Hi everybody, i am always with my problem of left handed. On the few letterings i have done i always put the shadow in the bottom right corner because it's natural for me. But all the signs i see,the shadow is on the left.Is there a reason? Am i wrong with my shadows? Maybe it's a stupid question but i want to know. I would like to post some pics but i don't know how. Is there someone to explain me with simple words?(Sorry but my technical informatic language is non-existant) Kristophe
Posted by Si Allen (Member # 420) on :
Chossat...shadows can be on either side!
The reason most people place shadopws down and left, is because it takes less strkes with a brush. Some left handed people find it easier to do it your way.
It is whatever works for you!
Posted by Jillbeans (Member # 1912) on :
I have always painted drop-shadows on the left. When in Ireland, I noticed that most were painted on the right. Perhaps it is a regional preference? Someone once told me that scripts should be shadowed on the right. Try turning your sign upside-down and doing the shadows after the letters have dried. (unless the sign is on a wall!) Love...Jill
Posted by Jake Lyman (Member # 3280) on :
I always make them to the left. When I was in school they tried to teach me to put them to the right but it never looked right to me. The other guy right near me puts his to the right. Do what you like best.
JAKE
Posted by Ray Rheaume (Member # 3794) on :
OK, I'm weird. I'm right handed, but always drop shadow to the right. For some bizarre reason, I actually find it easier.
Should I be contacting a doctor or psychologist or something?
Rapid
Posted by Wayne Osborne (Member # 4569) on :
I'm a leftie shade ,because....that's how I was shown I suppose, No real reason to it, Some times if the spacings all wrong I do a right handed one,but there's all those sticky out bits on E's and F's and stuff it all gets too busy -especialy on a two colour block shade...and I'm lazy.
Posted by Marty Happy (Member # 302) on :
Depending on the text, typestyle and layout, sometimes the shadow just looks better on one side or the other. It's a judgement call.
Posted by Mike Paul (Member # 4200) on :
I prefer the right. I believe the letter should be read or looked at before the shadow. In some cases it may look or flow better on the left. Go w/ what ever looks better, it works both ways. Mike
Posted by Ian Stewart-Koster (Member # 3500) on :
I have a few books on lettering from the turn of the 20th century (1900), and ALL state that it should be on the right, so that reading from the left, the letters and not the shade are what you see first. That's their explanation. It makes sense in a lot of cases evident at that time, eg names & numbers on trams & trolleycars etc. They also say that it depends on where the writing is situated- if you look up at the words, the shade should be underneath, but if you're looking down at the words, the blocking should be on top.
Doing them on the left is way easier & quicker for me, unless as Wayne says, you need to fix up/adjust a bit of wonky spacing and you put them on the right, and as Jilly says, turn the board upside down and do them on the left then. And italicised stuff, & some scripts look wrong if shaded on the left.
It's a combination of ease & appearance..., as said above!
Posted by Lotti Prokott (Member # 2684) on :
Salue Christophe, I put my shadows to the right like you. But then I'm also Swiss and lefthanded...is this an advantage or a disability? Just think of it as doing it the RIGHT way. Posted by Jon Butterworth (Member # 227) on :
This subject has come up before on the Bullboard with interesting results.
I actually did a mental survey of road signs on a 2 hour trip once. It came out about 50/50 with a few weird combinations of shadows both left and right in the same line of lettering
I personally (right handed) prefer shadows to the right especially on script, but find it easier to shadow to the left!
So it's a line call. Whatever looks right .... do it.
Posted by Rovelle W. Gratz (Member # 4404) on :
Another variation of shadows I saw an old timer doing was top shadow. He said he always did it that way if the lettering was viewed from a vantage point above the sign or wall.
Posted by share-in y. reardon (Member # 1512) on :
I'm left-handed. I agree with Marty, it's an individual case judgement call. It feels more natural for me to shade on left (maybe because that's how I was taught), but I like to shade on right, perhaps because of the rebel in me. Posted by Jeff Ogden (Member # 3184) on :
It's always been easier for me to shade on the left side of a letter, but I have done many trucks over the years, and I have gotten to where I do each door differently...the driver's side I shade on the right, and the passenger side I shade on the left. That way the shadow is always going towards the rear of the vehicle, which somehow seems to look more natural when the vehicle moves forward.I usually am doing regular shading where the shade connects to the points and sides of the letter. However with certain colors I like to offset the shade away from the letter a little bit, usually when the shade color is not a darker tone of the background color.
Drop shadows can be very striking if done in a subtle way. Usually people have them too far away from the letter, which makes the whole line of copy harder to read. Also these shades just about have to be a slight darkening of the background color to look right.
Well, those are a couple of points to ponder....
Posted by Frank Magoo (Member # 3950) on :
I, like Jeff, will alter from side to side to retain forward motion in my design. From the start of my lettering training, by some of the finest in my opinion(Ross Hurdle,Chester Cunnungham,Bob Shepard,Ememtt Morelli,John DiLauro, to name a few, great guys); I was always told that a proper shade was to the right. Now Ross and John D are lefties and always complained about unnaturalness of it for them, as the stroke is unnatural for a lefty, and they would do left-sided shadows. As a righty, I found right-sided shadows easier, but now I'm a lefty(health reasons), and put it to the left. Are ya confused yet? Now you know how I feel, I'm confused...heh-heh...I still bounce back and forth between the two and just what seems to look best is the way I go. Now on script, I agree w/majority, script looks better shadowed/shaded to the right. Just be careful and keep it tight or you will lose ledgibility.
My 2 cents worth, or was that a nickel?
Posted by Brad Ferguson (Member # 33) on :
I find shading to the right easier. I'm left-handed as well. Once, back in Peoria, Jack Wills told me that a shade to the right was a 'reverse' shade. I think he was messing with me.
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