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A critique about my lighting changed everything last week
I posted a landscape piece on here and someone pointed out my light source was coming from two different directions. I had never noticed it before but once they said it I couldn't unsee it. So I went back and re-did the whole piece with just one light source and the difference is night and day. Has anyone else had one piece of feedback that completely changed how you approach shadows?
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matthewross8d ago
It's actually not always about having just one light source. In outdoor scenes you can easily have two light sources if you're dealing with a sunset painting where the sky is lit from one side and the ground is catching a reflection off a building or water. That's called bounce light and it's totally legit. The key isn't always one source but knowing which source is dominant and having a clear hierarchy. I've seen people obsess over this rule and end up with flat looking landscapes because they killed all the natural secondary light that makes a scene feel real. Just something to keep in mind as you keep practicing, it's more about intention than strict rules.
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the_andrew7d ago
and that's the thing that bugs me about how people talk about art rules in general. it's like everyone wants to turn everything into a checklist instead of actually looking at what's in front of them. i see it all the time with photography too, people get so hung up on the rule of thirds or leading lines that their photos end up looking like stock images. no soul, no personality. you're right that bounce light is real and it matters, but the bigger issue is people treating rules like they're laws of physics when they're just shortcuts for beginners. once you know why the rule exists you should be breaking it constantly. i'd rather see a painting that feels alive with a messy light setup than something technically correct that looks dead.
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