How To Draw Water Droplets - The Virtual Instructor

By understanding the light's behavior and recording the correct locations of light and dark values, the illusion of water droplets is developed. Once you have a basic understanding of the location of values, then water droplets are easily added to any surface in a drawing.

How Light Behaves in a Water Droplet

Instead of bouncing off of the surface, as we see with solid objects, a good amount of light is able to penetrate a water droplet. Some light is still reflected, producing a highlight, but much of it enters the droplet. In this example, we see a direct and dominant light source originating from the right side of the picture plane. A strong highlight is clearly visible.

Light waves are then refracted, bending and dispersing the light within the droplet. As a result, light waves are sent to the side of the droplet, opposite of the dominant light source.

This produces an area of lighter value positioned opposite from the dominant light source. On solid objects we expect to see an area of core shadow in this location, but in this case, we see lighter values that are evenly distributed.

Another interesting thing happens around the strong highlight. The values are actually darker in this area instead of being lighter as we would see with a solid object.

In this example, a secondary light source is also affecting the locations of value. This light source is weaker, but positioned at more extreme angle. This secondary light is originating from the lower left portion of the picture plane.

This secondary light source produces a few locations of stronger highlight on the left side of each water droplet, but has a greater affect on the locations of cast shadow. In this case, we see an area of cast shadow extending almost entirely around each droplet. The taller the water droplet is, the longer the cast shadow becomes.

Because the dominant light source on the right is more direct and at a less extreme angle, the resulting cast shadow on the left is still visible, but not quite as long.