I needed to be able to reference mood and lighting from a photo (for example) and apply it to my own paintings. This would make them much more realistic and interesting.

So I decided to practice doing just that.. and OH BOY IS IT HARD. I began with a line drawing of Natalie Dormer from a particular photoshoot that I just really wanted to draw anyway. I then found a site with a tonne of screen grabs from various films and found this one from Batman. I briefly studied the lighting and colours in it and then set about applying it to my line drawing.

First hurdle was trying to establish where the light would hit and where the shadows would fall, and then putting the colours in the right places. I really hope the harder it is means the more that I'll learn?

I did a few more with the same sketch of Natalie Dormer but I'm not willing to show any of those off (like I said- its hard).

I'm going to commit to doing more of these; I think I'm at the level now where I can copy a photo pretty accurately and easily, so I need a new challenge.


To then completely contradict what I just said (!!!) I finished the day off with some standard copies because the above studies were stressing me out and I wanted to paint something still relevant but easier ;)