Separate warm and cool shadows

Set up your study

Download the Clay Cup palette below, or copy its six hex colors. Use a comfortable sketch canvas and a familiar brush; no premium brush is required. The featured illustration is a visual starting point, not a result you need to copy exactly.

Try it in four steps

1. Block in a cup using terracotta. Add an ellipse for its opening and a simple curved handle.
2. Duplicate the study or redraw it beside the first. Keep both silhouettes the same size.
3. Shade the first cup with the dark reddish swatch. Shade the second with muted violet.
4. Use the same cream highlight and dark rim on both. Compare them at equal zoom.

Check your result

Which shadow separates more clearly from the lit clay? Judge the relationships, not whether one color is universally correct.

Change one thing

Use the cooler version for the cup and a warm cast shadow on the tabletop.