Light and Color by Krenz Cushart (Chinese, Eng sub)

In this course, students will gain a solid foundation in digital painting, focusing on key concepts such as the terminator line, values, color mixing, and environmental lighting. Through various assignments and projects, students will develop their skills in digital painting and learn how to create dynamic and engaging images.

Prerequisites: This course is designed for individuals who are familiar with digital art processes. While it is not required to use Photoshop, the software will be used for class demonstrations. Students should also have a basic understanding of Photoshop tools and functions, such as the brush and eraser tools.

Difficulty: This course is suitable for beginners and intermediate-level digital artists.

Objectives: By the end of this course, students will be able to:

1. Improve accuracy when determining the terminator line between light and shadow in digital paintings.
2. Create digital paintings of skin and clothes under different lighting schemes, such as sunset and evening.
3. Understand when and how to mix colors in digital painting.

Syllabus:

Lesson 1: Course Overview

• Introduction to the course objectives and syllabus
• Overview of the terminator line
• Color usage in digital painting
• Understanding different types of light in images
• Assignment: Determine the terminator line in provided reference images.

Lesson 2: The Terminator Line

• Introduction to Gestalt theory
• Concepts of Notan
• Positive and negative shapes
• Assignment: Create grayscale value study.

Lesson 3: Values

• Understanding black, white, and gray in digital painting
• Traditional art approaches
• Evaluating value contrast levels
• Assignment: Create digital painting studies that achieve the look of traditional art.

Lesson 4: Mixing Colors

• Creating contrast through HSV color sliders
• Creating subtle color shifts
• Choosing color palettes and hiding colors within colors.

Lesson 5: Environmental Lighting and Local Color

• Understanding local color of characters in an environment
• Introducing environmental light
• Color temperature shifts.

Lesson 6: Creating Layers of Depth in an Image

• Designing silhouettes and adding faux details
• Adding life to an image through atmosphere
• Overview of Ambient occlusion.

Lesson 7: Painting Objects Under Different Environmental Lighting

• Stylized lighting in 2D illustration
• Variations on key points from previous lessons
• Assignment: Add terminator lines to a base image using reference images.

Lesson 8: Final Summary

• Overview of color application
• Overview of Krenz’s artistic process.