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Regrettably, I have to say, the view from the desk I sit at at work is not the most inspiring. There is, however, one eye-catching element; the tall floodlights that overlook the local cricket ground, which happens to be just across the road from my office.

The other day, I noticed them in particular, because they had been left on. It was a dismal day, and the bright yellow light really stood out against the grey sky. I started thinking about how you can draw lights.

Obviously, the eye perceives bright lights in quite a complicated way. Because we find it painful to look at them directly, we often squint or look at them sideways, and that affects our perception. That’s why I think it’s quite reasonable to use techniques like the one I’ve experimented with in this picture. I know the lights weren’t really manifesting themselves as circles like this, but that’s the image I’ve carried away with me, and the most accurate representation I can come up with right now, three days after the event.

I quite like the finished effect, anyway. And it’s a good technique to start thinking about in time for Christmas, if you’re thinking, say, of designing Christmas cards with baubles or strings of lights on them. Sigh, there I go again with the ‘C’ word… in my defence, the Christmas street lights are already up here in Brighton.

Anyway, do you have any better ways of depicting lights? Leave me a comment and let me know. You might also be interested to see what must be the companion piece to this post: drawing the dark.

Oh look, it’s that logo again. I’m hoping you might be hovering over it with your cursor when someone accidentally nudges you and before you know it you’ve clicked and voted for Draw Anyway in the Brighton and Hove Web Award. Could happen.