[Freddio]

I am 16 and I am really aimimng for a career related to illustrtion..

Now im trying to develop my skill as quickly as possible.. but the thing im having trouble with most.. is creating realistic lighting from my head..


because light and shade is what creates a painting

It seems artists such a spooge seem so sure of the lighting in their paintings i mean my lighting isnt that bad now.. its just that I want to get it awesome..


So how should I go about developing it..

Any exercises I should partake in?

eg getting matte cubes and spheres and looking at how different lighting relates to them..

also applying lighting to different surfaces and see what the result are and painting those results..

[ May 20, 2001: Message edited by: Freddio ]

[Frost]

I suggest being observant. If you ever see something that looks odd and wonder why it looks that way, take the time to analyze the situation with lights, shadows, surface properties of the object (matte, reflective, color/pigmentation, roughness, surface patterns, etc.). Understanding lighting, shadow casting and reflections (and refractions) (nice reflect and lighting tutorial here http://elfwood.lysator.liu.se/farp/metal2/Reflective2.htm ) will get you places. Then there's atmospheric perspective and other contribuants to look into.

If you have access to a radiosity renderer, have fun experimenting with that (mostly with matte and highly reflective objects to get a good idea of how surfaces react). Learn what is the difference between diffuse lighting and specular lighting and how to approximate values, bounce light, and reflections. I suggest learning a bit of 3D, it will make you more aware of certain things, such as surface normals, which are the basics to all shading, reflecting and refracting solutions.

I doubt there's a "Lighting for Dummies" book out there that will teach anyone this stuff in 2 weeks. Just take the time to really look around, and solve your lighting problems through long thinking and analysis.

Good luck,
frost.

[ May 20, 2001: Message edited by: Frost ]

[burn0ut]

theres accually a art for dummies book... saw it at barnes n noble.

[Frost]

(eww!)