New to this site and digital art

[gaovers]

Did this yesterday and I am looking for general advice. Mainly on my lighting and values I think but anything you see that needs fixing is good to know!

[andrewnimble]

Hi!
It is some nice shield design!
My advice would be mainly about the material. From what I see it seems that the whole shield is made of steel. this kind of material is usually a lot more reflective than it is in your painting. Also the overlaping shadow around the red motives does't make much sense to me. are those parts somehow above the shield? (And lastly even though i think you werent going for a realistic design, in that case the metalic parts would waaay too thick for someone to carry it and use it in battle.)
Anyway here is some reference which I found regarding the material:
this is ofcourse under a stronger lightsource, than your shield appears to be, so it is not exactly what you need, but it gives the general idea.
Just hope this can help you somehow!

[enalya]

Hi there! Hyrule Shield, always nice to see

You're on the right track, but I hope I can explain a few things:
1. Your gradients seem to be quite random, especially on the red shapes. I wouldn't expect the light to fall on those that way.
2. Try to use less fine lines for the highlights, they are distracting this way, and over used. I wouldn't expect them everywhere.
3. I think things will improve big time if you don't use those fine sketchy lines (black and white). Use fatter (vector) lines or paint over them.

Hope that helps

[gaovers]

Thanks much for the input guys! I'll take your advice to heart. Lighting has always been a big issue for me.