Creating space through light

A major factor that has long influenced my style as a digital artist is my background in traditional illustration. I have been a doodler, drawer and painter for as long as I can remember. For me, this has been about creating the illusion of dimensional space/objects by paying attention to how light effects the contents of “things” within their “environment”.

This latest series of icons really displays this approach. These are created in Adobe Illustrator as individual objects – then assembled as group to create a composition in Photoshop. A closer look at the individual elements shows that each is composed of very basic shapes. The colors and gradients used create the illusion of form and cast shadow, as well as direct and reflected light.

Example 1: The base of the iMac computer is a simple shape with a single linear gradient. Using multiple shades of silver to gray allow me to create the illusion of a cast shadow from the screen on to the base – Then moving downward, it transitions to a form shadow where the base moves from vertical to flat thus not being hit by the same light. It then gets lighter once again, as it leaves the shadow from the screen, and extends forward.

Example 2: In the case of the MacBook, a similar technique is used, but to create a different effect. In this case, the shape itself is again quite simple, and includes a linear gradient – However, my hope is to show the subtle curve where the front of the keyboard base wraps around to the side of the unit. In doing so, light creates a form shadow around edge as it moves from the front to the side. The shadow helps to show the transition – However, it is the reflected light on the outside of both sides that create this dimension on what is otherwise a flat shape. Further, these details ad to suggest the metallic surface.

A colleague recently suggested that I write a tutorial to showcase how I create these. I may try to in another post, but am not convinced that I could accurately describe a best practice to do so. Mostly because, I tend to “eyeball” a lot of things. However, I do think that applying some drawing principles of light can have a positive effect on the end result!