Lighting is a fundamental element in the composition of an illustration, as it presents details about the context of the work and provides aesthetic value to it. For this reason, it is crucial to understand the theory behind lighting and understand how it influences color. My job is to give you a little information and some advice that can help you shed light on your creations.

 

To illuminate an illustration, it is necessary to take into consideration the following elements that affect its creation:

• Elcolor

  • CompositionContext

  • The tools used

    • Layer configuration

The color

Color is a phenomenon related to light, which has three qualities, luminosity (clarity of the color), saturation (how opaque the color is) and hue (the color itself). Each one can influence how the type of lighting affects the color or the type of light that can provide a certain color. For this reason, it is important to know the color relationships that may exist and how these can be implemented in illustrations.

 

The first thing to take into consideration is that black and white are not considered colors, but rather the absence and presence of light or color. This means that it is not recommended to use them to apply lights and shadows to a drawing. It is recommended to use a color scheme to find pairs of tones that can be used to generate contrast and with this, illuminate and darken a color.

 

There are several color schemes, but we will talk about the three fundamental ones:

• Triad

• Analogs

• Complementary

To help you, Clip Studio offers default palettes that you can take advantage of, with color variants that play with their different qualities. Go to the “window” option at the top of your workspace and enable the “Color Set” option.

Illustration context

As I mentioned at the beginning, lighting is directly related to the context of the work; it can determine the use of colors, the type of layer and the application of the light areas of the characters. It is necessary to take into account the following elements.

                        + The point of light and shadow: This is important to locate the points of illumination and darkness, whether because it is being illuminated by the moon or a lamp.

              + The setting or environment: This, in addition to determining the lighting points, can influence the choice of colors.

                                                      + The type of light: Whether it is natural or artificial, personally it helps me choose tones and the saturation of the light towards the character. For example, an artificial light like Christmas requires colors of higher saturation and luminosity, while a moonlight is dimmer and has colors of low saturation and luminosity.

Layer Settings

The type of layer can determine a different reaction in the three qualities of color, including its transparency. These configurations can benefit specific environments and lighting contexts, which is why it is always necessary to know how the color behaves.

Combination modes that can be used to apply light:

• ClearSoft

+StrongLight

• Intense light

• Differentiation

Note: Personally, I prefer to use 'Soft Light' to apply shadows, rather than highlights.

Tool Choice:

Depending on the intensity you want to achieve and the drawing style you use, the tool with which the lights will be applied will be chosen. Personally, I use the “polyline” tool (both the one found in shapes and the tool of selection) to apply the points of greatest presence of the light and I blur them with the “soft eraser” or the “blur” tool. You can also use the “airbrush” tool for dim lights or those that require greater color mixing.

Application of what has been learned

As a first point let's define the context. The character will find himself in a nighttime environment illuminated by floating lamps; By holding one of the lamps, you will have an important point of light close to your face and hands; It is a type of natural light since they are illuminated thanks to a candle.

Second, let's determine the color of the lights, as the "base" colors are cold and blue toned, we will choose warm colors and orange tones for the lighting of the character. Using a complementary and harmonious color scheme. For shadows, a low-light blue tone will be used.

As a third point, a “Strong Light” layer is used for the highlights, since the saturation and brightness that it provides to the colors is required, and a “Soft Light” layer is used for the shadows, which do not require greater saturation and opacity.

 

Finally, the lights will be applied with the lasso, since they are intense due to the proximity of the light point and the character, in the same way the shadows will be intense. All of the above giving the following result.

As a personal choice I emphasize the light areas, applying color with the airbrush in the bright spots. The composition remains as follows:

These are some of the recommendations that can be useful when it comes to giving light to your illustrations, remember that drawing is a free and experimental discipline, for that reason you should not take the advice as strict rules and on the contrary take them as reference and find your own style. Express yourself and enjoy the creative process!