Using Lighting to Create Striking Art


The most important thing when you are using lighting to create something striking-and not boring or lackluster-is to be sure of what you are trying to create. You should consider all of the following questions when planning the lighting of your character:

What mood do you want to create? ‚   ‚  Do you want to create a peaceful, ominous, theatrical, or outer space effect? The mood you want will to a large degree determine where you place your lights.

Do you want your lighting to be harsh or soft? ‚   ‚  A rainy day would not lend itself to any harsh direct light.

What colors should your lights be? ‚   ‚  Do you want your scene to be predominantly hot or cold, or light or dark? Obviously, a dark blue light will make a darker scene. Remember that a colored light will affect all colors in a scene.

The Main Types of Lighting

The lighting arrangements presented in the next few sections will give you ideas about lighting a scene effectively. These arrangements could be used either in 3D applications or when you're shooting reference material from living models.

Main or Key Light

Traditionally, the most desirable light for painting or drawing has been high, north light. This light is a cool, soft light that defines form well. In our computer world, this is also a good place to start. Position your light source on a 45-degree angle from your line of sight to your target. Where you position this light source in the vertical plane should be determined by the mood that you want. It should be higher for a more natural look, and lower for a more theatrical look. This light should be the brightest. Figures 9.1 and 9.2 show two kinds of key lights.


Figure 9.1: The key light is positioned high relative to the head.

Figure 9.2: The key light is positioned at head level.

Secondary or Fill Light

Invariably, objects in the character's environment will reflect light into the shadows of the character. The atmosphere even does this to a certain degree. Possibly the only place where this would not happen is in deep space, where there is nothing to reflect the light back into the shadow. Yet, we have become so used to seeing this reflected light that it is represented even in space scenes. Reflected light, then, is why you will generally want a secondary light source. It's preferable to locate this light at the same vertical level or opposite angle level of the primary light, as shown in Figure 9.3.


Figure 9.3: A secondary or fill light.

Secondary light should be at a 50 percent or less intensity of the primary light source. It's a good idea to have your secondary light source be complementary to the primary light or neutral in color . Having a fill light that is too strong will, in most cases, begin to destroy the illusion of volume, killing form and punching visual holes into your object.

Rim Lights

If a light source is in your field of view, you will need a rim light on your object. Placing the light at 135 degrees from your line of sight is a good starting point. You do not see a lot of rim lighting in traditional painting, but it is used extensively in contemporary illustration. Rim lights lend a sparkle to an image while helping to define form, as shown in Figure 9.4.


Figure 9.4: A rim light.

Backlights

Backlights are used to separate your objects from your background. Backlights shine on the background object instead of your main object and should usually be just strong enough to separate your figure from the background. If your background light is too bright, it will tend to silhouette your figure and make it more two-dimensional. Of course, this may be just what you want. Figure 9.5 shows a very typical backlighting situation.


Figure 9.5: A lighting setup using backlight.

Sunlight

Sunlight almost always has an equal in 3D programs. Remember that when you're trying to simulate direct sunlight in your scenes, the light needs to be kept very intense . In addition, it usually casts harsh, very high-contrast, shadows. Direct sunlight can vary from white to orange depending on the time of day you are trying to represent. Indirect sunlight, such as what you see on an overcast day, can have almost any color tinge, and will generally cast very weak and soft shadows if any shadows are cast at all.

Ambient Light

Ambient light is usually not really a light source. Rather, it is usually the amount of light bouncing around an environment that illuminates an object. Clear, sunny days may not have as much ambient illumination as foggy days. The default ambient light settings of most programs tend to be too high. As a general rule, keep the ambient light settings of all the objects in your scene relatively close. If you find that the shadows in your art are just too dark and harsh, try increasing the ambient light settings.

Positioning Your Lights

This section contains some examples of lighting setups to give you starting places for your own explorations. These examples are directly applicable to drawing and painting.

Lighting at a 45-Degree Angle with One Light Source

Place your light at a 45-degree angle in relation to your line of sight. This lighting will produce high-contrast value patterns while doing a fairly good job of defining the target form. Almost unlimited lighting variations are available if you raise and lower the light source. Figures 9.6 and 9.7 show two examples of 45-degree lighting schemes.


