How to add shading and highlights to text art

The artist

Snooze One

I’m a lettering artist from Berlin with a passion for experimenting with letters. My interest in letterforms started with discovering graffiti at an early age. Shortly after that I got into calligraphy and continued to further explore the world of letters. My style is versatile and features several different tools, materials, and techniques. I’m always looking for a new perspective and new ways to write and build letters.

Step 1

Decide on a light source: Choose where the light will come from. Light from the top left often looks most natural.

Step 2

Add shading: Use the same or a darker color than your base letter to add shading. Imagine the surface of the letter is slightly curved and apply curved shading on the side opposite the light source.

Step 3

Create a drop shadow: Use light grey to add a drop shadow. Visualize the letter slightly offset and trace its outline to create the shadow.

Step 4

Fill in the shadow to create your desired depth.

Step 5

Layer shadows: When stacking letters, apply the drop shadow technique for depth. Use a darker colour on the letter where the shadow falls, and grey for the background to separate the layers.