How To: DRAMATIC LIGHTING (Patreon)

Today I'm sharing a tutorial with you all on how to get some niiice dramatic and intense lighting in your artwork! Whether you want to heighten the tension or shine a light on something special I hope this tutorial can provide you with some tips. I'll be using the D.Va bust I drew for my OW Baroque series as the example so without further ado let's get IT!

1) Gesture sketch

I loosely draw a circle and lines to indicate where I want the head and eyes to sit on the canvas. Nothing fancy here, just get a general idea of where you want to position your figure.

2) Loose sketch

I sketch in D.Va and make sure the main elements are present. I take care with this step, but I don't spend too much time on it. Small and specific details aren't necessary at this stage. I mainly focus on her expression and pose, everything else is peripheral.

3) Flats

At this point I flat in the colors (no shading/lighting) and determine the general light source with gradient layers set to Multiply. I don't prioritze precision during this stage. I focus on capturing the overall feeling I want to convey. I want her face to be the center of attention and to do so I put everything else in shadow. I have a secondary light source coming from the bottom of the canvas to accentuate her outline and help her stand apart in the foreground. In doing so, I feel like she posesses and holds the viewer's attention through her focused stare and supporting lights. 

4) Painting and shading

Now here comes the fun part, actually painting the piece! I turn off the gradient layer for the time being so I can focus on adding dimension to D.Va on my own without the added confusion of other shadows. I use multiply layers to add shadows to her face and bring out her features such as her eyes, nose, and lips. I sculpt out the shadowed parts such as her cheekbones and hairline, preserving the lighter parts that are raised such as the cheeks, chin, and forehead.

I move onto the hair next and add in shadows with the same way I did the face (using multiply layers). If you want cleaner and sharper edges, something I particularly like when it comes to coloring hair, try using the lasso tool to select shapes and fill them in!

I continue to add in shadows with multiply layers. I build on the areas I've already shaded in and deepen parts of the face with cooler tones to elevate the sense of realism as well as drama.  I specifically focus on the inner parts of her hair, hairline, and inner eye area to help her face stand out and apart from the rest of her features. 

5) Gradients

Alright NOW WE'RE TALKING. NOW WE'RE PULLIN' OUT THE BIG GUNS. I bring back the gradient multiply layer I had previously turned off and BAM instant drama! Doing this creates an immediate separation between her face and the rest of her body/hair. With everything else in shadow D.Va's face becomes the center of the piece. I make sure that the secondary light source in the background doesn't compete with her face (a quick value check by desaturating the canvas helps!). I even add a slight gradient shadow toward the top of her head to help accentuate her face even further!

6) Overlay

I pop an overlay layer filled in with dark brown on top of everything to cast a yellowish hue on the canvas and tie all the colors together. I've found that using an overlay layer with digital art is the easiest way to make it look like all the colors in your piece exist in the same space. It's convenient, but make sure to balance it so it's not over-saturated (unless that's the look you're goin' for then by all means! :D)

7) Finishing touches

I add a color dodge layer around her headphones to give her electronics a subtle glow. I paint over the background to roughen it up and add texture (textured brushes really help to achieve this look!). And last but not least, I add some rim lighting on her hair to bring the foreground and background together. 

And voila! We are finished! I followed a very similar process with the other pieces in this series. 

TAKEAWAY: If you are trying to create dramatic lighting, establish one primary light source and put the rest of the piece in shadow. 

I hope this tutorial was helpful! If you want to learn more about dramatic lighting I suggest studying Rembrandt's work! He's the master of drama! 

Thank you all so much for your support and I'm wishing you a lovely start to the new week! <3

Love,

Vicki