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9 Different Lighting Scenarios You Should Master

 (1) DUAL LIGHTING:  Dual lighting is often used for theatrical purposes where lots of “impact” or drama is needed.  You will see comic artist, visual development artist and illustrators commonly favor this type of lighting.  The lighting is highly effective for this purpose but it should be noted that the use of two light sources will create a dual core shadow.  This can be challenging to navigate and requires careful study of the forms each light source is affecting.  You will usually want to make sure one of the light sources is dominant either in intensity or temperature or both.  The dominant light is often referred to as the “Key light” and the secondary light as the “Fill light.” Experiment and take note of other artist’s and how they utilize this type of lighting.

Note: I will be using two 300 watt bulbs with barn doors on both lights and a dimmer switch to allow me to manipulate the intensity of both lights until I find the effect I want!

(2) RIM LIGHTING: You will sometimes find this lighting referred to as “Edge-Lighting.”  In film you will sometimes hear this referred to as “Rim” lighting or a “Kicker” light.  This effect will often occur outdoors when the sun position is low and shinning toward the viewer.  The rim will vary according to the planes that face backward toward the light source.  This light can sometimes cause a heavenly glow around objects and is sometimes referred to as ” halation “light.

Note:  I will be using a similar lighting set up as the dual lighting or backlighting scenarios. The secondary will be used to simply add some filler light to help navigate the shadowy area of the model. 

(3) THREE QUARTER LIGHTING: Sometimes referred to as “broad lighting” This is one of the most commonly used lighting situations and is often used by fine art portrait painters.  The lights origin will be about forty-five degrees in from either the right or left side of the model.  The light will usually be located low enough to create slight illumination on both eyes.  In this type of lighting you will often fine a cast shadow off the nose creating a triangular shadow that often times will connect with the core form shadow of the cheek.

Note:  I will be using a single light source from slightly in front of my model positioned either left or right depending on the artist’s preference.  A “fill” light can be used but should be extremely subtle.  Often times natural reflected light will do the job nicely!

(4) BELOW LIGHTING: This could be considered a specialized lighting option used when drama of a magical, sinister or simply powerful nature is needed.  Many old- time pulp-fiction covers as well as horror and science fiction illustrators often employed this powerful lighting to help convey their ideas.  It should be noted that the look of our subject can be very odd due to the fact that all of the planes we commonly see in shadow from above lighting will now be reversed and as result care should be taken when designing and navigating the forms of the head, figure or any other object.

Note:  A single light source, 300watt will be positioned at a low angle.  Occasionally a secondary light from behind can add to the effect.  Remember: many of your lighting conditions you will need to set up will be a  combination of these scenarios. 

 

(5) WARM DOMINANT: In this situation we will be bathing the model in a light source that is extremely warm.  You may find that although regular incandescent bulbs will generally be considered warm I will be using a “amber bulb” that you can usually purchase at a specialty lighting store in your area.  The wattage on these bulbs will usually be around 75 watt.  Film gels can also be used if you prefer this method.  I have found the bulbs to work sufficiently for most of my class-room as well as personal needs.  Remember when using such a warm light the shadows will take on an even cooler effect.  Play around with manipulating this effect as you more comfortable with bending color to your liking.

Note:  The “Amber” bulb gives nice warmth to the model without giving the model the appearance of a fake orange tan!

 

(6) BACK LIGHTING: I seldom use this lighting but when needed for certain circumstances it can be a god send.  No pun intended but this light is often referred to as “heavenly” as the light surrounding the object, a head in this case, almost takes on a glowing effect as the surrounding edges dance along the forms.  The silhouette becomes dominant and the interior information becomes close value and requires subtlety to navigate.  Keep in mind that as the light passes through the ears they will appear almost cadmium red from the tube as you see the light shine through the heavily blood rich capillaries.  This can be a challenging but fun effect to play around with!

Note: I will sometimes step up the wattage on the bulb used  to 500watt or higher depending on the effect desired.  You can always embellish a bit when painting.

