How to Create Three-Dimensional Shadows in Art
- 1). Determine the position of your light source. The light source can be the sun, a room's light bulb or a candle, for example.
- 2). Draw straight lines starting from the light source, crossing through your object's corners and reaching the ground. This applies only to objects with no curved sides. If your object does have curved sides, draw as many straight lines starting from the light source, crossing through the curved side and reaching the ground as possible. From now on, these lines will be referred to as "rays."
- 3). Draw a vertical line connecting a spot on your object where a ray crosses through with the object's base. Ensure you draw a vertical line for each ray crossing through the object.
- 4). Draw a line connecting the vertical lines' bases with the ending point of their respective rays to create a shadow triangle. This "ending point" is the spot where the rays reach the ground. From now on, the angles formed by the rays and the newly formed lines will be called "vertices."
- 5). Draw straight lines to connect adjacent vertices. The object's shadow is confined within the newly formed straight lines and the lines connecting the vertices with the object's base.
- 6). Erase the rays and the vertical lines. Shade the space formed by the lines connecting the vertices to create the object's shadow in a three-dimensional drawing.