Figure 9.6: An example of a very simple 45-degree lighting scheme.

Figure 9.7: Lighting at a 45-degree angle with one light source, but at a lower position.

Lighting at a 45-Degree Angle with Two Light Sources

The first light is the main light source, and the second is the fill light. This scenario is identical to the previous lighting arrangement except for the addition of the fill light. If you vary the brightness of the fill along with the vertical position of both lights, the variations and control possibilities are limitless. Figure 9.8 shows an example of a simple lighting scheme using two light sources.


Figure 9.8: An example of lighting using two light sources.

Lighting at a 90-Degree Angle with One Light Source

The light is placed at a 90-degree angle from your line of sight. The light illuminates only half of your target, with the other half remaining in total darkness . This arrangement is not nearly as useful as when you use 45-degree lighting. With the 90-degree-angle scenario, form is harder to define, but you can get a nice ominous effect if that is what you are after. Again, vary the height of the light to get the feel you want. Figure 9.9 shows what happens when you are using one light source located at 90 degrees to the subject.


Figure 9.9: Using a single light source located at 90 degrees to the subject.

In Figure 9.10, the side light is positioned at a relatively high angle to the model.


Figure 9.10: Lighting at a 90-degree angle with one light source, but at a higher angle.

Lighting at a 90-Degree Angle with One 45-Degree-Angle Fill

The main reason for the use of the fill in this case is to lessen the abrupt transition from the darkness to the shadow. Figure 9.11 shows how a fill light will help bring out the details in the shadows.


Figure 9.11: Adding one 45-degree-angle fill light to bring back detail in the shadows.

By placing the fill in the dark plane, as shown in Figure 9.12, you can add some detail back into your target. Vary the height to taste.


Figure 9.12: Lighting at a 90-degree angle with one 45-degree-angle fill in the dark side of the face.

Lighting at a 135-Degree Angle

The light is placed almost behind your target. This kind of lighting is the almost ideal position for great rim lighting. Figure 9.13 shows the location of a light to produce rim lighting.


Figure 9.13: Lighting at a 135-degree angle to produce rim light.

Lighting at Double 135 Degrees

Use this lighting if you want to produce silhouettes. Figure 9.14 shows an example of double rim lighting.


Figure 9.14: Double rim lighting.

Front Lighting

Here, the light source is positioned very close to your line of sight. Front lighting will flatten whatever it is illuminating. Such lighting is not very useful when positioned at camera level. Figure 9.15 shows front lighting at the camera level.


Figure 9.15: Front lighting at the camera level.

If you raise and lower the front light, good things can happen. Get the light high enough and you will get a good approximation of Rembrandt-style lighting, as shown in Figure 9.16.


Figure 9.16: Rembrandt-style lighting.

If you lower the light, you will get a theatrical look that can be quite ominous if you want it to be, as shown in Figure 9.17.


Figure 9.17: Theatrical lighting.

The Color of Your Lights

While it may seem obvious, you should nevertheless take great care when choosing the color of your lights. Color can enhance or destroy the effect that you are after. Figure 9.18 shows two rather unimpressive, checkered pill shapes lit by neutral white light.


Figure 9.18: A neutral white light.

Be aware of what similarly and complementary-colored lights will do to your objects. A red light will completely wash out and negate all the reds in your scene, making them appear as the whites. At the same time, a red light will make the green color appear as black, as shown in Figure 9.19.


Figure 9.19: The effect of a red light.

Green lights will do exactly the opposite to your red colors, as shown in Figure 9.20.


Figure 9.20: The effect of a green light.

Use colored lights where needed, especially for accent lights, but do not overuse them.

A Last Word About Shadows

One of the beauties of 3D programs is that you can determine which objects cast and receive cast shadows. If the cast shadows do not enhance the form of the objects they are falling on, as shown in Figure 9.21, it would probably be best to eliminate their use.


Figure 9.21: A cast shadow that destroys the form of the object that it is cast on.

The same reasoning holds true for two-dimensional works. If a cast shadow does not enhance the form that it is falling on or if it is a distraction, it is usually best to eliminate it.




Digital Character Design and Painting
Digital Character Design and Painting: The Photoshop CS Edition (Graphics Series) (Charles River Media Graphics)
ISBN: 1584503408
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2004
Pages: 112

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