(7) NORTH LIGHTING: North lighting has long been revered by artists for its consistency and subtlety.  It has a slightly diffused quality that is very hard to duplicate with artificial lighting.  When using it the temperature of the skin will be affected by the coolness of the sky and as a result the shadows will appear warmer.  I like to use transparent red oxide or transparent maroon as a base for the shadows in these situations. 

Note: For this lighting I will use a light box placed over the model.  For many of you this will simply be too expensive of an option.  Some other options that I found work well and are very inexpensive are simple Film you can Velcro over in front of your lighting rig or get a fancy holder that attaches to the diameter of your light to hold the film.  This is nice as the light becomes very hot using such high wattage and can make the adhesive on the Velcro come loose.

(8) COLORED LIGHTING: Colored lighting is also commonly used by illustrators and fine artists.  I find it great fun and an invaluable learning tool for color understanding.  I often times will use either analogous or complementary lighting scenarios and then encourage students to push the colors to see how far you can take them before they become out of harmony.  The values will be the glue that keeps the more abstract color notes working so pay particular attention to them.  Again try to allow one of the lights to dominate the object and keep a keen eye on the planes as they bounce light off onto other planes.  Keep your wits about you and have fun.

Note: For Colored lighting situations we will use Floods lights or gels.  Again it can be a bit difficult to find high wattage colored bulbs or floods and many times you will need to look for a specialty lighting store or go online when in doubt.

 

(9) COOL LIGHTING: For this lighting I will often really push the cool light and usually use a blue flood light.  This scenario would be useful for many illustrations where the subjects are being lit by moonlight or simply cool lighting on a winter overcast day.  You can also use cool red or even pink light.  There are many options and gels also offer a wide range of options.  Always remember that these are simply spring board scenarios from which to stretch your ability to work under adverse lighting conditions to better perfect your color sensibility.

Note:  I will be using a 75 watt blue flood.   This will flood the model with very obvious cool planes that are facing the light source.  Another more advanced scenario is to use a black skinned individual.  You will find the reflective qualities of this skin type to be beautiful and offers many unique opportunities for exploring advanced color harmony.

Weekend with the Masters 2012

Jeffrey Watts-Weekend with the Masters Series Interview

Tuesday July 24th, 2012

6:00pm Pacific Time

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Life Drawing Progression

graphite life drawing ©Jeff Watts

I spent about 8 hours on this life drawing.  It was executed on a Vellum Bristol and done using graphite pencils.  We often use Charcoal and one could easily do that for these long efforts but I find using graphite to be a nice change of pace and excersises a different type of discipline.  This type of drawing is excellent for very advanced students looking to work on subtleties in their modeling of form and value control as well as allowing time for hands and feet, hair design and other more obscure aspects of drawing that often get overlooked in the 3 hour class pose.  The newer students benefit greatly by not being rushed as they struggle with observational problem solving and it is simply more relaxing.  Both quicker and longer drawing efforts are necessary when developing your foundation.   

The Encinitas Years Part 1: Westlake 2000-2007



Jeff Watts class demo

Before I start this next chapter of the Atelier’s history I would like to preface it by saying I have seen so much in the way of human behavior and have helped to cultivate so many wonderful artists who have gone on to incredible careers.  Alas if only that was always the case.  Along with the amazing relationships there have always been difficulties with complex personality types that simply do not factor into your plans for peaceful teaching, but one must put behind the trials and tribulations in the true pursuit of beauty and mastery. This is one of the ironies of life and to this day I aspire to create a truly peaceful and productive environment to study in.  I have left out the names of certain individuals during this phase as it would only serve to open up old wounds.  I felt this important to mention before moving on as it has forged my personality in so many ways.  

Erik Gist class demo

It was during this phase that a few young talented students begin to stand out as potential teachers and a new era of development and growth would begin.   They would all prove to be indispensible to the Atelier’s future success and would become my extended family of sorts.  They all were just beginning their artistic journeys but were such incredible students and people that I can’t begin to say enough great things about them.  Amongst these young talents were Ben Young, Meadow Rozelle-Ryker, Lucas Graciano and Mark Hill. It was truly a great period.  I was designing new classes and started a dual teaching program to assist in the development of new teachers from within the ranks of the Atelier.  I have yet to see this style of teaching as adding a second teacher would be too expensive of a proposition for many Ateliers.  

