Understanding Light, Shading, and Shadow in Photoshop
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Understanding Light, Shading, and Shadow in Photoshop

on Sep 14th 2011 with 31 comments
Tutorial Details
  • Program: Adobe Photoshop CS5
  • Difficulty: Beginner
  • Estimated Completion Time: 30 Minutes

Final Product What You'll Be Creating

This entry is part 8 of 25 in the Digital Art for Beginners Session
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Photoshop is an excellent tool for manipulating photographs but it can also be used as a means to create stunning digital art. This tutorial is part of a 25-part video tutorial series demonstrating everything you will need to know to start producing digital art in Photoshop. Digital Art for Beginners, by Adobe Certified Expert and Instructor, Martin Perhiniak will begin by teaching you how to draw in Photoshop. At the conclusion of this series you will know all you need to produce your own concept art and matte paintings in Photoshop.

Today’s tutorial Part 8: Understanding Light, Shading, and Shadow in Photoshop will explain how to use different types of lighting to help you define three dimensional objects. We will also discuss how to create an appropriate shadow given a light source and how that light will affect objects in your scene. Let’s get started!

 
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Rollover to read this author's bio or click through to see a full list of posts by this author.

Martin is a Hungarian graphic designer, digital artist and an Adobe Certified Expert and Instructor (Design Master). He is currently teaching and working in London but usually travels around the UK and share his love for Adobe products and graphic design. You can follow him on his blog or on Twitter.  

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  • http://melodynieves.com Melody

    Whoa thats pretty trippy, never seen someone use math for shading before..I wonder how effective that is on creating shadows for a person or something more detailed.

    Another great tip is to study photography, you can learn tons about how to paint light and shadows with the right references.

  • http://ali.8pa8.com Ali

    Thanks for the video
    One point though
    the second part on drawing construction shadows with the sun in the front seems wrong to me. The lines should be drawn through the bottom of the vertical lines not top (and then connected through VP). Perspective does affect shadows but how can we have converging shadows with a small light source?
    I asked my graphic designer friend and he confirmed your version, but being a photographer I’m still not convinced.

  • kumba

    Great tutorial, thanks! Hope you’ll make one for shading faces and bodies.

  • http://www.medialoot.com Jenn Staz

    Great tutorial. What will also help a lot: taking fine arts classes!

  • Cassi

    This is great! Just what I need to help me get started on my Illustrations, overall It’s pretty easy to understand.

  • http://christophedebruel.be christophe debruel

    Now that is one of the things I’m struggling with, but I never took the time to really understand it. Anyway thank you for the tutorial :)

  • Tatyana

    Thank you very much for this lesson!

  • Halv

    Absolutely FANTASTIC ! Thank you so much for this.

  • http://www.linetoweb.com Raj Mehta

    Nice tut

    :)

  • http://www.tomperrynl.photoshop.com Tom

    I agree with Ali, I have yet to see a shadow going sideways from the light. Nevertheless, your tutorials are very good and much appeciated.

  • http://www.maiconweb.com Maicon Sobczak

    Very well explained. This serie is fantastic! The calc about shadow is interesting.

  • http://www.youtube.com/ghap4a Judy

    OMG!!!!!!! THANKS SO SO MUCH, This tutorial helps a loooooooooot :)))

  • http://creativeduck.blogspot.com Mikey

    Nice tips you have here, but understanding lighting/shadows and perspective is possibly the trickiest thing, and best thing to know.

    Here’s my rendition of this cube (very quick 5 min job so not perfect) just to show you where you can improve on shading.

    http://creativeduck.blogspot.com/2011/09/cube-lightingperspective.html

    What I have done different is the shadow itself is not a flat gradient softening as it goes out, the cube has an extra corner that is not recognised in this tut. You will see on my rough cube is that there are 3 points in the shading (mine are a bit too sharp though), because there are 3 sides creating the shadow.
    Although this was made using the blend tool in illustrator, it still works well as an editable smart object in PS, and rounder objects are far easier to make shadows for.

    I find blending basic shapes in Illustrator make fairly good shadows, and you can do so much with them in Photoshop.

    :)

  • http://www.buzzpromote.com/ alanbuzz

    Nice tuts, I learned something new today.

  • http://iosephos.com iosephos

    Nice video thanks.

  • Trevor

    Very well explain, many thanks and keep them coming

  • Alex

    Amazing series of tuts. Even though i know how to draw shades, shadows and etc. on paper. It is very helpful to make those things so nice and clean in Photoshop. Thanks a lot! Can`t wait to see next tut =)

  • Some guy

    In my opinion, better take 3d program and render all lighting there, than trying to make shadows by yourself.

  • http://dilipgupta.com Dilip

    Very Nice tute, Color calculation is very imp for 3d Object. Thanks

  • Robert

    It is very good explanation of basic principles.
    However, when it comes to public “speech” it is better to avoid even minor errors. But here the author has admitted ​​at least two major errors in the distribution of light and shadow, conflicting with the theory (and practice).
    But as I said: congratulations for the good explanation.

  • Balle Balle

    OMG AWESOME OMG OMG AWESOME OMG OMG !

  • Divian

    very useful! No teacher actually explained things so common, so understandable!

  • http://rockstarworking.com Ahmad Ali

    Nice tutorials :)

  • Priscilla Biju

    Thank you for the amazing video, I wish they had such videos available when I was in going to graphic design school a few years ago! (Better late than never, I guess!) Thanks Martin, you’ve inspired me to pursue the Adobe Certification. In your opinion, what are the advantages and disadvantages between being a Certified Associate and Expert? What is the difference in time commitment in attaining each one?

  • http://vvsol.com Lisa Noble

    Again thank you for another great video! I will try to put this into practice.

  • Peter

    Could you explain how did you defined a ground plain in cube example?

  • http://www.designoris.com Ori Shilo

    thanks for great tutorials.

  • Lisa Riggins

    As a photographer and graphic designer, the second part of the natural front lighting looks off to me. I’ll have to look into it a bit, but overall great tutorial.

  • Keith Roscoe

    I have a question why don’t you just add 100 percent to whatever light value you have for side 1 and divide by 2?… same result less complication

  • carlos

    Great tut

    thank you so much

    I learned a lot

    Thanks

  • http://www.facebook.com/kayne.ortiz Kayne Ortiz

    thank you