Saw a digital painting go from 'meh' to 'wow' in 3 hours on Twitch yesterday

I was watching this artist on Twitch and she started with this flat sketch of a forest scene. Honestly, it looked like something I could draw, which is saying something because I can barely stick figure. Then she added lighting and shadow work, and the whole thing popped like crazy. The difference was just adding those warm sunset tones, and it completely changed the mood. Has anyone else noticed how much lighting can save a piece?

3 comments

3 Comments

graym4929d agoTop Commenter

Wonder what exact techniques she used for the lighting though. Was it a soft brush on a new layer set to screen mode or something more specific like a color dodge layer? I've seen so many tutorials where they just say "add warm tones" but never explain the actual layer setup or brush settings. The mood shift from flat to dramatic is insane once you figure out how to use rim lights and bounce light. Was she painting in a specific program like Procreate or Photoshop, because the brush choices matter a ton for getting that glow effect right.

the_sean29d ago

Wait, isn't screen and color dodge basically the same thing in most programs? I always thought screen was just the safer version that doesn't blow out the colors as fast. But yeah, you're right that tutorials skip the real setup. Half the time it's just "use a warm overlay" without saying if it's soft light or hard light. The bounce light is where it gets tricky, that's usually a separate layer with a darker color picked from the environment. And Procreate vs Photoshop doesn't matter much for rim lights, it's all about that hard edge brush with low flow for the sharp reflections. The real secret is using a clipping mask so the glow only hits the character and not the background.

wesley_thompson29d ago

Man Procreate is fine but honestly half the time people overthink the brush settings. I've seen digital artists get that same glow with a basic soft round brush and layer modes, it's more about knowing where to put the light than the tool itself. Ngl the whole "what program" question gets old, like it matters.