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Art Fundamental Part 4

This document provides a summary of key concepts from Chapter 2 of an article on lighting and color in art fundamentals. It discusses several digital illustrations and how they use lighting and color to guide the viewer's eye and emphasize important elements. For example, a football pitch image uses a bright green to draw first attention and varied colored spots in the crowd to add visual interest. Cliff dwelling and mangrove images offset their dominant blues and greens with pops of contrasting orange and sunlight. Proper value separation is also discussed for depicting snow scenes realistically.

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Willton Beltran Villegas
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276 views3 pages

Art Fundamental Part 4

This document provides a summary of key concepts from Chapter 2 of an article on lighting and color in art fundamentals. It discusses several digital illustrations and how they use lighting and color to guide the viewer's eye and emphasize important elements. For example, a football pitch image uses a bright green to draw first attention and varied colored spots in the crowd to add visual interest. Cliff dwelling and mangrove images offset their dominant blues and greens with pops of contrasting orange and sunlight. Proper value separation is also discussed for depicting snow scenes realistically.

Uploaded by

Willton Beltran Villegas
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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02

LIGHTING & COLOR BY Jesse van Dijk


Art Fundamentals Chapter 02: Lighting & Color

Art Fundamentals Article:


Chapter 02 - Lighting & Color
Software used: Photoshop

Lighting and color are two massively complex


and broad fields, and it is by no means possible
to fully discuss the theoretical principles of either
in this article. There are many great resources
out there that deal with these subjects in
great detail, from many different angles. Here stadium the distinction between the different Because the orange is more or less the

however, I’ll provide some brief comments on colors in the audience has become almost complementary color it immediately stands

some of the practical decisions concerning negligible. out. The lighting is diffuse as the sun is hidden

lighting and color while creating various behind the clouds, therefore the scene is hit by

concepts and illustrations. Cliff Dwellings indirect light only.

In terms of color, the approach for “Cliff

Pitch Dwellings” (Fig.02) is simple. The scene is Dzalou Freshwater Mangrove


This image (Fig.01) shows a scene where predominantly blue/greenish, but to ensure it’s In the swampy scene of “Dzalou Freshwater

many different elements are competing for the interpreted as a full color image, a strong “offset Mangrove”, lights breaks through the dense

viewer’s secondary attention. The “first look” is color” is used: the orange lava. canopy of the trees far above (Fig.03).

meant to go directly to the football field, which


is why it is shown in a very bright green; a
color which, in this image, is reserved for the
actual pitch only and contrasts heavily with the
predominantly bluish atmosphere. The “second
look”, however, is more diffuse. There are over-
bright blue spotlights, lit advertisements, and
the specks of saturated colors in the audience.
The colors used for the crowds are of all hues,
and to underline the large scale of the scene.
These desaturate as the distance to the camera
increases. Notice how at the far end of the

www.3dtotal.com page 11 Chapter 02


Chapter 02: Lighting & Color Art Fundamentals

In this case, patches of direct sunlight are used harder to read. In reality however, the matter only the pillar itself, but also some of its context
to guide the viewer around the image. They help is often not as simple, as snow catching direct – some of it even outside of the frame. It mainly
to accentuate the important elements, such as sunlight can be so bright it will push virtually employs lighting and color to achieve this. Color-
the village in the tree roots, the fishing boats, every other value into the black. wise, for example, the isolation of this crowded
and the woman carrying the basket. Because city state is underlined by the difference in color
of the clear indication of where the sun is, there However, when you’re doing a painting, you can between the city (vibrant, warm yellows and
are also unlit areas that contain very little detail, “cheat” yourself around this exposure problem reds) and the bleak, cold grays of the outside
which improves the composition. Color-wise, by making sure the snow and rock reads and world (Fig.05).
the approach of the image is similar to “Cliff the distinction between the four values is
Dwellings” as the dominant color (greenish blue) maintained. Keep in mind, the separation of Unspecified objects outside the composition
is offset by some small patches of very different these four areas is relative to the distance to the cast shadows that help to make the sunlit areas
and saturated pockets of color here and there. camera. For example, in this picture, the snow in seem even more inviting, as well as suggesting
shadow in the foreground is darker than the rock there is more going on in this world than merely

Arctic Research Outpost in shadow in the distance (Fig.04). that which is shown inside the frame.

Whenever I paint snow I continually guard the


readability of four different values: snow in Project Indigo Netherworld Archipelago
light, snow in shadow, rock in light, and rock With the shot of the top of the pillar as shown in In the image of the capital of the “Netherworld
in shadow. Whenever the distinction between “Project Indigo”: (link: http://www.jessevandijk. Archipelago” lighting is key, and in this case it’s
these becomes fuzzy, the image will become net/g_08_76.html) the intent was to show not far more important than color (Fig.06).

www.3dtotal.com page 12 Chapter 02

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