Learn more from Ben Eblen in his course about Illustrating a Stylized Character. 

Download my seketches below to follow along!

Before you jump straight into rendering a complex character, you need a plan. It is easy to get lost in the details of a face or a helmet, so we use a simple shape, like an egg, as a testing ground. If you can figure out how your lighting setup works on a basic sphere, you can apply that same logic to a head, a spaceship, or anything else. This approach allows you to invent light, manipulate it, and keep it looking believable without relying entirely on reference photos.

The Four Elements of Light

To paint realistic light, you need to constantly cycle through four specific concepts. This isn't a linear step-by-step list where you finish one and move to the next. It is a continuous loop where you jump back and forth, checking your work against these pillars.

First, identify the Light Source. You need to know where the light is coming from, what color it is, and whether it is hard (like the sun) or soft (like a cloudy sky). Without light, you see nothing.

Second, understand the Topology. This refers to the surface of the object. You need to know the "lay of the land." Ask yourself which planes of the object are facing the light and which are turning away. A good rule of thumb is that if there is a plane change, there is typically a value change.

Third, determine the Local Value and Color. This is the actual color of the object if you were describing it to a friend, like "pink skin" or "orange metal."

Finally, decide on the Material Properties. How shiny or matte is the object? Skin has a different reflectivity than a metal helmet, and that changes how the light hits it.

The Testing Ground

Start by painting a simple egg shape next to your character. Use this to test your lighting scenario. For example, if you want a cool blue ambient light coming from above, block that in on the egg first. Diffuse light creates very soft transitions, so you want a smooth gradient from the light top to the dark bottom.

Once the ambient light is set, switch on your direct light. If this is a harsh sunlight, it will create harder edges and cast shadows. By solving these problems on the egg first, you create a reference key. You don't have to stick to it 100%, but it stops you from wasting time guessing on the complex character art.

Layering the Light

When you move to the character, start from the shadows and work your way up. It helps to think of this as "turning on the lights." Start with your base shadow color, perhaps that cool blue from your test egg, and then paint the light on top of it.

Use clipping masks to keep things tidy. This lets you paint freely without worrying about staying inside the lines. When painting skin, remember that as the form turns away from the light, the color often loses saturation. However, right at the transition line between light and shadow, you might bump up the saturation slightly. This mimics subsurface scattering, where light penetrates the skin and scatters, giving it a lively, fleshy look.

Refining and Rendering

As you refine the painting, focus on edges. If you airbrush everything, your work will look digital and plastic. You want a mix of soft transitions for round forms and hard edges for cast shadows or sharp planes. Designing your shadow shapes rather than just blurring them out makes the image feel more painterly and intentional.

Don't forget that everything light hits becomes a light source itself. This is called bounce light. If a bright light hits a helmet, that light will bounce back onto the neck or ear.

Material Tricks

For metallic surfaces, the rules change slightly. Metal has hard, high-contrast specular highlights. A quick trick is to use a Color Dodge layer to punch up the saturation and brightness of these highlights.

Also, consider the Fresnel effect for reflections. If you look straight down into a lake, you see the bottom. If you look at the horizon, the water becomes a mirror. The same applies to a shiny helmet: the center will be transparent (showing the face inside), while the edges will reflect the environment.

Keep cycling through your four elements, light, topology, color, and material, and trust the logic you established on your simple egg. If it looks good, you are on the right track.

Learn more from Ben Eblen in his course about Illustrating a Stylized Character.