yo! Do you have any advice on shading in cartoons/drawing in general? I can never figure out where to put shadows! How'd you learn?
- Instead of thinking of where to put shadows think about where the light is hitting. This sounds less helpful typed out than i planned but it’s an easier way to think of it imo.
- Keep your shadows big and simple. You can add some detail to them but overall the shadows should make sense as a whole. I drew a quick little guy to show you what i mean:

- zoom way out of your drawing every now and then to see if your drawing makes sense.
- Remember that even though cartoons are flat and 2D they’re still based on real life 3D things.
As for how I learned I don’t really have an answer other than years and years of practice.;; Going off the last point, draw from life, do figure drawings, practice learning to see the shadows on real life people/objects. A fun exercise is to draw something with a pen or pencil and then take a big marker or watercolor brush and block in the shadows. Just keep at it!