So, I spent some time today trying to capture this idea I had – canyon shadows. You know, that deep, cool feeling you get when looking down into a big canyon, how the light just hits the tops and the rest is in this soft, dark blue shade. It sounds simple, but actually getting it down? That was the challenge I set for myself.
Getting Started
First thing, I fired up my usual drawing tablet and software. Didn’t really use a specific photo, more just the memory and feeling of it. I started by roughing out some big canyon wall shapes. Just basic lines to get the structure down. Then, I picked a light source direction, imagining the sun high up, maybe late afternoon.
Next, I started blocking in the main areas. Big patches of light orange and warm brown for the bits hit by the sun. And then the shadows… ah, the shadows. I initially went with some deep blues and purples. Just slapped them down where the light wouldn’t reach.
Where it Got Tough
Man, it looked flat. Seriously flat. The shadows just sat there, like dark cutouts. They didn’t feel deep or cool at all. They didn’t have that soft edge you sometimes see, nor the really sharp edge you get other times. It just looked… wrong. The colors felt kinda muddy too, where the light met the shadow.
I fiddled around for ages. Tried things like:
- Using different brushes – softer ones, textured ones.
- Layering the colors – putting down a dark base, then adding lighter blues on top, trying to get that “sky reflection” vibe in the shadow.
- Messing with the color saturation. Making the shadows less intense, maybe?
- Adding a bit of atmospheric haze, trying to make the distant parts look further away.
It was frustrating, honestly. You have this picture in your head, and getting it out onto the screen is a whole different game.
Trying Again
After getting nowhere, I took a break, then decided to simplify. I reduced the detail in the rock walls. Focused purely on the big shapes of light and shadow. This time, I paid way more attention to the edges between light and dark. I made some sharper, some softer. I also tried to be more deliberate with the color choices. Less mixing, cleaner blues, maybe a hint of reflected orange from the lit walls deep in the shadow.
It started to feel a bit better. Not perfect, not by a long shot, but closer. It had a little more depth. The shadows felt a bit more like actual shadows in a huge space, less like painted blobs.
So yeah, that was my practice for today. Still got a ways to go with capturing those canyon shadows properly, but I feel like I learned something about simplifying and focusing on the light/shadow edges. It’s always a process, right? You try, you mess up, you figure something out, you try again.