Calculation of Light Source Direction
Before you proceed, you need to measure the facing direction and pose of the model. Giving a simple example, a cube, as showed on the left, if the light source is at the direct front, the surface 1 should be the brightest, and surface 2 receives less light so it’s a bit darker. Next picture illustrates a little more complex case of a shoulder piece, the gray area indicates shadowed area.
You may want to ask: There are natural shadows at those dark areas, so why it’s necessary to create artificial shadows there? The answer lays on the scale of the model, because model is a miniature version of supposedly much bigger figure, hence its shadow which produced by natural light would look quite fake, and so the whole model looks unrealistic like a cheap toy. One solution is to increase the brightness of the light, preferably spot light, to increase the difference between bright and dark surface. However this method is not an easy job, plus the extended period of time intense lighting can cause discoloration of the model painting. Another solution is to make artificial shadow to enhance the bright-and-dark contrast. Insightful readers might have figured it out already: The size plays a vital role here, the smaller the model the darker its shadow making must be.
To find the perfect extent of darkness for a model, obviously you can calculate it out with some rocket science physics equations (Lol~), or more practically, just learn by trying.
Selecting Color
After picking which surfaces needed shadow making, you can move to selecting color. Personally, I often use the base color with a tiny amount of black color paint. Please pay attention not add too much black color, in most cases one or two droplets will do trick, as exceeded amount would lead to great contrast between the shadow and base color, and color saturation (The intensity of specific hue) is also reduced dramatically to the point not appealing to the eyes. If the base color is snow white, you can directly look for [Smoke Gray] to be the shadow color. Because Smoke Gray is a semi-transparent color, by spraying it on the surface, you get yourself a nice shadow effect while preserving the base color. The density of paint should be the same to the most regular cases, please go to Beginner section for more details.
Airbrush Setting
Because shadow creating are mostly on small narrow surface, so adjust paint volume to low and choose small airbrush for better and easier control.
Painting
Some would work on the finished model directly to make shadows, others would disassemble those parts first and just paint on each one of them. Whichever approach you prefer, they both work great and better than the other one in some cases. Normally, if the shadow making is done directly on the entire model, the transition of color would look more natural; yet some parts with area that will be blocked after assembled should be painted individually. So you need to plan carefully before you proceed to painting.
Final tip, there should be no clear cut edge of any shadow, so maintain a minimum distance between the surface and your airbrush’s tip (I’d recommend 15 cm at least), and don’t move too slow, otherwise you will leave a apparent trail of shadow boundary.
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