At the time the name Atelier had not caught on and we used it as a new way to reinvent an old method of training.  I applied to a new organization called the Art Renewal Center run by Fred Ross.  They were trying to assist getting the word out about small privately owned entities that were of exceptional merit.  At first my curriculum was a hard sale as they looked over all of the class descriptions and commented on the fact that too many of the classes utilized photos and were too illustrative.  I developed a well thought out response about the different careers and paths present day fine artists and illustrators where going to have to navigate.  Much to my excitement the reaction was a seal of approval on our entire program.  I was on my way to finally getting recognition for the successful teaching and the program I was designing. 

This was truly an exceptional growth period for the Atelier.  I was teaching full time and helping develop new tiers of teachers who were originally my understudies and now were proving instrumental in the new momentum.  The gaming industry had taken note and many of their professionals were coming in to train.  People were coming down from L.A. to see what was happening and all was quite surreal.  My ability to cultivate exceptional skills within my students was now becoming fairly commonplace.  All seemed great but the wear and tear of carrying a successful illustration career, teaching full time and trying to stay true to my fine art aspirations was starting to affect my health. 

It was at this time that I had expanded the Atelier to 3 rooms.  We had a lot of overhead and although things were good I was starting to yearn for a permanent location for the Atelier.  We now had a 13 year track record of consistent growth but not strong enough financials to purchase something.  We tried on numerous occasions but were denied.  I continued to push, grow and change the program.  We started a youth program called the Future Masters Program. It was very successful and all teachers participated.  Along with this I designed a variety of Certificate programs for students looking to navigate the some 60+ classes I had designed. 

Jeff Watts class demo

Meadow Rozelle-Ryker class demo

Many new challenges arose as I begin to work with the young talented staff of new teachers I was grooming.  Many were in their early to mid twenties and were new to the responsibilities that accompany teaching students their own age or significantly older.  I too had witnessed this and had to learn to manage successfully all of the variety of personalities and true characters one runs into in this sort of business.  This is an awkward time for the teachers as they had to compete against each other to try and fill their classes and gain a following but at the same time try to respect their fellow teachers and not sabotage their efforts.  I started to see some troublesome patterns as one of my senior teachers, whom I had let back into the school, had started to constantly undermine the other teachers as he vied to try and sway  the students over to his vision and intentions. 

This started a very difficult period of management for me as I was constantly trying to shore up the school and keep it on its original course.  It was as this time that I also made contact with an old friend from school who was very instrumental  to my growth back in my Calabasis years.  He had vanished and no one knew where he was.  I finally tracked him down and offered him my first full time teacher position and was ecstatic when he agreed.    He turned out to be very helpful to the very advanced students and teachers but did not enjoy teaching the rudimentary level students of which much of my school consisted.  This would prove to be detrimental and caused numerous problems.    This period was not all bad and as with all difficult times there are always lessons to be learned.  This phase lasted about a year and then I had to let him go.  I truly have no hard feelings towards him and hope this most talented individual finds his way.

Robert Watts class demo

Jeff Watts teaching plein air painting

After his departure it became apparent that a vacuum had been created and someone had to step into it.  This would be the senior teacher with whom I had so many previous issues.  He had long been plotting his exit but not in the professional manner you would expect from a senior employee you had not only trained from day one but also had such strong ties to all areas of the Atelier.  I will not go in-depth into all of the issues and events that transpired.   I have always held fast to my belief in Karma and it was truly time for this tumultuous period to come to an end.  I apologize if I sound a bit negative about some of these events.   I feel it is important to address this issue because it was such a long period of the Ateliers history and it established many of the qualities I now look for in potential teachers.   I am happy to say that this lead to the most joyful and solid period that the Atelier has had.  As I look back over all of the many phases and plateaus it brings back a wonderful book I have read several times.  It is titled “Mastery” by George Leonard.  It is a great read and addresses the many plateaus and trials one must face on his or her journey to mastery in any field.  I would highly recommend it as you are moving forward on your artistic path.  

