Objects without cast shadows sitting nowhere
“My apples and cups look like they are hovering in mid-air above the table.”
What is happening
The objects have form shading, but the ground underneath them remains clean and blank. There is no clear contact point connecting the base of each item to the tabletop.
An object only anchors to a surface through occlusion shadows and cast shadows. Omitting the tight, dark occlusion shadow where object meets ground makes the item appear detached from space.
The 30-second test
Look at the very base of your object: is there a crisp dark line or wedge directly underneath, or does the white tabletop run right up to the contour?
How to fix it
- Identify the direction and angle of the main light source.
- Place a very dark, thin occlusion shadow directly under the exact contact point.
- Project a cast shadow along the tabletop pointing away from the light.
- Keep the shadow edge sharpest nearest the object and slightly softer further away.
Can it be saved? Rescue
Work a rich dark pencil tone directly beneath each base and extend a soft shadow across the surface.
Drill: Egg on ground anchor
About 15 minutes. You need:
- charcoal or soft pencil
- paper
Draw three simple spheres. Under each, apply a tight crevice shadow at the contact spot, then sweep a cast shadow across the plane to instantly glue them down.
Background reading
General teaching sites on this subject. They are a reading list, not page-level citations for this advice.
The advice is a generated synthesis of common teaching practice and has not been checked line by line against any source; treat times and difficulty as estimates.