The Art of Illumination aka Lighting in Picture Books

Illustration by Sumi Collina.

Let's talk about: Lighting!

(See the abbreviated post with illustrations on Instagram, here).

Welcome to my Let’s Talk About It Series! These are super speedy tips written to give you a burst of info that will benefit you: the freelance illustrator. Our goal: To give you the tools to empower your portfolio.

There is a difference between adding light, or glowing objects, vs artfully illuminating your illustrations. If lighting is added with intent, it can shine a true spotlight on you as an illustrator, and help you get many illustration jobs. 

Light brings attention, mood, and creates shapes and shadows. Light draws the eye, and ignites the imagination. Add lighting to your illustrations to dynamically expand the story, add subtext to the written words, and help you establish your signature style.

Lighting can be added to board books, picture books, chapter books, and even licensing and greeting card art. 

1) The movie set VS the local community theater stage:

If you have ever been to a theatrical performance, you may have noticed all the lights facing away from you, the audience, and directing attention toward the stage. There are some amazing stage lighters out there - don’t get me wrong. But let’s focus on average stage lighting. Average stage lighting focuses the light on the stage and the whole space is illuminated from the front and above. Or there is a spotlight shining on one figure illuminating them as a whole. This is what we do NOT want to do in most illustration scenarios (unless the text calls for it). 

Instead, we want lighting in our storytelling art as movie style. There should be shadows and light according to the location, time of day, and lighting sources in the space. The light should not be coming from the viewer, but rather from above, or the side, or from places that make sense within the illustration.

There are two common scenarios in illustrators who are published, working artists. But scenario two is the one that helps differentiate you from the competition. Scenario one: you add light sources to the illustration. Scenario two: you have a deeper reason for adding the light sources, and you are conscious about how the light interacts and affects the illustration as a whole to create mood, or highlight certain aspects of your art to add subtext to the story.

Scenario one

(what most average level illustrators do - even some professionals):

The illustrator adds rays of light to an illustration, a glowing moon in the sky, a shadow underneath each character to convey their presence in the scene, a bunch of fireflies dancing in the field. 

There is nothing wrong with those additions. It’s better than not adding any light or to the piece. Most new, unpublished illustrators are not yet at that level. But for those who are, that is not enough. 

You, the illustrator, want to prove your talent by integrating the concepts from scenario one, and enhancing them with scenario two.

Scenario two:

The light choices illuminate the scene in specific, storytelling ways. 

• Here are methods to elevate lighting choices, enhancing & elevating them to the next level:

  • If the moon is glowing, the rays of the moon should create a glow, at least around the moon, or down illuminating tops of trees, or in through a window, glowing down and focusing attention toward certain areas that add meaning to the text.

  • If there are shadows beneath the characters, make sure there is a light source causing that, and consistency with use of shadow. If you have a character gazing toward a sunset, make sure the light is coming from the front of them, so their back would be in shadow. 

  • If there are fireflies in the field: make sure their glow reflects down below and around them in a nice subtle way. They wouldn’t be able to illuminate a whole page, but they can add a pleasant glow to enhance the mood. 

• Lighting choices can enhance the MOOD of the scene. Example: a dim candle lit scene with fog rolling in could create an ominous mood.  A bright sunny scene with warm colors and light with juts a bit of shade under a tree, can create the feeling of a hot summer day.

• Or, light could draw the eye and put the attention on the right parts of the scene. Example: If the sun shines down through the tree tops, it adds rays of light and shadows on the characters and spaces below. This creates shapes, and point the eye to certain characters or areas within the scene. A dark alleyway could be lit by street lamps, creating a shadow and telling a story. A shadow could make a little mouse look like an ominous monster on the wall of a kid’s room, forcing them under their covers. Think about how focus and storytelling is told by light.

All the luminous details:

You will hear me talk about ‘unexpected details’ a lot, because they come in all different forms within illustration, and are central to making your style stand out, and establishing your personal voice as a creative. Your choice of unexpected detail will define your style and allow you to become a distinguishable, top level illustrator. 

When it comes to lighting, unexpected forms of light are intriguing additions to pull the viewer’s eye toward key elements of your illustration. Unexpected lighting comes in ways that are not typical in everyday life. Yes, you still want to have light come from the sun, moon, lamps, stars, flashlights, fireflies, fire.

However, adding details such as: a glowing unicorn horn, a golden glow streaming out of a treasure chest at the bottom of the sea, light coming mysteriously from the entrance to a cave, sparkling light the pages of an open book, a glowing fish, a glowing collar of the family dog, etc….

Find your unique item and illuminate! Just make sure the element is part of the story, and don’t illuminate something too much unless you want the reader/viewer’s eye to go right to it. Light will draw in the eye, so use tactfully, and meaningfully. 

So, how can you add light to your illustrations?

Here are just a few tips:

• Make sure you add natural forms of light to your art: sun, moon, shade, stars, sunset, sunrise, etc….

• Be aware of time of day, and add shadows accordingly: Shadows can be formed to create shapes and help tell the story. There could be a shadow of a monster emerging from an alleyway. There could be a tiny child creating a giant shadow on the wall, imagination comes to life in the darkness at night, so perhaps the shadows form shapes from the imagination of the characters. 

• Don’t neglect the natural shadow: if light is coming from a specific object or area, make sure that the light and shadows stay based in a real trajectory, and make sure to add dark and light areas within your illustration accordingly. Example: if light is coming in from the tree tops, and your characters are walking down a path partially lit and partially shadowed, make sure there are dark and light areas on your characters that go with this. They shouldn’t all be in shadow, or all be lit, if the light above is spotty. If they are all lit evenly, it creates that stage spotlight effect which, unless that’s part of the story, shows a neglect for detail. Be mindful and double check your lighting. 

• Add fun lighting to your piece: maybe it’s a beautiful sunset with a multitude of colors, or a field of fireflies, or glowing fish jumping from the sea at night. Whatever it is, use natural lighting to create the mood of your scene. 

• Don’t overdo it. Keep in mind lighting should be used to help add greater meaning to the story.

~ This is one of the many topics we go even deeper into in the Online Course (check it out here) and the 1-1 consultations (email me for info on those).

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