Light for Visual Artists: Understanding \u0026 Using Light in Art \u0026 Design by Richard Yot

Light for Visual Artists: Understanding \u0026 Using Light in Art \u0026 Design Reviews

• 
  Parka

  
  
  (
  More pictures at parkablogs.com)
  
  This is a useful book authored by Richard Yot to help artists understand light.
  
  It's 176 pages and is pretty comprehensive. The chapters are split into three categories. The first looks at the basic lighting fundamentals, which are the basic principles of light and shadows, their qualities, colours and how we perceive surfaces. The second looks at lighting with people and environment. The last looks at specific uses of lighting for staging and composition, setting mood and giving the illusion of time and place.
  
  The text is clear and detailed. There are lots of photos, 3D computer generated images, a few drawn art, and some film stills in later chapters.
  
  It's interesting to read about things we see daily and don't really think about why they look that way. Examples like why some wet surfaces are darker, how the colour of the sky changes throughout the day, finding the true colour of shadows.
  
  It's not a tutorial book so you won't learn any techniques. It's a theory book that highlights those principles so that you can make use of them to create more realistic and believable work. The principles can be easily applied to other medium.
  
  This is not the only book around on light. If you're more of a traditional artist, I recommend checking out
  James Gurney's Color and Light: A Guide for the Realist Painter. Many of the topics are similar bot James Gurney's book added colour schemes and other subjects more useful to artists.
• 
  Oana

  I wasn't really sure what to expect from this book, as it isn't squarely aimed at 3D artists, but is more of a general reference.
  
  It really is a marvelous book for 3D, digital and traditional artists. Although it doesn't hold your hand and show you how to create each effect, it's a great resource listing many types of light and examples of each.
  
  It covers basic studio lighting setups, outdoor and indoor light, natural light, various shadow properties, the way light reacts to different types of materials like chrome and translucent objects, colour bleeding and everything in between. I especially love the way each type of lighting discussed comes with the same picture of a white ball on a white background, so you can compare with other chapters and study the differences.
  
  Although many of the subjects covered are not new, and anyone who has studied light in a decent capacity will probably know most of the contents, this book still has fantastic value as a reference tool, a cheat sheet for whatever you're working on.
  
  I'm very impressed and would recommend this to anyone interested in lighting, both in 3D, 2D, and even film/photography.
• 
  Nathan Pilgrim

  The book is divided in three parts, in diminishing order of depth.
  The third part can be useful for the begginer, but it can be skipped entirely, orreplacedwith a better book about cinema.
  
  Overall it is a good book, but maybe not worth of paying full price, but a great find as a second hand.
• 
  Filip Rastovic

  Great book. A LOT of information in it. Very useful if you're into 3D art and rendering.
• 
  Jackie Honda

  The kind of book once you finish reading, your surroundings are no longer the same.
  
  Very helpful.
• 
  Trần Văn Tiến

  Done.
• 
  Manish Jadhav

  Good read with alot of pictorial examples for each concept. Much of a long and slow read book with doing hands-on practical simultaneously .
• 
  Bugzmanov

  This book is very thorough when it comes to description of what is light and how it behaves in different context with different objects. But I wish is was more systematic. It feels a lot like fire hose of facts. And it makes the book quite boring to read.
  
• 
  Philip Goodwillie

  Brilliant easy to read book that explains light in detail including the science behind it. After reading it you'll have a better understanding and appreciation of light and shadows. You don't have to be an artists to read this book, anyone can read enjoy it. Stay curious :)