That one comment about my lighting being too flat made me switch from soft boxes to a single hard source at a 45 degree angle

A guy at a local art walk said my digital portraits looked like they were lit in a doctor's office and he was totally right, so now I use one harsh light from the side and it gives way more depth, has anyone else had a critique that totally shifted their workflow?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_phoenix1mo ago

Hard disagree. Reference photos are a crutch argument is overplayed. I've seen plenty of people ditch the photo and their color goes completely muddy or they lose all sense of form. A hard light source is a tool, not a magic fix. You can make a doctor's office look like a Caravaggio if you know how to place shadows. The problem was probably your soft boxes were too close and too even, not that soft light is bad.

janab822mo ago

Had a painting instructor tell me my landscapes looked like they were painted from a postcard and she was brutal but spot on. Completely made me ditch the reference photos and start painting outside in the rain and wind. That single critique basically rewired how I see color and atmosphere now. It's funny how one honest comment can humble you into growing. Sometimes you really need someone to call out your comfort zone like that.

jennifer_mitchell532mo ago

3 weeks of painting in my backyard during a thunderstorm taught me more about light than 3 years of studio work. I started carrying a little camping stool and a canvas bag with trash bags to cover my gear when it rains. The way colors shift when clouds roll in is totally different from any photo I've ever taken. You start noticing how shadows don't stay still for more than 10 minutes and that forces you to work fast and loose. Now I keep a reference photo as a backup but I never look at it while I'm actually painting.