A friend told me my digital art looked flat, and it clicked

I was showing a friend a character portrait I spent a week on, and she said the colors felt too safe and the lighting was even. She suggested I pick one strong light source and push the shadows way darker. I tried it on a new piece, using a single orange lamp as the main light. The contrast made the whole scene feel real and moody. Has anyone else gotten a simple tip that fixed a big problem in their art?

2 comments

2 Comments

ryan_kim6311d ago

Wait, you spent a whole week on that first piece? That's brutal. I'd be so mad hearing that after all that work. But man, that orange lamp trick sounds awesome. Makes total sense though, real light isn't all clean and even. That's a killer tip.

harper_wells11d ago

Totally get that! My teacher told me to stop outlining everything in black. Started using darker colors for edges instead. It made my stuff look way less like a coloring book.