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Light Source and Your Artwork

Where is the light coming from is critical for your artwork.

Where is your light source coming from in your artwork.
Where Is Your Light Source

Knowing where the light is coming from in your artwork is critical for it to have form and perspective.  This video explains how having a consistent light source will improve your artwork.

When painting in the studio from photos, from life or from your imagination you must know where the light is coming from in the artwork itself.  It needs to show up consistently in your artwork.

If the light is coming from the left your highlights are on the left of everything and your shadows are on the right of everything.  Your eye needs it to be that way to read correctly.  Otherwise your painting will look off and it may be difficult to tell why.

Perspective depends on visual cues like highlights and shadows and if on one subject the shadow is on the left and on one it’s on the right, the perspective will look wonky but the reason might not immediately appear.

In my Full Blown Art Course I taught a class on perspective and I had a highlight on the wrong side and it just didn’t read right.  When I finally realized what I had done, I shot another video to go with that lesson to explain why where the highlights and the shadows go are so important for the perspective of the painting to be achieved.

I hope you enjoy this video and if you did, please click that thumbs up button and subscribe to my channel.  Tell me your Aha moment from the video in the comments.  All those things help the channel grow and help more people.  Share if you know someone who is a beginning painter and would enjoy this.

Thanks a bunch and let’s paint together real soon.

If you’re a beginning painter and would like to really begin to move the needle on your artwork, you need to attend my FREE 10-day Beginning Painter Bootcamp.  I explain all about it in a blog post.  Click the button to learn more and sign up.