GFX Tutorial #2 - Lighting Tips

[jhatty8 671]

Back when I was tryharding sigs, I learned a lot of techniques about how to improve lighting, such as using the original image to find light sources and adding outlines of light to the render. However, in my opinion, those and a lot of other strats aren't really that necessary. I think it's really cool to get realistic lighting if you're on a massive canvas, i.e. a poster, but for a 400x200 or whatever size graphic, smaller details don't hold the same weight. You still can go crazy if you want to get some good results and DM me if you need help taking that step, but I'll just be focusing on the basic stuff that I pretty much do for every sig.

 

(I'm using Photoshop but go to photopea.com for the same tools)

 

 

I got a sig started and I think it's time to add some lighting. I picked a pretty basic background just for the purpose of this.

 

Tip #1 - Use your background

 

Duplicate the background layer (ctrl + j) and move it above the render. Change the blend mode of the new layer (drop-down box on the right that currently reads "Normal") to something that will accentuate the lighter parts. I typically go Lighten or Screen but you could fuck around and go Color Dodge or something else. On that layer, hit the Japan flag button (bottom right) to layer mask, make sure black is your main color on the palette, and do alt + backspace to completely fill the mask layer. That duplicate layer should be invisible now.

 

 

Switch the main color to white, grab your brush tool and put it at 0% hardness and 200-300 px give or take. I change my brush size frequently during this - a lot bigger for a big light source or smaller for specific details. To quickly alter your brush: ctrl + alt + right click and drag. Drag left to increase size, right to decrease, up to increase hardness, down to decrease. With your brush, you'll want to click (not drag) at certain spots around the render to brighten it. You kinda just play it by vibes, but I tend to lighten areas where one part of the render meets the other. For instance, where the shoulder and helmet meet, or where the torso and bottom of the sig meet.

 

 

You can change the opacity of the brush/layer to give it more or less boldness. I would probably spend more time touching it up and experimenting, but for the sake of the tutorial this looks fine. 

 

Tip #2 - Overhead lighting

 

In most cases, you'll want to add some sort of lighting coming from above the head of the render. It draws attention to where you want the viewer to look and it just looks more natural to me. You'll want to make a new layer (plus button in bottom right) and drag it above the render. Get the brush tool again at 0% hardness and roughly the same size (maybe a bit smaller). For the color, I'm probably half and half on using plain white or using a color from the background, it depends on the situation and how you're feeling. Either way, position the brush so that the majority of the brush circle is in that dark gray outside of the canvas - you don't want too much bright light on the face, and click once or a few times.

 

 

I did a bit of everything - a bit of orange and blue on the respective sides of the helmet then some white coming in from the top. The effect isn't too profound, but it works. I do this exact overhead lighting in like 90% of my sigs.

 

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There you have it, hopefully this helps your future endeavors. I'm gonna be using this graphic as TPE too, so here's a before/after:

 

Start

 

Lighting

 

Finish

 

lmk what else you want to see in a tutorial

[Tetricide 682]

Dude, yes. Thank you. 

[hylands 845]

thanks hatty u da best