Thanks!
Geist, I'm afraid with these last few profiles, I've been striving to do the opposite of your advice! Shadows are rarely absolute, so I've been adding glints of light within the shadows. As an example, my kitchen handles are metal. They are beneath the counter line and cannot be in direct sunlight yet they each have a sheen running down their length - indirect lighting.
My profiles are all flyers. Though you cannot see them, they are all in reasonable proximity to clouds or a mostly innocuous planetary body and as such are indirectly lit by them, to varying degrees.
I suppose it is the varying degrees bit that is the problem as I tend to do both the highlights and shading on a case-by-case basis, going mainly by instinct. Since I have been studying aircraft pretty much every day for 30-odd years, I feel that my instincts are fairly well honed. I actually quite enjoy this process and feel my
more recent efforts are
reasonable depictions (YMMV).
That said, I have taken your advice onboard and will keep it in mind when doing profiles and may well add a few % to the shadows, a Geist Factor if you will.
