How can i make a certain glow to my digital paintings on a white background ?

Question

I do many concept art pieces in photoshop cs2 with my digital pen tablet but they all look so dull how can i add a glow effect so they look more heroic or spectacular ?

Answer 1

This requires knowledge of the optics of color theory.  I will use this, one of my favorite manga pieces, as an example:  

http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g172/l...

See how the use of contrast, along with some fade-out, and intense color  . . . makes this positively radiant?  Make the object next to the glow very dark and intense . . . and that will push the light to appear lighter.  

So, you must get the values of the adjacent colors right.  Bright light creates dramatic contrast, in that it produces shadows, and unlit areas of intense color.  As an artist I am devoted to learning the secret to this wonderful near-optical illusion . . . the appearance of bright light, or glow.  I felt I came close in this, a watercolor I did last fall -  http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g172/l...

and this, another one I did last year - http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g172/l...

However, I am still working on this effect, struggling to figure out how to make the viewer feel they almost need sunglasses to look at it in a painting!  

Luminosity, the appearance of glowing or radiance, is also the result of using different hues of the same value . . . the yellows, oranges and reds of the sunset or the glow must work together as nearly one single value to bring about the sense that it is bright and luminescent.  

My best advice is to play with contrasts, not being afraid to push them beyond what is "realistic" to where you achieve the effect, or close to it.  Then play within the glowing part of the piece by using not one, but three or more colors that are very close in value to one another.  (I know in the manga piece the light is white, but if we could blow it up we might see white, bright but pale yellow and some orange in that light as well)  Then examine edges: in the manga piece I linked you can see a slight fade-out along the edges of the skin and red clothing that is right next to the brightest highlights . . do you see what I mean?  This slight blurring or fade-out creates the illusion that the light is so bright it makes the viewer's eye see it as glare.  

This was the first piece, in colored pencil, that I attempted to obtain this effect.  http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g172/l...  That was done 5 years ago . . . and I am still working on getting the glow on more canvases and paper in my studio!  

I hope that helps a little. . . and good luck.  I would love to know if you tried this and it worked for you, as I have no clue about how to create art on my MacBook . . . even though I know it is capable.  I guess I just l still like to get my hands dirty with bright colors!  

I forgot to mention one other method for making colors pop . . . place them against a mid-value neutral!  I did this on a charcoal grey paper (it is also colored pencil) even though achieving whites would be harder to do, because placing the colors I was using against the grey makes them seem more intense.  http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g172/l...

Same thing with this pastel, done on the same darker grey paper. . . to get the sunlight coming through the trees and mist  to glow  . . . http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g172/l...

And in this one I chose to let the bright sunlight obliterate any color or detail where ever it fell on this little cutie . . . http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g172/l...

Best of luck!