Colour theory/ lighting

Hey! I was just wondering if anyone had any tips to practice lighting/ colour theory and playing with colours to set a mood in an art piece. This is what i ended up with last night, is there anything i can improve on/ work on?

Tbh I love it! Maybe the shank is a little darker than it should be. But overall, great job!
(Also, your tag is adorable!)

Last edited on 2020-07-06 at 19:12:01 by Siren

I agree with Siren. The shank is too dark but everything else looks good! *thumbs up* And you probably know this already but never use true black or true white. It’s really hard to shade or highlight it that way. 

I agree with TmRanch! I always use a very dark blue for shading and a very pale yellow for highlights. I know you’re a more advanced artist though, but I thought I’d bring it up

I will say that your lighting is...all over s: It's very prettily shaded and very well shaded, better than I could ever do! But the lighting sources are all over.


You have a light source coming from above, yet the joints of the legs are highlighted, as are the lower legs. They would be more thrown into shadows. Aspects of them would be lighter, like where the knee protrudes or very slight on the angle, but for the most part, it should be mildly darker. And there is no shadow cast from the mane onto the neck. Plus, the shadows between rump and barrel are extremely dark, even darker than most of the bottom of the barrel. That divet is worryingly deep to receive such a dark shadow for such a large space.
Then, on the front legs, you have a light source coming from the front, yet the front of the right knee is in shadow, as well as the left shoulder.
Something else I noticed is the back right leg: there is a highlight on the knee coming from behind then the same edge of the lower leg is in shadow.

Like I said, this shading is very beautifully done, and just looking at it, I wouldn't think anything to be wrong. But since you asked, I took a longer look and noticed some inconsistencies so I felt it necessary to point them out s:

I really appreciate the critique! I'll definately work on light sources and getting used to how they shade and highlight different areas of the horse! Now that it's been pointed out i do agree that some areas are slightly too dark compared to other areas on the horse! But thank you, I really appreciate your thoughts ♥

I look forward to seeing more are art from you :)