What lights are shown?

Side light, light from above and below, and rim light from behind, each on the same head.

What is the difference between the three styles?

Hatched shadow builds the shade from ink hatching, tonal pencil uses smooth gray gradients, and light planes simplifies the head into flat shapes with solid black shadows.

Are these photographs?

No. Each head is a flat drawing on a plain white sheet, with no text and no labels.

Can I ask for a different light?

Yes. Type a direction such as candlelight or profile, and it is a request for that, not a promised result.

toile

/lighting-reference-sheets · illustration

Lighting reference sheets: one face lit from the side, above and behind

Lighting reference sheets — a row of the same head lit from the left, half the face in shadow, the light falling across the cheek, an inked line drawing, the shadow side built from hatching and cross-hatching, the lit side left as clean paper

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every sample — three subjects, three styles ↓

Reading 1Side light

Reading 2Top and under

Reading 3Rim light

Light shapes a face more than any feature, and it is hard to learn from a lit photograph. These sheets show one simple head lit from the side, from above and below, and from behind with a thin bright edge along the profile. Each light comes in hatched shadow, tonal pencil, and light planes, with the same face in every cell. Type a different light, such as candlelight, and the same three lights carry it.

a study of light for a portrait
a reference for the shadow side of a face
a sketchbook page on rim light
a lesson sheet on light for a figure class

Frequently asked questions

What lights are shown?: Side light, light from above and below, and rim light from behind, each on the same head.
What is the difference between the three styles?: Hatched shadow builds the shade from ink hatching, tonal pencil uses smooth gray gradients, and light planes simplifies the head into flat shapes with solid black shadows.
Are these photographs?: No. Each head is a flat drawing on a plain white sheet, with no text and no labels.
Can I ask for a different light?: Yes. Type a direction such as candlelight or profile, and it is a request for that, not a promised result.

About toile

This page is a showcase and a starting point: nine samples already rendered, three readings of the pack crossed with three styles, each shown at the size and ratio it was made for. Take any of them further on the wall with a few words, or ask for all nine again under your own direction; a sign-in keeps what you make, and it is free while Toile is new. The recipe behind each sample — the subject, the style, the palette, the framing — travels with the image rather than staying private to the render: it is in the alt text of every sample and in the page's own structured data, so a search engine reads the same handles a person would.