Visible Sources

About this prompt pack

Eight square prompts show how to build motivated light from one desk lamp through a multi-source night interior. You get transferable language for falloff, color spill, occlusion, bounce, atmospheric beams, mixed temperature, and exposure hierarchy, so the result holds together before the grade.

What you'll learn

• One source — Starts with the base rule: one visible source, one readable pool, and every contact shadow pointing away from the bulb.
• Falloff — Turns the single-source rule into distance: the refrigerator is bright, the person is one stop down, and the far room is allowed to go dark.
• Color spill — Uses a saturated practical as both key and palette, while limiting the color to surfaces close enough to receive it.
• Light blockers — Adds occlusion: the source stays simple, but objects inside its path carve recognizable bands and shadow patches.
• Temperature zones — Shows mixed temperature as geography: each source owns a zone, with a narrow overlap instead of a whole-frame color wash.
• Bounce path — Makes indirect light explicit by showing the source, blocker, colored bounce surface, and the broad reflection they produce.
• Beam and range — Uses light haze as evidence of direction and range, then keeps a weaker practical in reserve for edge separation.
• Source hierarchy — Combines three motivated families, assigns each one a job, and keeps their spill, reflections, and exposure in the right order.