Painting Light and Shadow: The Basics for Portraits and Characters

In this class, you'll learn how to paint portraits with light! We'll cover all sorts of lighting situations so you'll be armed with the skills to confidently render a face in tons of different lighting scenarios.

You'll discover how through observation and practice, you can train your eyes and brain to see and understand light better. Through easy to follow videos, practice exercises, and class demonstrations, you'll discover how you can render light on your subjects.

If you're an artist and lighting your characters has been a confusing struggle, then this is the class for you. You'll learn the basics of lighting that can lead you toward great picture making!

If you'd like to learn how to draw portraits and characters first, these two courses will help get you started! Then jump into class and start painting with light!

Start Drawing: Techniques for Pencil Portraits

Design a Female Character: Sketching Portraits with Pencils

• Introduction
• Terms and Ideas
• Planes of the Head
• Skin Tones
• Light Sources
• Lighting Angles
• Blending Techniques
• The Smaller Forms of the Face
• More Lighting Effects
• Using References
• Class Project
• Lighting a Character Demo
• Stylized Portrait Demos
• Realistic Portrait Demos
• Closing Thoughts