Jeff Watts Illustration demo

Marty Davis teaching ecorche class

Jeff Watts assisting a student

Jeff Watts teaching

Westlake location

Jeff Watts teaching

The Early Years Part 2 (Del Mar location)

Del Mar location

I did not have a lot of time to consider the move from downtown to a new location and again I found myself with a dilemma. The only location I could find that would rent to a school would double my previous rent. I had no time to asses if the demand would be there to meet the numbers we needed.  I ended up sub-leasing a small space on Jimmy Durante Road next to the Del Mar Race Track.  It was overpriced and I had to share use of the space with a new age school.  I had only one teacher other than myself who would prove to be a detriment as he would unexpectedly leave in the middle of a term with no notification.  I was now left teaching both his classes and mine putting the total at 14 classes a week.   

Jeff teaching illustration

 As we were sharing this room with another tenant that was running a new age school we had to accommodate the other classes by moving out all of our art stages and benches.  A young student by the name of Erik Gist would assist Krista and I in taking down the entire set up and put it up before each class.   I don’t think he knows how much I appreciated this small unsolicited gesture.  The routine of tearing down and setting up the school would carry on for the next year until we moved again.  It was almost the end of the Atelier.  Erik was starting to show great promise and our friendship had slowly began to develop.  It was this kind of generosity of spirit  that I had noticed early on from Erik that lead me to believe he might become my next teacher.  He had just graduated from San Diego State University all the while working full time as a cook in an Italian restaurant and attending our Atelier.  He grew up in the same area as I did and we shared many mutual friends.  I came to have great faith in Erik and knew he would be a good fit for the Atelier.   This was one of the best decisions I made while designing and envisioning how I wanted the Atelier to develop.  I asked Erik to join me as a new teacher and he accepted.  To this day he is one of my best friends, my right hand man, and the best teacher I have had.  Teaching in this manner is extremely demanding and Erik always rose to the challenge.  This is not to play down the importance or significance of the other teachers to come.  They all had a part to play in the rich history of Watts Atelier.  I could talk about each of them for pages but I will try to keep it relatively brief as to not make this into a small novel. 

Erik M. Gist plein air painting

 

We were barely meeting our numbers so Krista took a job in the same building and swapped her pay against the rent.  She too deserves a huge amount of praise for her willingness to follow me on this crazy journey.  She has always been there to pick-up the slack in the many areas from accounting to graphic design and all the particulars that have kept this venture going.  She deserves a medal for her patience and effort.  

Jeff demonstrating illustration techniques

The school was starting to grow and word had spread to many artists/students who had always wanted to attend but were either unable or unwilling to chance the long drive to downtown when the school was on 5^th Avenue.  I knew that I could not keep on with this ridiculous regimen and would need to look for yet another space.  As I looked around I happened upon a space in Encinitas that was in very close proximity to where we lived.  Fate was smiling as the same land lord I had in Del Mar just happened to own this building as well.  He was an artist himself and an architect by the name of Herb Turner and loved the idea of us moving into this space.  I did not know at the time how lucky I was as many owners do not allow or want a school on their premises due to the many problems with parking, logistics, etc… 

Stay tuned for chapter 3 The Encinitas Years....

Robert Watts plein air demonstration

Ben Young plein air painting

 

What's on the Easel

This is my most recent studio painting.  It is a 40”X30” Oil painting titled “Old Timer” and took about two weeks to paint.   Originally I had intended for this piece to go to the Portrait Society of America Show but decided last minute to send it as my second piece for this year’s Prix de West Show in Oklahoma.  I originally shot the reference photo for this painting at the Del Mar Race Track.  I received permission from a friend to go behind the scenes early one morning where the jockeys and trainers were preparing the horses for the day’s races.  I happened upon this old gent sitting and having his morning coffee.  He looked at me rather puzzled and slightly annoyed when I asked if I could take a photo of him.  The nice thing is he simply sat there without posing at all.  Usually the person will sport a huge smile but not this guy.  I guess it’s not his first rodeo.  I am sure this old cowboy has seen a lot.  I have included some preliminary sketches, the gouache study and the tighter drawing.  This is indicative of how I often work. Generally you cannot stage these spontaneous shoots perfectly.  It does require many years of training to convincingly superimpose numerous reference shots into one painting and still make it look natural and realistic.  That is why we train so hard at the Atelier.  Hope you enjoy.

