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Description
PLEASE READ THIS DESCRIPTION! VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION!

Skip to the end for better tutorials than this one, but I want to give some context here.

I sometimes get asked about my lighting, and so last year I made this tutorial. I honestly found it a little lacking, and I chose not to post it. I don't think there are errors, but I get paranoid. I also worry that my writing may be vague or confusing.

That being said, I have a little bit of attention today, so I want to highlight this concept and help other artists improve. Here are some tutorials that I've found that should be helpful. Remember to practice with studies from real life examples! Still lifes with objects from around your house will help you learn these basics and how the values should relate between objects of different colors and values (lights and darks), as well as how far objects are from a light source. I recommend starting in black and white. Color can be a complicated subject, and trying to juggle too many new things at once can be discouraging. I don't want to say beginners shouldn't ever do color, especially because I'm not an educator and I don't know, but don't neglect black and white!

I recommend looking for more tutorials and lessons on your own too, as well as asking for criticism and reading critiques of other people's art! Look for these concepts. Tutorials and critiques you find/receive may have insights you hadn't thought of for issues these tutorials don't address. Trying to piece together solutions to those problems is often just reinventing the wheel.

Anyway here are the better tutorials.

Articles:
Improve Your Artwork by Learning to See Light and Shadow by Monika Zagrobelna on tutsplus.com
This article goes in depth talking about lighting and shading, as well as atmospheric perspective. It has some helpful diagrams showing how light moves around a space, and addresses some pitfalls to avoid.

Videos:
Lighting Fundamentals for Digital Painting by Jesus Conde
This is a half hour video discussing basic lighting, as well as different kinds of lighting and how they affect different forms.

Shading Light and Form - Basics by Proko
This is a 7 minute video which discusses the areas of light and uses a live reference to help you see , which is very helpful! Proko gives an assignment here , which should be helpful in practicing these concepts.

I hope this helps someone, and I hope I didn't bore anyone too badly with my rambling.

Description
PLEASE READ THIS DESCRIPTION! VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION!

Skip to the end for better tutorials than this one, but I want to give some context here.

I sometimes get asked about my lighting, and so last year I made this tutorial. I honestly found it a little lacking, and I chose not to post it. I don't think there are errors, but I get paranoid. I also worry that my writing may be vague or confusing.

That being said, I have a little bit of attention today, so I want to highlight this concept and help other artists improve. Here are some tutorials that I've found that should be helpful. Remember to practice with studies from real life examples! Still lifes with objects from around your house will help you learn these basics and how the values should relate between objects of different colors and values (lights and darks), as well as how far objects are from a light source. I recommend starting in black and white. Color can be a complicated subject, and trying to juggle too many new things at once can be discouraging. I don't want to say beginners shouldn't ever do color, especially because I'm not an educator and I don't know, but don't neglect black and white!

I recommend looking for more tutorials and lessons on your own too, as well as asking for criticism and reading critiques of other people's art! Look for these concepts. Tutorials and critiques you find/receive may have insights you hadn't thought of for issues these tutorials don't address. Trying to piece together solutions to those problems is often just reinventing the wheel.

Anyway here are the better tutorials.

Articles:
Improve Your Artwork by Learning to See Light and Shadow by Monika Zagrobelna on tutsplus.com
This article goes in depth talking about lighting and shading, as well as atmospheric perspective. It has some helpful diagrams showing how light moves around a space, and addresses some pitfalls to avoid.

Videos:
Lighting Fundamentals for Digital Painting by Jesus Conde
This is a half hour video discussing basic lighting, as well as different kinds of lighting and how they affect different forms.

Shading Light and Form - Basics by Proko
This is a 7 minute video which discusses the areas of light and uses a live reference to help you see , which is very helpful! Proko gives an assignment here , which should be helpful in practicing these concepts.

I hope this helps someone, and I hope I didn't bore anyone too badly with my rambling.