Anime Face Shading Phase 3 - (Patreon)

I'll be posting a video later, but for now here's a glimpse at Exa's face shading now! Courtesy of Ms. Ruki. This was quite an eye opening experience to be a part of. On one hand, I feel like I understand the shading style a lot better, but on the other hand it's still A LOT of work -

It's a very trial & error process, but while watching her work, I feel like I have a few ideas on how to streamline a few of the steps. I'll be releasing the "Patreon Only" video of her explaining her work in a few days, but to give you an idea of what the workflow for Anime shading looks like.

1- First & Most important is the topology. Making your Topology specifically for Anime shading from the beginning is almost necessary in order to get the best results.
2- Generate the base soft shading from a simple proxy face mesh.
3- Adjust normals to get any specific anime shadows you feel will improve the face.
4- Paint false shadows of lines and edges that should be visible regardless of shading
5- Add in between shading for dithered edges to complete the look (Optional, but helps)

Ms. Ruki kindly performed steps 1-3 for us. But, as you can tell it's a bit hard to see her nose and lips. That is because in step 4 we have to create permanent shadows/outlines that will always be visible for them regardless of lighting - So, that's the next step I'll have to do, but unlike steps 1-3, step 4 is basically painting a texture map.

I'll keep you posted as we progress with the shader, but this is what we've got so far :)