Theater gel for dramatic lighting

[Vianna Szabo]

I treated myself to the purchase of theater gel over the holidays and this is my first attempt at working with it. Theater gel is a sheet of colored transparent material that you place between the light source and the subject. It casts very dramatic colors and causes the shadows to become equally rich and exciting. I enjoy it because it gives me a chance to experiment with unusually saturated colors rather than extremes of value.

I used orange gel for this sketch. I also have violet which I think will go well with darker skin tones and red which is reallydramatic.