The Early Years Part 1 (Downtown San Diego)

Many of my current students often ask or are curious as to how the present incarnation of my art school came about.  When a student comes in today it may seem like the school runs as a well oiled machine and I am happy to say most of the time that is the case.  However, when I started the school or Atelier as we now refer to it, it was anything but.  I grew up with an artist father who had attended Art Center on 3^rd St. in Los Angeles and Pratt Institute in New York.  He grew up in Iowa and later found himself raising his 3 kids in San Diego.  He left school a few terms short of a degree and decided to start a freelance career in San Diego where we were all born and still reside to this day.  My father was a great influence on me growing up and still is.  I watched his career in illustration and learned so much without even realizing it by simply being exposed to it during my early years.  It was not until my late teens that I seriously contemplated starting my education toward becoming a professional artist.  My father kept in touch with friends from his L.A. days and was president of the Society of Illustrators in San Diego.  We went out to dinner with a very accomplished illustrator by the name of Thomas Blackshear and I asked him over dinner where he would attend school if he could do it over.  He mentioned a small school in the outskirts of the San Fernando Valley that he had seen some incredibly talented artists coming out of.  He did not know the name but that was enough information for my father to find what was to be the California Art Institute in Calabasas, California.  It was a very humble school run by an eccentric artist by the name of Fred Fixler.  You can look him up and find a plethora of information on him as he was very influential in training some of today’s most proficient illustrators and fine artists. 

Upon visiting the small art school (I was 18 at the time) it took no longer than seeing the student work on the walls to know this was where I wanted to train.  Now keep in mind this was a non-accredited school that was based solely on the premise that artistic skill alone would be adequate enough to support a successful career as a fine artist or illustrator.  My father was instrumental in allowing me to attend as he would be paying for it, and I started the long and arduous road to proficiency in the traditional arts.  I spent about two and half years full time at the school absorbing as much information as I could.  At the time Fred had just stepped down and a young protégée by the name of Glen Orbik took over teaching the majority of the classes I attended.  Another talented student teacher by the name of Andrew Burward-Hoy proved instrumental in my training.  Mark Westermoe, Neil Boyle and Norm Mason should also be noted as teachers of merit while I attended.  I gained amazing insight, mostly as to just how much I did not know and how long a path it was going to be.

I decided at this time to move back to San Diego to study with my father some subjects that were not really touched on at the Institute.  As money was tight at the time it was either work in the movie industry, which I had started doing, or move back in with my folks and continue intense study on my own.  I chose the later after about a year of freelance in L.A. following my studies at the Institute.  I found upon returning to San Diego that I was completely disillusioned with the instruction, or lack thereof.  I could not find any proficient programs in the area.  The teachers at the local colleges did not seem to be skilled enough to help at my level, the programs where fraught with bureaucracy and incompetence, many of the students had amazing and unjustified egos that went unchecked.   There seemed to be a false understanding that unique pseudo intellectual banter about terrible execution would somehow suffice in the professional arena.  After a short guest teacher stint at Palomar College over the summer I had to move on.  Unable to secure a permanent position due to the fact I had no degree, I decided rather that rant and rave about it I would simply start a small workshop of my own to continue studying the way I knew best.  Now remember, at this time I am about 21 years old and have no prior experience running anything.  I did however have a very intense background in competitive athletics and was confident I could design some sort of training regimen similar to what I was accustomed to that would accomplish similar results.  I have always enjoyed helping others and I too have always felt myself a bit of an underdog.  So with this I set out to change the art education topography in San Diego.  I did not have a lot of competition and was able to bumble my way through on good old horse sense and good intentions. 

