated.

Offline Hunited

  • 0001
  • *
  • Posts: 90
  • Karma: +0/-0
  • Post-ironic is the new authentic.
    • View Profile

Re: [CC] Spheres

Reply #1 on: October 06, 2017, 10:34:00 pm
Some of those spheres seem too close to each other, if they really were spheres they'd be further apart, if you want a reference, try to see if you have some old marbles and stick em together or something.
EDIT:
Or you can just google em of course:

Found some stacked spheres for you.
« Last Edit: October 06, 2017, 10:39:18 pm by Hunited »

Offline BadMoodTaylor

  • 0010
  • *
  • Posts: 179
  • Karma: +0/-0
  • Lou Bagel: Combo Number Five!
    • @LouBagelCombo5
    • LouBagel
    • View Profile
    • Lou Bagel: Combo Number 5

Re: [CC] Spheres

Reply #2 on: October 09, 2017, 03:03:07 pm
Some of those spheres seem too close to each other, if they really were spheres they'd be further apart, if you want a reference, try to see if you have some old marbles and stick em together or something.

All of them look too close together?  Or which ones, or one as an example?

Is there any kind of rule to help determine this?  As a beginner it is difficult to just look at a reference to learn from.  Need rules or principles to help break down the reference.

Thanks, and I don't disagree but it is simply difficult to judge when lacking experience.
Here to learn pixel art.  Feedback always appreciated.

Offline Johasu

  • 0010
  • *
  • Posts: 187
  • Karma: +0/-0
    • @johasu232
    • Johasu232
    • View Profile

Re: [CC] Spheres

Reply #3 on: October 09, 2017, 04:24:22 pm
Fundamentally your lighting approach is incorrect, but that is partly because the composition of your image is off.
Your horizon line establishes eye level in an image.  Anything placed below that line, should be considered below the eye and anything above likewise above it.
This can create a bit of a cognitive distortion in the angling and positioning of objects when you draw them.
Essentially here you should see less of the top of the balls above the horizon line and more of the top on those below.

In your case the ball on the very most top is positioned somewhat lower than those on the balls lower and closer to the horizon line.
It's giving the impression that the ball is placed below the peak of the balls curve and forward towards the viewer.  In essence, you have the opposite of what you should see going on here.

You have a moon in the background casting light downward from behind the objects.  Yet your highlights appear to be drawn on the balls as if you attempt to cast the light downward at an angle from a 2D plane.  But more accurately to the eye it appears to originate from the viewers direction forward of the image and to the right.

Your deepest shadows should follow the direction of the light source.  But remember just as a bulb casts light in an area of field, so to would this moon.  Therefore the light doesn't come in a straight line but in a shower of straight lines.

Your shadows here are entirely uniform but they shouldn't be considering that the light will bounce off the other objects in the area where they do reach and reflect onto the surfaces near them as well creating a quite varied clustering.

What you should see in the oranges though the lightsource is coming from a different direction and they are stacked in a pile instead of on top of one another, is the way shadows and highlights are coming from complex angles and the light isn't the same on every sphere.

Your best choice in situations like this is to experiment yourself with real objects with real light and see what it does.  Set up a light and stack some roundish objects together. View the lighting for yourself.

Just to give you a sloppy but general idea.  Your light should beam from the moon.  And shadow behind the objects being hit.  Bare in mind that the shadow cast here should be considered directional form the edge.  And not a full field of shadow.  It's just to indicate the direction.
Gallery:  http://johasu.deviantart.com/gallery/
Twitter:  @johasu232

Offline BadMoodTaylor

  • 0010
  • *
  • Posts: 179
  • Karma: +0/-0
  • Lou Bagel: Combo Number Five!
    • @LouBagelCombo5
    • LouBagel
    • View Profile
    • Lou Bagel: Combo Number 5

Re: [CC] Spheres

Reply #4 on: October 09, 2017, 04:50:52 pm
Thanks Johasu!

This was from a learning to draw book and only was on day 3, so principles are a little ahead of me right now.  I understand them and will keep them in mind, but hard to implement all at once.
Here to learn pixel art.  Feedback always appreciated.

Offline Hunited

  • 0001
  • *
  • Posts: 90
  • Karma: +0/-0
  • Post-ironic is the new authentic.
    • View Profile

Re: [CC] Spheres

Reply #5 on: October 10, 2017, 10:52:11 pm
With the spheres being too close together, I especially meant the small ones in the front. Spheres are volume of equal width, so they are as wide as they are tall so (unless of course these aren't really spheres and they intersect or come together) they should be as far apart as they are tall.

Offline BadMoodTaylor

  • 0010
  • *
  • Posts: 179
  • Karma: +0/-0
  • Lou Bagel: Combo Number Five!
    • @LouBagelCombo5
    • LouBagel
    • View Profile
    • Lou Bagel: Combo Number 5

Re: [CC] Spheres

Reply #6 on: October 11, 2017, 02:52:17 am
With the spheres being too close together, I especially meant the small ones in the front. Spheres are volume of equal width, so they are as wide as they are tall so (unless of course these aren't really spheres and they intersect or come together) they should be as far apart as they are tall.

I understand what you are saying but it doesn't make sense for a 2D drawing—"as far apart as they are tall" in 3D but depends on perspective for 2D.

It's not that I disagree, just trying to figure out a better way to apply the principle than "eye-balling" it.  Right now, I see the two small spheres to the left of the front sphere may seem a little too close, but don't see issues with the rest.  Also, I don't know if it is placement (too close) that is causing that or the shading or that I made the small spheres all the same size (front should be bigger—copy pasted as didn't want to deal with the mess of non-integer re-scaling)
Here to learn pixel art.  Feedback always appreciated.

Offline Hunited

  • 0001
  • *
  • Posts: 90
  • Karma: +0/-0
  • Post-ironic is the new authentic.
    • View Profile

Re: [CC] Spheres

Reply #7 on: October 12, 2017, 11:34:09 am
Well, it seems that your drawing is a representation of an albeit imaginary, 3D-scene. That's why your spheres in that scene should be as far apart as they are tall and you need to translate that in your drawing.