Thank you! Honestly a lot of my knowledge comes from years
of trial and error and just picking things up as I go. Most of the studies I do are simply
observation of how light interacts with objects as well as, watching a lot of
speed paints to see how other artist’s paint light and shadow.
I’d also highly recommend looking at how light travels from
a scientific perspective. I’ve found that looking up videos on the science of
visual light helped give me a better understanding of how light and shadow works
in an actual environment.
For example: Something like metal tends to have light
reflect and bounce off of it as opposed to a softer material like cotton where
the light is absorbed and scattered.
This isn’t a very
well-illustrated example but as you can see when light hits a very hard surface
said surface tends to reflect the colors of it’s surroundings. While the soft
fabric is absorbing the light. In other words, shading a hard reflective
surface is very dependent on the object’s environment and light sources.
Usually when I’m painting, I also like to keep the shape of the object in mind as well as light
tends to bend with the curvature of the object. Light can be used to help
emphasize the 3d aspects of an object.
(This was an old study I did awhile back on old armor, I never quite finished with the details.)
For my most recent materials study I used this
tutorial as a basis which was extremely helpful: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYii8KopsQg&list=PL_hkSLWIKnoM7Rff5Tk1gY3dySLhudHgB&index=11
I also find it’s helpful to plan your light sources during the early phases of the process, it
helps me visualize where everything is going to go before, I get too far into
rendering. I also tend to experiment with different layer types as well since
they can give a cool effect. (Like with the green claws in the earlier study.)
I also to do a lot of black and white sketches/renders to help me focus more in my light and shadows and less on the colors. Looking up a reference for light and shadow is also
very helpful when I’m not sure how to light something. I tend to do a lot of
sketches with one or more light sources to practice.
I apologize of this
was a bit of a long haphazard explanation, I don’t have an exact process as to
how I paint things or plan things. I’m still learning and figuring things out
as I go. 😊 I hope this was helpful but, if not, I
linked a bunch of videos that certainly helped me out with my lighting.
Lighting:
Painting and lighting specific materials:
