How To Avoid Flat Lighting In Your Art

There is another way to think about lighting, letting each component of light's energy have it's own space to shine, that will make your art more beautiful and engaging.
Learn more at www.lightingmentor.com

[@j_fenrir]

I love that no matter what part of art you're learning, it all comes back to _egg_

[@zephyrartch]

The 2D artists version of the "blender donut"

[@kyliewatts5830]

😂

[@DJPastaYaY]

Trueeeee@@zephyrartch

[@NewStarNutrition]

😂

[@SulkyK]

The egg is just a beautiful simplified version of abstract concepts of lighting

[@violama]

The fact that even he took care of dynamic light within his own video 😭❤️

[@lizs.7505]

i’ve always wondered why film grabs always have this specific look to them even when the creative direction is so diverse, great explanation!

[@julianaalcantara3595]

Odun

[@Nevarek_]

A lot of work is done below the line that goes unnoticed.

[@dagobject]

As a lighting artist myself this simple phrase that "Beauty exists when you can see the energy of each of the components of light" - blew my mind. So simple yet powerful idea.

[@Foervraengd]

A year or so ago I did a painting of barbie in front of a computer, I rendered the lighting to resemble early 2000's digital cameras with flash, you know the kind that makes anyone look unappealing. It was the biggest challenge I've put myself in so far, because every inch of my body wanted to add more color and dynamic light and rim light and all the juicy stuff haha. Once you get good at dynamic light it's hard to go back lol

[@humanharddrive1]

I expect an intentional flash look becoming big in 2024, mark my words

[@arioctober]

I want to see that painting so bad!!!

[@iprobablyhaveapoint]

Puhlease let me look at the results!!

[@SofieArts]

Oh well that's good. Harder to forget or un-skill ig? x)

[@batburger0120]

i showed this to my highschool art teacher and she liked it so much she showed it in several of her classes. thank you for this free extremely helpful content!!

[@wenofzen9139]

My word... you are the real deal. I am a poor, autistic artist. If I had the money, I would go to your course in a heartbeat! I honestly can't thank you ENOUGH from the depths of my heart for putting up these videos. I have been a HUGE fan of PIXAR and noticed the lighting work for YEARS. I am not even kidding. I pay attention to those things as a part of my autism. Even as a baby I looked a lights all the time. In fact, my first words as I reached up to touch a light bulb as my father held me was "Light Hot!" I don't watch much animation because it does nothing for me visually. I have to experience the art of light to enjoy it. Pixar always captured my senses as I watched because of the lighting in the animation. I hope you read your comments because I want you to know how wonderful of a brain and eye you actually have. You may never be known in the way the old masters were because there are so many artists in our lifetime, but you are right up there with the best of them in talent. And to share that talent and train others... well that speaks volumes about who you are as a soul. Thank you for being alive and on our planet. You ROCK in many beautiful dynamic rainbow colors!!!!

[@LightingMentor]

Wow, thank you for the very kind words! That means a lot and I am so glad you are a fellow lover of light. If you could send a direct message to me and my business partner on our website we'd love to give you access to one of our courses www.lightingmentor.com/contact-us

[@wenofzen9139]

@@LightingMentor Thank you so very much. I am thrilled!

[@kyliewatts5830]

What a lovely reply.... I'm so glad you get to do a course. The world seems to be going nuts atm but I still believe there is so much good between us

[@Dichete]

lol same @@albertobalsalm8647

[@twotruckslyrics]

im autistic and goshh tbh for me its cubes and shiny stuff. i have so many files FILLED with doodles of cubes on different perspectives or with neon colors and also sparkles 😅

[@8leggedsquirrel521]

"Hi! Enough of that... Let's get into it." I appreciate this way of starting a video

[@littlebighead4482]

the fact we're getting this content for free is just amazing, thank you so much

[@tofulosophy]

My primary medium is photography but light is light and I am learning so much! Thanks for these awesome videos!

[@shredd5705]

Good lighting is everything in visual arts. For example, when an old video game (with a graphic engine that is outdated by modern standards) has good graphics that people still appreciate, it's often because of lighting. They simply chose the right colors for light, which makes it look better than the old engine would let you assume. For example Battlefield 1 is still the best looking Battlefield in my books and one of best looking games ever, even when it's 7 years old

[@samreevesartist]

You have such a great way of explaining concepts--maybe even concepts we already know--but in such a way that the ideas transform from mere knowledge into tools. Before, I knew these techniques should be used, but I might not have been able to look at a flatly lit image and know the light was too flat. Now, I think I would see it immediately. Thank you!

[@gabrielbarriere]

short answer : install optifine then settings, video settings -> dynamic light : fancy

[@gabrielbarriere]

(obviously a minecraft joke, but interesting vid as always !)

[@SofieArts]

You did that with your pfp too, I see x)

[@redfiend]

Light is fucking awesome!

[@AbhishekKumar-hq3di]

This video is the turning point in my life as an artist. I needed it. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge 🎉❤

[@antares3030]

Huh! I actually didn't know about the negative fill. Great info, thank you!

[@hallie678]

A couple days ago, i started binging all the content on this channel. Im so happy theres another upload!

[@Ilov534]

This is one of the only channels i have notifications on. thank you for making these videos jeremy. ❤

[@dameanvil]

00:11 🌟 Static shapes (perfect circles, squares) are not inherently bad, but lack dynamism. Adding perspective can infuse energy and dynamism into them. 01:16 🖌️ Dynamically posed characters with flowing energy and offset shoulders/hips convey more life and energy than statically posed ones. 01:57 🎨 Apply the concept of static vs. dynamic to lighting. Static lighting can be flat and lacks energy, while dynamic lighting brings life and depth to the scene. 02:52 🌍 Most of the real world has static light, but beauty emerges when each component of light (direct, ambient, bounce, etc.) has its own distinct presence. 03:49 🌈 Dynamic light encompasses various elements like direct light, ambient occlusion, specular highlights, indirect reflections, subsurface scattering, and fog. 04:18 🥚 Static lighting on a photograph of an egg is even, but dynamic lighting introduces clear distinctions between lit and shadowed areas. 05:28 📷 Dynamic lighting in photography involves positioning light sources strategically to create defined areas of light and shadow, adding depth and shape to the subject. 06:11 🧙‍♂️ Dynamically lighting characters like Dobby the house elf reveals their form and shape better than flat, even lighting. 07:50 🖼️ Rendered examples show how adding bounce light, subsurface scattering, and other components make the lighting dynamic and give depth to the image. 08:43 🌅 Painting clouds with dynamic light creates a more appealing and visually interesting scene compared to static, evenly lit clouds. 09:52 🐀 Comparing static and dynamic lighting in a Ratatouille scene illustration, dynamic lighting adds depth and interest to the artwork. 10:49 🎥 Examples from films highlight the use of dynamic lighting to bring out character features and separate them from the background. 12:56 🎬 Last of Us TV series scenes showcase dynamic lighting, utilizing bounce light and indirect light to create distinct and appealing character illumination. 14:23 🌟 Thoughtful use of dynamic lighting can separate characters from the background, making the overall composition more engaging. 15:47 🌟 Dynamic lighting can be utilized to create contrast and separate elements in a composition, enhancing the overall visual appeal.

[@FootpathFriends]

Always get so excited to see a new video from you!! Fantastic and densely useful as always!

[@HalfWarrior]

The lighting on you in this video is quite nice too.Thanks Jeremy!

[@jb93lonewolf73]

Thank you for breaking down light in an easy to understand and applicable way, i was easily able to take a look at my current art project and see where my lighting needs to be more dynamic to make it more appealing to the eye. Ive watched a lot of lighting tutorials but this was the first that really opened my eyes to it

[@beitheleaf8221]

This helps so much! Didn’t learn this in art classes before. Mind is blown and buzzing with ideas and curiosity! Thank you ❤

[@laila970]

Exceptional! Thank you, you helped clear up a lot of areas for me. Have a lovely day and may the light shine for you!

[@BrassPetals3Voices]

Your videos are equally informative and soothing. You are the Bob Ross of light!

[@lilith_inthesea]

Great video, filled with so much helpful information and insights. Excited to try this out in my next painting exercises. Thank you so much!

[@DaddioDraws]

Such a great video. Kinda mind blowing how much goes into each painting even a simple egg.

[@jessikacaroline72]

I never heard about this concept before. I will certainly study it. Thank you very much, you're a fantastic artist!

[@marcellasmith8942]

Thank you so much for your teachings!

[@Leon-qh9br]

I love these explanations life changing to progress further as a artist

[@mencot89]

This improved my understanding of lighting. Im so bad at it. Thank you! I love the film study. It's true that a good film all are dynamically lit that's how it communicates the mood of the scene and is pleasing to the eye. It's an underrated technique in any imaging or filming

[@danguthrie198]

Thank you for these tutorials. They have helped me so much..

[@rahulgupta4234]

You're real mentor. Name is really accurate. Great deal of understanding from small video. Thanks a lot🌟🌟

[@alfredmanzano680]

I look forward to all your videos 🙌🏼

[@artofmenezes]

This video is a masterclass by itself!

[@Roke1222]

Congrats on the channel growth!

[@Jonanation]

This was really helpful! Thank you!

[@joycewhitney1953]

Thank you, great lesson, great teacher!

[@user-wt5if6rx8m]

I'm shocked I didn't know this channel before. Immediately subscribed, what a great video. Very insightful.

[@joannawardell7696]

Thank you for your discussion of the various ways you described lighting effects. Maybe there are new videos in store for discussing each one! Will be referencing this again. Thank you!

[@gillbaker1310]

Finally a new video! Thanks Jeremy 😁 great as always

[@anjelomichelangelo7726]

I am so happy to found you and your channel. always interested in color key creators but couldn't find much info. You are doing great work 💛

[@anuhou4329]

An excellent and invaluable study of value . Million thanks

[@sinotoakoto1502]

I'm learning a lot from your videos! also dobby staring right through my soul

[@SWORLD1991]

Thank you so much for this. Your videos are so helpful ❤.

[@SebastianTinajero]

This video was such a joy to watch

[@TRUEbASNER]

Always an insightful and entertaining watch!

[@friendlyneighborhoodartist]

i wish you would have shown more ideas or ways to be accessible to some light sources that are dynamic. like where do you find ideas for dynamic lighting?

[@KaterynaM_UA]

usually the environment gives you all the direction you need. Pay more attention to the background!

[@friendlyneighborhoodartist]

@@KaterynaM_UA sometimes I have a hard time with that :/

[@Ellie-fq4zn]

hi jeremy! ive always struggled at coming up with lighting compositions and was wondering if you could make a video about it. your videos so far have been a pure treasure and helped me a lot with understanding lighting and light types, i personally find the approach from film and cinematography the easiest to understand cause it gives me clear terms and tools to use! (like key lights, fill lights, rim lights, etc) i get the answer to my question is a big "depends on what youre going for" since theres a lot of solutions to the general problem, but i thought id ask anyhow just in case you might have some wise words on it! many thanks for sharing!

[@Bubleone1]

Jeremy, Hi!! my daughter shared this video with me and it's helped me so much, thank you !! I really appreciate your tips!!

[@minimalfun]

Absolutely amazing! Invaluable tips, really really awesome.

[@stevenmcleanart]

Great video, Jeremy.

[@nicoleweddepohl]

Thank you so much. I will make it more dynamic. 😊

[@xSkylla_]

Your videos are so helpful!! Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us :]

[@theturkishprince]

I like how you arranged the lighting in the scene you're narrating the video from. Very dynamic ! Haha.

[@tomslaterdesignillustratio4391]

Excellent content as always!

[@humanharddrive1]

I love your explanation

[@kin8940]

thank you for this!

[@febaufavour2340]

This is an amazing tutorial.

[@raraku5722]

Thank you for your videos.

[@Adam-bp7og]

question from a novice: for someone starting out with zero skills with a goal of becoming a great all around artist would you recommend someone start with focusing on learning to sketch/draw first to learn how to draw the right proportions/perspective or focus more on painting with more focus on color and light?

[@dnvnino]

You shouldn't focus too much on any specific skill, try to improve gradually by incorporating everything you've learnt in your drawing. For sketch/anatomy/composition I would recommend moderndayjames and Marc Brunet and for color/lighting/render you might watch Marco Bucci, Bo Chen, Rinotuna

[@yasminmagalhaes4309]

Such great concepts shared here!! 💥💥💥

[@samscorgie3484]

Wow you are amazing :0 incredibly talented both at art and teaching! Thank you for making these!

[@Shakabrah44]

So insightful, you explain everything so well and explore such neat concepts! I feel like I'm back in college again ^-^

[@OTTERSandKNIVES]

I was planning on setting up a lighting room for doing studies, any recommendations you might have for colors to start with? was going to go with orange and blue lights as well as natural lighting. I'm very new to color and studying light has helped me dig into it! I love watching your videos btw! I've been sharing them like mad!

[@Nevarek_]

I would advise you to think of what colors the bounce light will end up being, and discovering what colors you can push out of it.

[@e.katarina21]

Thank you so much! ♥

[@dbsmoker]

Freakin awesome thank you Jeremy! 🙌🏻

[@lenavoyles526]

This adds a whole new appreciation to “golden hour”. Usually this is described as a desirable time to shoot because of the color and softness of the light, period. But golden hour makes it much easier to get all of the qualities of light described in this video from direct sunlight. The angle of the sun, for example, makes it possible to place the sun behind the subject, creating very dynamic light from “broad daylight” that would otherwise present a very flat picture.

[@TunaIRL]

Exactly! Thats how I've seen golden hour. I'd look at something and wish the sun was lower so the lights and shadows create more exaggerated forms

[@ameermuhammad3463]

Love your videos.

[@ontiveros7969]

great video and excellent explanaition !

[@user-by7xq7rw3h]

Thank you so much 🌹

[@JasonKey3D]

great examples!

[@uuuushun]

Thxxx a lot for your tutorials on principles of color❤❤and are there any more details on lighting plzzz it’s like magic

[@johncollado1151]

Thank you for a very informative video.

[@Cherokee_Turner]

Love this!!! Thank you so much for all the information you are giving! Would love to get a critique from you if you have the time.

[@TheGoldenFrost]

Great video ! 🙇

[@navneetyadav3941]

Thank you!!

[@Otaridae]

thanks for sharing this interesting ideas. Do you have any suggestion on what exercise we can do to practice dynamic light? thank you

[@nourfarouq886]

thank you!!

[@song4night]

great information!

[@darktanookie]

Thank you so much, this is again very enlightening (hehe). Also, may I use your skull pictures as a practice reference Picture?? The sub suface lighting from inside the skull looks so dramatic and cool!

[@jankragelj]

great video! Keep em coming :)

[@sylasblack3459]

Thank you for these videos. I've been struggling with lighting dynamics as I've been working to up my game. Love the name drops, I'm a big fan of Pixar. By proxy, I guess I'm a fan of you too. I'll never watch Ratatouille the same again.

[@dailydoodle42]

If someone asks what makes a good reference to study Im gonna link them this video

[@valhazlife]

very nice!!!

[@analopes7911]

great tips!!

[@KmiiVC]

i admit i went in blind so when you just casually mwntioned you had worked on Ratatouille i was taken aback for like 2 seconds. thanks for this video !

[@someone3011]

this video is so inspiring!!! :D

[@jmuscataquarelles]

Thank you

[@Alkesh-dw5yk]

Very good explanation man

[@fatemazayed4875]

amaaaazing

[@julianaalcantara3595]

First time watching something about this

[@amado7760]

Awesome !

[@noahsnerdpalace7188]

Very informative video, thank you very much:)

[@wydua2049]

"let's look at some photograpy. Here's an egg" idk why it made my laugh

[@2peter5-8]

thank you

[@selbie]

Dynamism is certainly a product of combining the core artistic elements like Light (aka Tone), but using the combined term 'dynamic light' seems a bit confusing. The term 'dynamic' would make more sense in the context of how well the tonal range of light can help steer the viewer's attention. The examples in this video explain how DEPTH is enhanced by lighting to create more DYNAMISM, but seems to skip over how the other elements in each example like composition of the scene, the shapes, lines, colours and textures are given energy by light to guide the viewer's eyes around the scene. Light is the transformation of energy - so it can either emanate from a source, or be captured by a mass, but it is not dynamic on its own. It needs the other artistic elements to give it flow.

[@milagroslizarraga4606]

Hi, do you think I should study light even if I'm a beginner? I'm just starting to draw but I really would love to practice painting

[@j_fenrir]

Of course! Studying is how you learn! If you don't study then you won't improve. That being said, there are many elements of art, so avoid overwhelming yourself with everything at once. To make these exercises beginner friendly, isolate the element you want to study. Being able to focus your efforts means you can do more repetitions, which helps you learn faster! Combining all these elements is where art becomes advanced, so don't get discouraged if things don't work out when you try it! These seemingly "boring" exercises are the reason we can create exciting things. Plus... they can totally be fun if you're creative enough :D

[@user-rf1ob3wr3f]

I think Jeremy offers beginner courses and workshops and mentorships on his website that might help you learn!

[@Twiddle_things]

Yup! Just don't push yourself too hard, or the opposite, push yourself too little. Art is usually fun, and we all have bad art days :) study on some days, and fun on others! If you ever look at someone's art and feel jealous or insecure, remember: we all start somewhere. We all start drawing crudely proportioned stick figures, and that's a-OK. Say "I will draw/paint like that one day" instead of "that's so good and I am so bad" Hope my mid flu 1 am "i wish i knew this as a beginner" ramblings are comprehensive haha

[@Thesamurai1999]

I’m able to do dynamic lighting and it does make everything easier and more appealing. However, I’d like to get good at making static lighting interesting. I wanted to ask you a question, do you think Ruan Jia has static lighting? His faces often has extremely small nuances, yet executed so well. It’s nuances like that, that really encapsulates me. Would love to hear your thoughts on this :d

[@LightingMentor]

I personally think Ruan Jia has very dynamic light in his illustrations. Dynamic does not mean high contrast, it just means each light source has it's place to shine. All of his work usually has clear direct light and bounced light, it's just all very low key, meaning it is very soft and does not have a lot of harsh darks next to harsh whites. I find that high key lighting is the easiest to create, as light sources and contrast are strong. Also hard shadows are easier for your artists too. But correct soft shadows that do not look flat and still have directionality are something that takes more finesse to master. I suggest you study large soft light sources and how they shadow to get a similar look to Ruan Jia. I hope this helps. Great question!

[@Thesamurai1999]

@@LightingMentor Yeah exactly! It’s that softness, yet convincing depiction of form that I wish to achieve but I’ve struggled with it for quite some time… I guess I’ll just have to keep studying and pushing through, after all Ruan Jia has been practicing it for decades. Thanks for taking your time answering c:

[@arioctober]

Pun intended, this video was incredibly enlightening!! Thanks 🥰

[@Metal-Spark]

This is an amazing video, really well made and you're great at explaining all these concepts. I'm a little confused about what's causing the subsurface scattering effect in the skull at around 6:20 though. My understanding of SSS is that it's the light penetrating your skin and bouncing off the blood vessels inside, so when it finally escapes it creates that warm glow effect. Like when you hold your hand up to the sun or see someone backlit as the light passes through their ear. I'm assuming the light in the skull is also getting trapped in there somehow and bouncing around, but where's the orange colour coming from? There's no blood or skin and it's sitting on a white cloth.