The Shading Lesson That Made My Art Career Possible

The shading structure I ALWAYS USE! A simple system for any painting or drawing. Capture light and form with a simple system of tones/values - in any art style!

LINKS:

[cmango]

It's genuinely astounding how many insanely useful art tips, pointers, and fundamental breakdowns Marco has provided on his youtube channel FOR FREE! Amazing as always.

[milehighslacker]

As a beginner, I was taught that "your darkest light is lighter than your lightest dark and vice versa (your lightest dark is darker than your darkest light)." I think that concept is part of this video explanation. Thanks!

[Andybowbandy]

That’s what have I been missing! Half tones are not actually halftones, and they are apart of the light family. I wish this video existed a decade ago my renderings wouldn’t have had to suffer and my time. Thank you so much I finally now understand!

[Ferodra]

For those struggling with bounce/indirect light:
What helped me most in painting it is to imagine *every* lit part of a surface as somewhat emissive. As long as you take into account distance and light intensity (+ the inverse square law), it helps a ton to make a full piece feel coherent. I did tend to make my pieces way too dark before randomly realizing this while working in 3D

[honkhonk]

How to amaze a non artist with four shades of white. I understand what’s happening but it’s just so amazing to see a circle with three colors become a sphere with the addition of the reflective light. It just came alive for me. Absolutely awesome

[allanredhill]

youre without a doubt the best free artistic learning recource on youtube. The fact that youre not only a knowledgable artist but also a great teacher and are putting out this content for free is insane. Wouldnt be half as far along my art journey as iam right now without your content for real

[gubbothehuggo]

"Reflected light is always darker than the light family."
I had never heard of this until now and yet it's one of the most important rendering tips I have EVER been told. Thank you.

[trixonic]

I’ve been watching you for years and after years of aimless practice I have finally made it into the world of product design. If you saw how bad I was when I started to where I am now you would never know the countless hours I put in just drawing from observation everyday and kept it all to myself. It feels great

[sumicmusic]

Thanks for this tutorial on edging! I found it really easy to edge after watching this!

[whatiamdoinghere]

you made it sound so so easy that it feels so obvious and even silly, but applying this to drawing makes everything so so much easier to understand and draw, wow!! Thank you!

[velvetbees]

This is a far better presentation than I received in my university art classes. One thing you explained is how the dark cloth did not create the halo effect from the indirect lighting, but a colored base does. That's because black absorbs light. Thank you for that reminder.

[shadowstar]

Hey Marco last year at Light Box Expo I stopped by your booth and told you how blown away I was by the quality of education and editing you have in your videos. You told me that you spend a lot of time editing. I haven't watched in a while but I'm happy to say your work is just as impressive as ever. I won't be going to LBX this year so I figured I'd drop a comment here.

[PabloEdvardo]

I'm almost 38 and now considering trying painting for the first time in my life. I honestly never knew that art was so technical in a way that leads to creativity rather than restricting it.

[LabradorPeninsula]

Every time I see a new video from Marco I get this incredibly strong urge to draw more, you can just see by the way he paints how much he is enjoying it

[Mr.McWatson]

This is one of the best breakdowns I've heard for shading. The light family explanation really drove it home.

[cameronbartlett]

I've not dabbled in art in over 10 years, but this... I will remember this if I ever get back into painting

[grahamothy]

You’ve got talent in your paintings but you also have talent in your passion for teaching art. The way you explain and order and generalize things is so helpful. I rewind once or twice and I just permanently retain these core concepts. Thank you for putting forth so much effort into making your videos. I’ll forever be a fan

[fenston]

Marco, you're a bright light in the long darkness of my art learning process. <3

[hoangoan]

Thank you for videos you make, you really make my art journey easier without college

[bloxycola]

Marco, you have just single-handedly taught me how to shade correctly after I've been doing this all wrong for so many years. My shading always looked sloppy and muddy, so thank you for making this.