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Illustrating sweat, and tears on hand-drawn works

NightmareTklr

TMF Regular
Joined
Jun 18, 2011
Messages
209
Points
16
I've been drawing my own stuff for a little over a year now, and I am definitely starting to see improvement in my abilities to vary body positions, facial expressions and angles. One thing that I still can not manage to get a grasp on is how to illustrate sweat in a piece. I get the concept that the reflection from the sweat has to be opposite of the light source, but whenever I try to make it work, it never turns out right. Tears are also giving me a bit of trouble, though not as much as a subject covered in a glistening layer of sweat. Any help would be appreciated.
 
The first step in creating the illusion of sweat and tears in an illustration are understanding where on the body sweat and tears are most likely to occur. Generally, depending on the level of sweat, it starts in key places; the forehead; temples, nose bridge and cheeks. The underarms and décolletage. Sweat can represented as beads, beads with trails (which always move downward with gravity and follow the contour of the surface. Tears are the same and originate with the tear ducts on the inner corner of the eye but can spread to the outer corners and cheeks with eyelid batting and squeezing.

Both sweat and tears are more easily illustrated in a color drawing, as they can be painted in translucent layers of white; the trails more transparent than the bead, and the bead more transparent than the stark highlight on the bead. For a very sweaty body, there are large patches of translucent sheen sweat with spattered highlights over the areas mentioned in relation to the light source(s). In a nut shell, sweat, tears, and "wetness" are best represented in high contrast reflection set against flat tones. See example attached.

In strict B&W line drawing, the beads and trails can be represented by shadow lines opposite the light source, with the line darker under the bead, and the line lighter and trailing off with the sweat trail. This relies less on the realism of the light pay and more as a convincing leap-of-faith on the part of the viewer understanding that this is the logical location where sweat occurs.

Obviously the very sweaty body will have more pores opening in sequence, and as moisture builds, surface tension will coalesce into beads and eventually roll off - such as the inner thighs, back to butt-crack and so on.

It is also worth noting that in line drawings, sometimes LESS is MORE, as too many line indications of sweat and tears become heavy-handed noise and unconvincing. Sometimes, just a hint is enough -trust the viewer to put it all together.
 
Last edited:
Thank C.A.B., thats very well spoken and I learned a thing or two from it!
 
The first step in creating the illusion of sweat and tears in an illustration are understanding where on the body sweat and tears are most likely to occur. Generally, depending on the level of sweat, it starts in key places; the forehead; temples, nose bridge and cheeks. The underarms and décolletage. Sweat can represented as beads, beads with trails (which always move downward with gravity and follow the contour of the surface. Tears are the same and originate with the tear ducts on the inner corner of the eye but can spread to the outer corners and cheeks with eyelid batting and squeezing.

Both sweat and tears are more easily illustrated in a color drawing, as they can be painted in translucent layers of white; the trails more transparent than the bead, and the bead more transparent than the stark highlight on the bead. For a very sweaty body, there are large patches of translucent sheen sweat with spattered highlights over the areas mentioned in relation to the light source(s). In a nut shell, sweat, tears, and "wetness" are best represented in high contrast reflection set against flat tones. See example attached.

In strict B&W line drawing, the beads and trails can be represented by shadow lines opposite the light source, with the line darker under the bead, and the line lighter and trailing off with the sweat trail. This relies less on the realism of the light pay and more as a convincing leap-of-faith on the part of the viewer understanding that this is the logical location where sweat occurs.

Obviously the very sweaty body will have more pores opening in sequence, and as moisture builds, surface tension will coalesce into beads and eventually roll off - such as the inner thighs, back to butt-crack and so on.

It is also worth noting that in line drawings, sometimes LESS is MORE, as too many line indications of sweat and tears become heavy-handed noise and unconvincing. Sometimes, just a hint is enough -trust the viewer to put it all together.

That was incredibly descriptive and immensely helpful, C.A.B, particularly the part about "less is more". I'm still in that stage where I want to make sure that the viewer gets the message being conveyed, and I tend to go overkill by using as much as possible to make it as obvious as possible. I also appreciate your supplying me with a very well done example that I could use as a reference. Thanks, C.A.B!
 
Thank C.A.B., thats very well spoken and I learned a thing or two from it!

That was incredibly descriptive and immensely helpful, C.A.B, particularly the part about "less is more". I'm still in that stage where I want to make sure that the viewer gets the message being conveyed, and I tend to go overkill by using as much as possible to make it as obvious as possible. I also appreciate your supplying me with a very well done example that I could use as a reference. Thanks, C.A.B!

Anytime, fellas.
 
Just to make some addition on C.A.B.'s great input, here goes my tip:

1. Finish all the linework and coloring of your art first before thinking of adding sweat.
2. Create a separate layer for sweat so you can just manage to turn it off in case they get too messed up.
3. At times you have to feel it flowing out of you before science takes charge.

Some of my sweaty art samples, if they can be of any help to you:

http://annoxanti.com/ArtRed.shtml
http://annoxanti.com/ArtMasked.shtml
 
Just to make some addition on C.A.B.'s great input, here goes my tip:

1. Finish all the linework and coloring of your art first before thinking of adding sweat.
2. Create a separate layer for sweat so you can just manage to turn it off in case they get too messed up.
3. At times you have to feel it flowing out of you before science takes charge.

Some of my sweaty art samples, if they can be of any help to you:

http://annoxanti.com/ArtRed.shtml
http://annoxanti.com/ArtMasked.shtml

Helpful additions, Bohemianne, and two more very useful reference images. In the second point, by "separate layer", I assume you mean adding sweat effects on a computer in some image editing software after scanning the image? Thanks for your help, as well. You guys are giving some great tips.
 
Helpful additions, Bohemianne, and two more very useful reference images. In the second point, by "separate layer", I assume you mean adding sweat effects on a computer in some image editing software after scanning the image? Thanks for your help, as well. You guys are giving some great tips.

Okay, I will elaborate a bit. All those samples are digitally colored using photoshop. There is no special sweat effects available around to help an artist other than drawing them manually. Again, it is better if the drawing/coloring are totally finished before you start adding sweats. On a separate "layer" (it is like another sheet of paper on top of your working sheet) a Photoshop brush can be used with special care on pen pressure, as you create sweat lines with absolute simplicity on selected spots only. They are actually just white colored lines, to represent nothing but wet highlights and reflected lights on bare skin. I would intend to add shadow if the drawing gets any bigger. The samples I attached are my most heavily worked art with visible sweat on them. Sweat is optional, especially if the scale of the drawing is too small.
 
Update:

Time passed by. I changed my approach in creating sweat. See attachment.

attachment.php
 

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