At this time I met the woman who would later become my wife, Krista Elgie, and I was bar tending at night and trying to teach during the days.  It was a most humbling situation. I had about 6 students and the room was tiny.   I had to come out to see Krista when she would visit as it was too small to fit myself, the 6 students, a model and her all at the same time.  It was as humbling of an environment as you could imagine. Unfortunately I did not take photos of this room as it was not much to speak of.   In spite of all of this it was still an amazing time.  My personal and artistic growth was incredible yet the challenges inherent in running every aspect of the school became quite overwhelming and I began to get a bit disillusioned.  I began thinking of packing it up and moving on when the tenants across from my space, which was ironically rented by San Diego Comic Con, decided to move out and offered me their spot.  It was in my opinion the first real studio for my teaching career.  It had a nice ambiance and was quite a bit larger.  I could now fit about 10 to 15 students.  The images sprinkled throughout this blog post are of this room.  I really had no intention of it ever turning it into a full- fledged Atelier.  I simply wanted a place to continue studying and the camaraderie I remembered from the school I studied at.  It is so ironic that in order to have a group of friends with which to interact I would need to build an environment and teach them what I knew.  Honestly in the beginning I wasn’t the best teacher but no one had anyone with which to compare.  I was after all only 22.   It was a very innocent time and I have to say sometimes ignorance is definitely a blessing.  If I had known how difficult and arduous the path I was to take would be I probably would have thought twice and never pursued a career in teaching.  It was a steep learning curve but I slowly began to realize one of my true strengths was my love of training and the ability to multitask and prioritize the countless skill sets one must master on the way to proficiency in the arts. 

As the school matured I slowly started to see potential students that shared a similar enthusiasm for the craft.  It was at this time that I started to realize if I was to teach more advanced classes I would need to be able to free up some time by training one of my understudies to teach the more fundamental classes while I went on to create a new tier of more advanced drawing and painting classes.  The conundrum was that it took about 3 to 5 years to get a student proficient enough to possibly teach and then another 2 or 3 of assistant teaching before they could carry a class with a similar style and proficiency.  Luckily I was young and had the time to invest heavily in the few students that seemed to have potential.  The unfortunate part I would later realize was that skill was only a part of the equation and personality and other more subtle attributes would ultimately prove instrumental in the overall success of the fledgling schools teachers.  I was now in my mid twenties and Krista was starting to take on the accounting and graphic design duties which also were quite demanding.  I was working as a freelance illustrator, aspiring fine artist and teaching and running the school full time.  Again lucky to be young and full of vigor! 

It was at this time that I got married and had to begin to think about my future course of action.  I was still living with my parents and I needed to move out and start my life.   I had to decide to either keep the school running, which was barely profitable, or to move back to L.A. and take a job opportunity at DreamWorks as a visual development artist.  It was at this time that I booked a trip to Morocco to shoot reference for what was to be my first one man gallery show.  I had a lawyer working out the particulars with DreamWorks and was to sign a contract when I returned.  I had been working on this deal for over a year and decided it would be best for Krista and I.  The money would be phenomenal but I would have to be in L.A. and DreamWorks would own everything I did even outside of studio work .  The school would need to be closed.

To make a long story short while I was in Morocco I happened into a small local shop in Marrakesh where some young artisans where spinning vases and as they were spinning they would paint the most amazingly intricate patterns on them.  I was amazed at their dexterity.  When asked how much they made they answered about a dollar a day and that was all they could expect.  I thought to myself if only they could attend an art school like the one I was running at home what amazing talents they would become.  This was a real game changer for me.  I had, waiting at home, a job that was starting at 150K and also the opportunity to do almost anything I wanted.  Upon returning I called up the lawyer and much to his dismay told him I was going to decline the position and would not be moving to L.A.  He thought I was crazy but also said he respected me greatly for the decision.  So many of the students at this time did not know how close I had come to closing up shop and moving on.  I have to think fate played some role in all of this.  I try not to get too carried away with this kind of thinking but sometimes the irony of life seems  just a little too uncanny. Fate would again intervene shortly after this decision as I received the news that my rent would be tripling. I decided the only option would be to move the school up North to Encinitas where Krista and I were now residing. 

Stay tuned for Chapter 2 sometime next month...