How do I go about finding shadows on a form that is cast by itself? For example on a body, shadow cast on the face by a brow, nose, ear, etc.
Huh? You use your eyes, you can see it
>>2516826
Light travels in a straight line so you can project from the light source and calculate cast shadows. It gets a bit complex to actually do it properly when you have organic forms casting onto other organic forms, so just use your brain and intuition to guess how the shadow projects off and it will look good enough. People can't really tell very well if cast shadows are a bit off (same with specular reflections).
If you really want it more accurate then you can always build a quick clay or 3d model and see for yourself how it looks.
Cast shadows = sharp edges
Form shadows = soft edges w/ core
Step it up nigga
>>2516897
Only true for a point light source. If you throw a diffuser over it then the cast shadows can be soft as well.
Or if you have a form with edges such as a box then a form shadow will be compressed and appear sharp.
>>2516831
I mean from fantasy, not copying a model.
>>2516837
I saw Gourney doing this with dinosaur models he made from clay.
>>2516826
You'll eyeball it, but it helps if you can mentally rotate 3D forms.
Here's a trick you can do for a distant let source lie he sun. Imagine your vantage point is the sun, as it the sun is directly behind your line of sight but your head doesn't cast any shadows. Parts of the object that you can see are lit. Parts that you can't see are in shadow. Parts you can't see because the form turns away are form shadows. Parts you can't see because another form is obstructing your line of sight would be cast shadows.
This is an approximation though. To be accurate for a distant light source your vision would probably need to be similar to that of a very long lens. For a near spotlight source your vision would be closer to that of a wide angle lens
>>2516826
learn optics pleb
it's physics brah
>>2516915
you train your eye and memory on real life faces/body/objects and then you apply your knowledge when you have to work from imagination.
Skipping the studies and replacing your experience of light and shadows and reflections will make a negative impact on your work.
