I’ve been working on this for fun for a while, I feel like the...

I’ve been working on this for fun for a while, I feel like the shading is really off and that the character gets lost and muddled. Also if there are any ways to make the composition and landscape more interesting I would be all ears! Thank you!

Lightsources that shines directly from the back can be a bit tricky, since we will have to be really generous with how much shadow we let onto our characters. It is easy to fall into a 1/3 or ½ ratio of light to shadow, it just feels relatively natural as it tends to replicate ordinary daylight settings that we are used to seeing every day in real life. For this, we’re going to be looking at a 2/3 ratio or somewhere in that vein. 

Let’s see.

First thing i did was to add light to the moon ( in this case through a gradient ) so that it appeared to be glowing in the background, this also gives us a very clear outline as to where our shadows should be the most dense, and where they should be the least. 

In this case, i reckon the light will form a small rim around the characters, but won’t actually reach in around their form fully, save the top of the cat in the back’s head. There, i’ve taken a bit of liberty in letting the light spill down the character’s face, just to give us more of a focal point. 

The cat in front will be rendered mostly in darkness, since the cat behind it will be blocking the moonlight in this particular light-setting. Though, i did include a rim-light that follows the figure’s sihlouette, along with the outline of some of the larger shapes ( like the shoulder of the front leg ) 

As for composition, i would stick with the vertical orientation. So keeping it slim and long but adding a bit more space between the cats and the moon. This adds a feeling of quiet and emptyness to the piece, which could reflect on the feelings of the cat in the back. 

Alternatively, you could embolster the “epic” feeling by keeping the original crop, but putting the moon right behind the cats, so that it is peering halfway over the horizonline. this would give the scene a much more grandious feel.  

- Mod Wackart ( ko-fi ) 

from The Redline Station https://ift.tt/2T0ZaoC
via IFTTT