Lighting Characters from Firelight

[Razorleaf]

I am painting multiple characters with a desert theme. It is dusk, there are mountains in the far background then open ground then two characters by a small campfire.

I am not sure how to create the proper lighting for this one. Do I paint the characters as though there is no fire but just the dusk light - then afterward paint in the firelight?

How would you go about ensuring that you have the right lighting? It is way more difficult than I am explaining here because of the depth of shadow involved.

I have the composition ready, the characters are basically just given a base coat but nothing more.

Help :)

Thanks,
R.

[dpaint]

The sky would be the brightest. On a value scale with 0 black and 9 white I would reserve the top four values for the sky, the lowest value or the sky and next two values for the light of the fire and the rest for the landscape and figures. Reflectted light on the figures would be part of the lower two full value steps for the fire. Or you could reverse the fire and sky values if you want the sky to be even darker

[Razorleaf]

Thanks dpaint

Firelight is always an issue with me. I guess I am going to paint this like I would any other painting and then add the firelight last. Still, I'm just not sure how to do the skin tones. When incorporating the skylight that means that there will be a lot of shadowing, then when I add the firelight there will be even more. I guess I will just have to experiment. :)

[dpaint]

If you place the sun below the horizon you only have to worry about shadows cast from the firelight. The sky would still be bright but the landscape would be lit with ambient light from the twilight sky; no shadows.

[Noah Bradley]

If you're having a hard time figuring something out, get some reference. Either shoot your own, find some photographs, or even look up some other paintings that have done something similar.

[QueenGwenevere]

If it was me and I really wanted to be sure I might try something like this:

Stick a desk lamp or something on the floor in a dark room for your "fire"... leave a light on in a neighboring room so you get some faint ambient light in the dark room - that's your "dusk", more or less. Have a friend sit in front of the desk lamp in the pose(s) you want. Then, depending on how you prefer to use reference, stare at the result and memorize it and/or sketch it and/or snap some photos. (If nobody's available, you could use yourself and a mirror.)

If you really want to be a stickler for accuracy, you could even try a setup like this at dusk, so your dusk effects are taken care of naturally.

Personally, I would paint all the light-and-shadow effects at once, rather than trying to separate them...