RoxieFandoggo

Shadows depend on where the light can reach on the surface. You've probably heard the names for each part of the shadow/light. I'll list the most important ones here: .Highlight (where the light directly hits the ball) .Midtone (Where the light hits indirectly, so it's not as bright as the highlight) .Core Shadow (Where the light is blocked. It can't reach all the way back there, so it's dark) .Reflected light (Also known as bounce light, where your light source hits other places (like the floor) and THAT light bounces back to the ball .Cast shadow (The ball is blocking light from the surface behind it. In this case, the ball is blocking light from fully reaching the floor underneath)

Here's how the light works in action, color coded.

This is how I would block out the rendering. First I wanna find the two extremes (direct light and blocked light), then add in the reflected light and stuff while thinking about where the light will "spill" on the object, and where it can't reach