By Show Me Step by StepPublished
Based on a video by Saena Fine Art.
Shadows and highlights are what turn a flat circle into a ball you could pick up. Most of us reach for black and white first. It works, but it can leave the color muddy and dull. Saena from Saena Fine Art paints the same red sphere four different ways to show how color theory gives you livelier shadows and highlights. Every ball starts with the same pyrrole red base, so the only thing that changes is the colors you shade with.
Black does more than darken. It dulls the color and can shift it, so a red shadow made with black can go brown or even a little green. White cools and chalks a color as it lightens it. Real shadows are rarely grey. They pick up color from the sky, the table and the objects nearby. Mixing your darks and lights from other colors keeps the painting rich.
Before you mix anything, decide where the light comes from. Saena lights every sphere from the upper left. The highlight sits on that side. The core shadow wraps around the opposite, lower right edge. Keep the same light direction across a whole painting, or the objects will look pasted in.
| Base color | Mix in for shadow |
|---|---|
| Red | Green |
| Blue | Orange |
| Yellow | Purple |
Add the complement a little at a time. A touch darkens and softens. Too much turns the mix to mud.
Warm shadows and highlights feel sunny and full of energy. Cool ones feel calm, quiet or wintry. You can also mix them on purpose: warm light with cool shadows is the classic look of a sunny afternoon. Pick a scheme that fits the mood you want before you start.
Paint a row of the same colored circles on scrap cards, like Saena did, and shade each one a different way. Pin them up as a reference chart. Then try the same idea on an apple, an orange or a cup. It is a cheap, low pressure way to learn what each mix does.
Pair this with mixing acrylic paint colors and blending acrylic paint. For deeper shadows, layer thin glazes. The same light and shadow ideas apply in pencil too: see how to shade.
9 steps · about 5 minutes.Check off each step as you go and your progress saves automatically.
Start with a few circles on scrap paper or small cards, all in the same base color. Saena uses pyrrole red for every sphere. Using one base color means the only difference between them will be the shadow and highlight colors, so you can compare the results side by side. Two coats give a solid, even base. Let it dry before you shade.
Tip
Lightly pencil a small arrow in the corner to remind you where the light comes from.
For the first sphere, squeeze out black and white on your palette paper next to the red. Mix a little black into some red for the shadow, and a little white into red for the highlight. Saena mixes them into the base color rather than painting them straight on. That gives better control, and you can always add more black or white later.
Tip
Add black a tiny bit at a time. It overpowers red very fast.
Paint the dark red mix around the lower right edge of the circle, following its curve. Blend it toward the middle. Then add the light mix to the upper left where the light hits. The ball looks round, and that is the point of comparison. Notice how the shadow looks a little grey and the highlight a little chalky.
Tip
Curve your brush strokes around the form. Straight strokes flatten a sphere.
Look at a color wheel. Complementary colors sit directly across from each other: blue and orange, yellow and purple, red and green. When you mix a color with its complement, they cancel each other out a little. The mix gets darker and less saturated without turning grey the way black does. For a red sphere, the complement is green.
Tip
Keep a small printed color wheel by your palette until the pairs are second nature.
Pull a small amount of phthalo green blue shade into some red on your palette. It makes a much deeper, richer red. Saena chose the blue shade on purpose. Its blue undertone nudges the shadow slightly toward purple, which adds depth. Add the green slowly and test the mix until it is dark enough for the shadow side.
Tip
Phthalo green is very strong. Start with a speck on the tip of the brush.
Shade the second sphere with the green red mix on the lower right. For the highlight, Saena uses a ready made light magenta instead of red plus white. It is made from a different red, so it adds an extra layer of color to the lit side. Blend it into the upper left in soft, curved strokes.
Tip
Let the shadow dry a few minutes first so the highlight does not turn muddy.
Split the color wheel in half and you get warm colors (reds, oranges, yellows) and cool colors (greens, blues, purples). For a warm scheme, Saena mixes Van Dyke brown with a little quinacridone nickel azo gold for an orange brown shadow. Hansa yellow medium is the highlight. A red mixed into yellow makes a red orange in between color.
Tip
Any warm brown and gold you own will work for this exercise.
Lay the brown orange shadow around the lower edge of the third sphere. Blend the red orange into the middle, then brush the yellow highlight onto the upper left. The same red ball now glows like it sits in sunlight. Warm schemes feel lively and energetic. A cool scheme with blues and purples would feel calm and quiet instead.
Tip
Work from dark to light so the yellow stays clean and bright.
Analogous colors sit next to each other on the wheel. For this green sphere, Saena uses a dark green for the shadow, a mid green for the body and yellow for the highlight. The shading stays smooth and harmonious. Line all your spheres up when they are dry. They started out the same and now look completely different.
Tip
Try a yellow ball shaded with oranges next. It is the same idea in a warm range.
Keep going
How to Transfer a Sketch to Canvas (2 Easy Ways)
How to Paint Shadows and Highlights in Acrylics With Color Theory
Liquitex
Liquitex BASICS Acrylic Paint Set (24 tubes)
Artist-grade pigment at student pricing, buttery enough to blend and thick enough to hold a stroke. The set most acrylic painters start on.
Benicci
Benicci 16-Piece Artist Brush Set
Every shape you actually reach for (round, flat, filbert, liner, fan) in nylon that keeps its point and does not shed. Comes with a palette knife and case.
FIXSMITH
FIXSMITH 8" x 10" Stretched Canvas (12-pack)
Pre-primed cotton canvases in a bulk pack so you can just start painting. The low-stakes surface for practicing before the big piece.
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Links on this page may be affiliate links - clicking them and buying doesn't change your price, but helps support Show Me Step by Step.
Sunday How-To
One short email with the week's best step-by-step guides. Free, no spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Did this work for you?
Hand-picked next reads based on the one you just finished.
Pick the categories you want to hear about. Weekly digest of new step-by-step tutorials. No spam, easy unsubscribe.
Send me tutorials about
