Illustrate Color & Light III: Direct & Reflected Light

Welcome to Direct & Reflected Light, the third class in this three-part series, Understanding Color & Light. This third class covers the concepts and physics of direct and reflected light as they impact illustration and objects you want to capture in your work.

The skills in this class will allow you to render light from your imagination and capture realism. Once you've explored, understood, practiced, and applied these skills, you will have a huge advantage over those who depend exclusively on photo references. 

Whether you're looking to expand your existing work in digital illustration, or you've never considered Photoshop for illustration and are just feeling inspired, this series is perfect for taking your work to that next level.

Throughout this three-part series, we'll cover everything you need to know to add value, color, and light to your scenes & cartoon character designs using Photoshop. By the end, you'll feel not only comfortable with Photoshop's techniques and tools, but also excited by their many possibilities. We will start with a simple monochrome scene, using just one simple light source. As we move forward, we'll add different light sources, colors, and materials. Our final scene will include various materials that each reflect light, color & depth differently.

Also see: Understanding Color & Light I: Ambient Light & Understanding Color & Light II: Color 

What You'll Learn

In this class, you'll learn how objects and light sources work with direct & relfected light, and learn how to understand the intensity of light source and its effect on color.

• Direct lighting. How does direct lighting affect objects in your drawing?
• Light sources. How can you use color in rendering?
• Exposure. How do different exposures change lighting in the scene?
• Reflected and scattered light. How can you color light sources, and how do they work with your illustration?
• Adding objects. How can you add objects and then determine shadows and lighting around them?
• Finalizing your illustration. How can you provide polish to your final image?

What You'll Do

Deliverable. You will customize a simple, digitally illustrated scene or character with a light source, capturing direct and reflected light.

Description. You will build on your project from the other classes, adding light that brings depth and value to your work.

Specs. By the end of this third and final class, you'll have a finished scene as well as a solid understanding of the power of light in digital illustrations.