Went to a local gallery showing and it totally changed my shading technique

I saw this artist at a small downtown gallery in Portland last Saturday who layered highlights in a way I never thought of. Instead of just adding white on top, she built up from a muted base and used color shifts to create depth. I tried it on my latest digital portrait and it popped like crazy. Has anyone else picked up a weird trick from seeing real paintings in person?

2 comments

2 Comments

fisher.taylor1mo ago

Wait, did you see the same show as me? I was at that gallery on Saturday too. That artist's layering trick with the muted base is wild, I tried replicating it with watercolor washes and got way better depth. Picking up little moves from real paintings feels like a cheat code for digital work honestly.

amyb541mo ago

Try a pale gray wash underneath next time. Game changer.