Will someone teach me to use shadows better?

'Cuz I reeeally suck at shading and shadows right now. Could someone PM me...? Please?

Um i would but my pm box is full so it'd be a one sided conversation. Feel free to IM me though! I like to pretend I think I understand light and shadows.
Oh and reflected light too.

IM you on what program? AIM, Yahoo, MSN..?

*points at sig*

My best suggestion would be to look at alot of pics and study how they are shaded. I do that all the time, expecially with photography. I've taught myself alot about lighting and such by trying to figure out how other people lite their shots.

One biiiig thing I've learned about shading from playing around in paintshop pro is to not be afraid of color. Don't just shade in gray, use blues and purples, or even reds to shade. It REALLY makes things pop. Since I got Dammit the Graphire 3 I haven't shaded a single thing in flat gray and I think it makes a HUGE difference.

[ QUOTE ]
One biiiig thing I've learned about shading from playing around in paintshop pro is to not be afraid of color. Don't just shade in gray, use blues and purples, or even reds to shade. It REALLY makes things pop. Since I got Dammit the Graphire 3 I haven't shaded a single thing in flat gray and I think it makes a HUGE difference.

[/ QUOTE ]

Pretty much. Shadows are not black and that's really important to understand. You will get better shadows by avoiding black and instead using dark shades.

In general though I would say to find a book or take a class as the easiest way. Some of the other folks can suggest ones. But you should also learn perspective, 3d space, foreshortening, and anatomy if you're doing organic things because shading and shadow does affect and is affected by these things.