Been making digital art for 5 years and just now realizing most of my renders are overcomplicated

A buddy named Dave who works at a game studio told me my lighting setups had way too many sources last week, and after stripping it down to just two lights my piece actually looked better - has anyone else had that humbling moment where less was more?

2 comments

2 Comments

ryanh7716d ago

Didn't that buddy Dave used to put like 30 lights on everything before someone told him?

jennifer_west16d ago

Oh man, that's such a relatable moment! I spent like three years layering on textures and effects thinking I was being "creative" but really I was just hiding from the fact that my core shapes were weak. When I finally stripped a landscape piece back to just flat colors and one main light source, it felt naked at first but then I realized how much cleaner everything read. It's funny how we think more complexity equals more skill when really it's confidence in simplicity that shows growth. Dave sounds like a good friend to call that out, those hard truths are the best kind of help even if they sting a bit at first. Took me at least two more years after that initial realization to actually apply it consistently to my new work.