Let There Be Light

In this post I am going to look at 3 images (one of which is my own) and analyse the light and how it is used in the image.

Brad Rigney -  A Hostile Takeover

At roughly 3 hours long, the dvd displaying Brad Rigney's process for this piece is incredible. Rigney's understanding of light allows him to create ultra realistic looking images - at the cost of massive amounts of time. There are two light sources in the piece, the main light source - blue tint, and the secondary - the fire bin. The light is coming in from behind the character, possibly slightly to the right. There is a use of diffuse light in respect to the general tone of the image being being blue as light bounces from surface to surface. You can see the points in which the light is at it's strongest on the female centered, with the coat and right side catching the strongest light rays. You can also see the reflected light from the fire onto the large character, and slightly on the left side of the female orc. Very subtle but effective. If i can understand light to a level like Rigneys', I will be to make my painting look more interesting and realistic.

Nate Hallinan - New Best Friends

Again, another brilliant piece. The light is coming from the left, and although it is a snowy landscape you can see the diffused pinky light spread around the image be it on the floor, or robot. The shadows of the trees also gradually fade as the light rays disperse. Even the trees in the distance fade as the moisture mounts up in the distance. There is a secondary light source from the robot, but it is very subtle - only really reflecting of the robot.

Timothy Walmsley - Noob Saibot

I chose one my images to explain thought process when it came to lighting. As you can see, it isn't massively successful and I think this is down to a lack of knowledge in light and painting. My main light source in the Image was at the top right, the Moon. With this is mind I wasn't sure how much of the area would be lit and therefore how much detail I could show of the character. In the end I decided the light would be coming from the right, but my initial lighting left the character so dark you could hardly make out details. I got some helpful criticism telling me to lighten the character up and include some reflected light on his left slide. Because the scene was set in night I wasn't sure how much detail to add and I think I could have still added more and it would have looked fine, but I ran out of time as I had to come back to Uni. There is also a secondary light source which is the torch in the background. It should be a lot brighter and It doesn't have a huge effect on the image and is rather closely spaced towards the shuriken in the foreground. I think In general the image lacks light, and value and I should have probably considered these aspects before beginning the piece.