DC1 - Design with Color & Light [Brainstorm School, Mo Kim]
- Publisher
- Brainstorm School
- Product Type
- Video Course
- Author
- Mo Kim
- Language
- English
- Duration
- 00:00
- Release date
- May 8, 2026
- Skill level
- Project Files
- Yes
- Product Price
- $775
DC1: Design with Color and Light
Course Description
DC1: Design with Color and Light is a practical digital painting course focused on training your eye to understand how value, colour, lighting, and composition work together to create stronger visual storytelling.
This course is not about memorising every Photoshop brush or chasing flashy rendering tricks. Instead, it gives students a structured foundation in how light behaves, how value controls readability, how colour affects mood, and how composition guides the viewer’s attention.
Students begin with simple light and shadow exercises using basic primitives, then move into contrast and composition analysis, master studies, limited colour palette painting, figure painting from reference, plein-air landscape painting, and re-lighting techniques using Curves Adjustment Layers.
By the end of the course, students will have a practical workflow for using value, colour, and light to create more atmospheric, emotional, and narrative-driven digital paintings.
What You’ll Learn
- How to use value and light to support mood, emotion, and storytelling
- How light and shadow behave on simple forms
- How to analyse contrast, composition, and visual hierarchy
- How to study master paintings and apply their principles to your own work
- How to paint with a limited colour palette
- How to create stronger and more cohesive colour relationships
- How to paint figures from reference while simplifying form and light
- How to approach plein-air landscape painting
- How to make quick decisions about colour, value, and atmosphere
- How to re-light artwork using Curves Adjustment Layers
- How to build a repeatable process for creating stronger narrative images
Course Curriculum
Week 1 - Introduction, Photoshop Workspace, Light and Shadow
Students begin with student and teacher introductions, followed by an overview of the Photoshop workspace. The week then moves into light and shadow rendering using simple primitives, helping students understand how light behaves on basic forms.Week 2 - Contrast and Composition Analysis
This week focuses on contrast and composition. Students learn how value grouping, focal points, shape design, and visual hierarchy guide the viewer’s eye through an image.Week 3 - Master Studies and Analysis
Students study master paintings to understand how experienced artists use composition, value, contrast, lighting, and structure. The goal is to break down strong images and apply those lessons to personal work.Week 4 - Painting with Colour Using a Limited Colour Palette
This week introduces limited colour palette painting. Students learn how restricted colour choices can create stronger harmony, clearer mood, and more controlled visual storytelling.Week 5–6 - Figure Painting from Reference
Across these two weeks, students paint figures from reference while focusing on form, value, colour, and light. The goal is to simplify complex subjects, understand lighting on the figure, and create more confident, expressive digital paintings.Week 7–8 - Plein-Air Landscape Painting
These two weeks focus on plein-air and observational landscape painting. Students study real-world lighting, atmosphere, value relationships, environmental colour, and how to make faster, more confident painting decisions.Week 9 - Re-Lighting with Curves Adjustment Layers
This week focuses on re-lighting artwork using Curves Adjustment Layers. Students learn a non-destructive workflow for changing mood, lighting, and colour direction without repainting the entire image.Week 10 - Final Week Recap and Class Feedback
The final week is dedicated to reviewing the course material, discussing student progress, and receiving class feedback. Students revisit the key ideas from the course and refine their understanding of value, colour, light, composition, and visual storytelling.Requirements
Students should have basic familiarity with digital painting software and be comfortable using a drawing tablet or similar device.Recommended tools and hardware:
- Photoshop or equivalent digital painting software
- Graphics tablet, Cintiq, or iPad
- Computer with high-speed internet
- Basic drawing and painting experience
Who This Course Is For
This course is ideal for artists who want to move beyond basic rendering and start using light and colour as storytelling tools.It is especially useful for:
- Concept artists
- Illustrators
- Visual development artists
- Digital painters
- Students who feel their paintings look flat
- Artists who want to improve mood, atmosphere, and composition
- Anyone interested in stronger colour and lighting workflows for entertainment art
About the Instructor
The course is taught by Mo Kim, a professional concept artist and instructor at Brainstorm School.Mo brings a practical, industry-focused approach to teaching, with an emphasis on building strong visual problem-solving skills. His instruction helps students understand value, lighting, colour, and composition in ways that can be applied directly to concept art, visual development, illustration, and personal work.
Final Result
By the end of the course, students will have completed a series of weekly assignments showing clear progress from basic light and shadow studies to more complex figure, landscape, and re-lighting exercises.Students will leave with a stronger understanding of how to control mood, focus, atmosphere, and depth using value, colour, and light, as well as a practical workflow for re-lighting and colour grading their artwork.
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