How light source and value can affect
an illustration
article and main artwork made by Azahraa Suliman 806
Importance of values
Often people think that to make a good illustration, there has to be a lot of color and saturation to tell one object apart from the other. However, what really helps to separate objects is how dark or light something is.
~ we can see here that the character pops out from the background because the character’s value is much darker than the background. Since the background has a general light value, and is shown much bigger than the character, our eyes are pulled to the darker, and smaller part of the illustration, which is the girl.
~ The portrait shows one main light source that contrasts the rest of the drawing, the dark hair also adds on the importance of the light source.
No light source or contrast
The focal point of the drawing can blend in too much with the surroundings if there are no hard values that differentiate the main point and the background. Having a gradient of values that guides the eyes on what is most important is a key part in having a good illustration. Having the main object be the darkest, or the lightest helps it pop out from the scene.
~ In the illustration, we can tell that the main light source is above and slightly behind the character. The values of the character, specifically the top part, is much lighter than the bottom of the drawing. The lightest parts of the drawing are the hands, and the top of the hair, which are the parts where the light is hitting the hardest, so it's brighter than the other parts and it pulls your eyes to the face of the character.
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