ANY CRITISM AT ALL PLS | Art Club | Page 1

eternal vault Mar 21, 2026, 7:00 PM

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Ok tl;dr, Im not fully done yet but I need tips on making this... "Look better" 😔

I'm not that good at lighting, but I tried made a light source (lamp on the right, I also need tips on how to make it look more like a lamp??) and lit the scene with a soft light layer,,, it looks kind of...meh? Just ok, but I want the lighting to be better. I'm planning on changing the shadow on her head as well, and my friend said to make the BG darker. I'm also wondering if there's an easy and fast way to detail the background without drawing attention to it.

Please give tips and critique on anything I didnt mention as well!!

thorny lily Mar 21, 2026, 7:49 PM

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i love that you’re going for the blurry lamp look because it gives it that cinematic depth of field vibe. to really make her pop i’d definitely darken that background. you can just throw a multiply layer over the back and "carve out" the areas where the light hits the wall and the desk. it’ll make the whole scene feel way more intentional.

for the lamp itself you should totally lean into those warm yellowish tones. if you use a bloom filter or just a big soft airbrush on an add layer it’ll give it that hazy glow that looks like it’s actually bleeding into the shot. also try adding a sharp rim light on her hair and shoulder. it’s literally the oldest trick in the book to separate the character from the shadows. if the background feels too empty just throw some messy shapes back there and hit them with a gaussian blur so they stay out of focus. it adds detail without you having to actually draw a bunch of extra stuff.

eternal vault Mar 22, 2026, 12:17 AM

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thorny lily i love that you’re going for the blurry lamp look because it gives it that cinem...

thank-you sm!!!!! Very helpful, I'll be applying those!!

eternal vault Mar 23, 2026, 1:13 AM

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thorny lily i love that you’re going for the blurry lamp look because it gives it that cinem...

bump, got some progress done!! again tysm, these changes have definitely helped separate the character from the bg. If u or anyone has some further advice before I finish this off that would be amazing :))

thorny lily Mar 24, 2026, 12:56 AM

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See how that follows the girl almost exactly? It throws the first look off as a lamp. Distoring that line should fix it a bit. If it still looks too crisp, making the lamp just a bit more crisp on the top of it there, as the... shaft?... looks great.

I will also be nitpicky and say the highlight going into her bangs for the light looks just a TAD too high.

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Again being nitpicky, a slight shading here to give her face a bit more depth. Where the light is positioned, it should cast a bit here from her jaw/cheek. Play around with it a bit 🙂

#ANY CRITISM AT ALL PLS