Colleen Schaan - Copic Coloring Guide Level 3: People

If a person is outside during the day, the light source is the sun. If a person is inside a home during the evening hours, the light source is most likely an overhead light or lamp. If a person is telling ghost stories around a campfire, the light source is probably the roaring fire. The light from a source will illuminate the things around it and create areas of highlight and areas of shadow. It is important to understand where the light source is when coloring images, especially when faces are included, in order to create accurate and realistic highlights and shadows. Rule 1: Always highlight the most important part of the image by having the light shine directly on that aspect. Rule 1: Always highlight the most important part of the image by having the light shine directly on that aspect.

On people images, the face is typically the focal point. Rule 2: The image should always face the light source. Notice how the young girl is sitting at an angle on the bench. Even though she is glancing down, her face is still facing left. Keeping Rule 2 in mind, place the light source in the upper left corner when coloring this image. Rule 3: Areas that are closest to the light source are brightest and most highlighted.

Turn on a lamp. Hold your hand up to the light. The side of your hand that is closest to the light is bright and the side that is facing away from the lamp is dark or in shadow. Keep this concept in mind when coloring your images.

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Seeing the Rules at Work Look at the images on this page and apply the three previous rules about light source. Notice on the top image how the front of her dress, the cover of the book, her face, and the front of her hat are all brightly lit.

Notice too how the back of the hat, behind the book and the back of her dress are all in shadow. With the light source coming from the upper left, her face and the book become the focal point of the image. Now notice the coloring on the image at the right. Same girl, sitting on the same bench and reading the same book, but it looks totally different because the light source has changed. In this image, the light source is coming from the upper right side of the image, behind her, highlighting her bow, the hat and the back of her head. Since her body and face are facing away from the light, they are thrown into shadow.

While this is not an incorrect light source, it does not convey that the girl and her book are most important.

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The light source is coming from the upper right side.

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She has a basic, round face shape with uncomplicated facial features. Since the image itself is simple, we want to keep the coloring simple too. Notice that this image is only colored in two or three values. Any more and it would look too detailed. Keep it simplea highlight (shown by the white), a mid tone (C1) and a shadow (C3).