Light & Shade for Characters

A handy, accessible, and beautifully illustrated artist’s guide to using light and shade to push character designs to a professional level.

This shorter-form book from 3dtotal Publishing, from our new series Create & Learn Collection, takes readers through clear and simple methods to achieving top-quality lighting in their drawing and digital paintings. 

The invaluable content is written and illustrated by professional artists, including an in-depth introduction by Kenneth Anderson (aka Character Cube), a character designer and illustrator based in Scotland, UK, who specialises in the creation of characters for animation, gaming, and traditional publishing. After covering the fundamentals of light and shade, he explores the ways lighting and shading can be used to describe form, push character stylisation, and enhance storytelling. 

This is followed by eight invaluable tutorials from global artists, including Iranian concept artist Taraneh Karimi, Serbian illustrator Ognjen Sporin, and Italian character designer Isabella Agosti. They cover a range of topics, including ‘Controlling tonal structure of a character with light and shade’, ‘Using light within a character design’, and ‘Using light and shade in a stylized 3D character’. 

With a compact format and short, clear tutorial steps, this book is ideal for those wanting a quick reference guide or more relaxed approach from a tutorial book. It’s an ideal gift for an artist friend just discovering their digital-painting skills, or a must-buy for artists wanting to discover how the professionals create spot-on lighting and shade in their designs.