I finally stopped using a pure black background for my digital portraits

For about 8 months I always set my canvas to #000000 before painting faces. Then a friend in a Discord group pointed out my highlights looked flat against the void. Switching to a dark navy #1a1a2e instantly made my color choices look way more natural. Has anyone else dealt with this silhouette trap?

2 comments

2 Comments

perry.jessica26d ago

The void" is exactly right. I had a similar thing happen with drawing on black paper in a sketchbook. Couldn't figure out why my shadows just looked wrong. Turned out I was ignoring the ambient light bouncing around. Switched to a warm dark brown paper and everything clicked.

the_sean26d ago

Brown paper is just easier on the brain for some reason.