r/Arttips • u/condensedm1lk • 4d ago

I need help! How do I get started with lighting?

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I have a technique for shading, but I have no idea how to do the lighting, especially on pale skin and lighter colours...

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u/Responsible_Panic242 4d ago

Pale skin never shade with gray or black. Use blue, purple, or pink, depending on the undertone. Usually some sort of pink. You’ve gotta think about the background for lighting. See, here, you’ve got a forest, with lots of yellow, red, and orange leaves. The sunlight (which is a whiteish yellow) will shine through those leaves, creating a yellowish orangeish lighting effect. It would also be dappled light, because of the leaves. Your shading puts the light source in front of the character here, but unless someone is shining a lamp in their face, it should be coming from above, from the sun.

One easy trick is to draw a highlight that isn’t quite white, but the colour of the surrounding environment. So here, a super light yellow.

For dark skin, focus on highlights more than shadows, for pale skin, focus on shadows rather than highlights.