Ben Eblen Studios presents: Graymatter
Understanding the 'why' behind painting light and value, from imagination
Join the 5-Week Live Course
Master lighting and values through live instruction, real-time feedback, and hands-on practice
Active Participant applications close when deadline hits OR all 15 active participant seats are filled
Applications close in:
Active Participant Seats include live Q&A, real-time feedback, and direct interaction with Ben
You can draw. But painting light still feels like a mystery.
You've heard about values, but you're not sure how to use them.
You're doing a ton of value studies, but it just feels like you're copying.
You wouldn't dare try to paint without photo reference!
You get stuck when things look flat or muddy.
Every painting session feels like a 'gamble' if it'll turn out ok.
You don't even try to paint from imagination, or if you do, it feels like you're guessing.
I feel your pain. I couldn't paint anything without photo reference.
I was a copy machine.
The moment I tried to invent lighting from imagination — everything fell apart. I didn't even know where to start.
My observation skills were ok, but I was missing the why behind my decision making.
I ONLY worked from photo reference
From imagination
Over the 5 week workshop, I'll share everything I know about lighting and value.
I'll share the framework that helped me stop guessing with light, understand what was going wrong when something looked off, and built the instincts that transformed my work.
Live sessions include: Real-time instruction, group critiques, Q&A segments, and hands-on demonstrations of the lighting techniques you'll be learning.
🎨 Why focus on grayscale?
Understanding light and values is what enables me to play with color confidently.
I wish I had spent way more time focusing on and learning about how light works in the context of values before jumping into color.
Drag the slider to see how solid grayscale foundation translates to confident color choices
When I truly understood how light behaves in grayscale — how it falls off, bounces, and creates form — the world of color made so much more sense.
I'm more than happy to discuss colour in the workshop, but it's just not going to be the focus.
❌ Not About Mimicking Me
This workshop isn't about turning you into a clone of me.
It's about building your painting instincts that work in your style, with your taste — so you can make confident decisions, not copy mine.
🎨 Core principles, many styles
I'll show you how these key principles help me become a stylistic chameleon, and pick and choose where I'll make use of these lighting principles depending on the style I'm trying to achieve.
Super Graphic
Blocky shapes that still read as 3D
More 'realistic' 3D
Pushing the light and form to truly give that 3D look
Somewhere inbetween
I love mixing and matching styles, and I'll show you how I do it!
Whether you're working more realistic , stylized , or somewhere inbetween — the core principles remain the same. You'll learn when to push them hard, when to be subtle, and how to adapt them to serve how YOU want to paint.
📅 5-Week Learning Journey
Light & Diffuse Reflection
Light is tricky, but it's not magic. We'll start with the basics that build the foundation for the rest of the workshop.
Point Lights, Ambient Occlusion and how to use them
We'll expand our practise into different light types, and understand the order in which I use them.
Specular reflection and stealing light from references
At this stage, we've got a solid foundation and framework of how to light anything. Now we'll dive into slightly more advanced concepts.
Exploring different rendering styles
'These principles we've learnt don't have to be used with more realistic 3d rendering, we can pick and choose where to use them and apply them to different styles!
Bringing it all together
Refinement of the tools we've explored so far, and a deeper dive into texture, translucency, materials and exercises.
📋 Weekly assignments, tailored to your skill level
Every week there will be a new assignment, based on the core principles we covered in that lesson.
I'll supply a variety of reference shapes/illustrations to do your assignments
They'll be tiered from simple shapes to more complex tricky ones, so you can work at your own pace and build your confidence.
🔄 Get comfortable, then challenge yourself
I recommend attempting these exercises again and again long after the live sessions have finished, each time pushing yourself a little more out of your comfort zone until you've nailed them!
Bring your own work!
Bring something you've been struggling with:
When I was struggling with these concepts, the most growth I had, was when I used what I learnt in context of my own personal work, instead of in an isolated sandbox.
🎨 Apply what you learn immediately
Each week, part of your assignment will be applying what we learn to a piece you're working on — building real-world skills you can use immediately.
🛠️ Tools & Software
This workshop will be held mainly in Photoshop, but any digital painting software you have access to will be more than fine:
Procreate
Photoshop
Krita
Clip Studio PaintWe're not going to be focusing on software 'tricks' —
You'll also be able to take these learnings into traditional mediums like oils, acrylics, or even graphite.
🚫 Not for complete beginners
This workshop builds on a foundation of drawing.
We'll cover light and painting values, but we assume you already know how to draw simple forms (they don't have to be perfect)
If you're brand new to drawing, this probably isn't the right fit just yet. But you're absolutely welcome in a future course when you're ready.
Who am I?
Hey, I'm Ben Eblen, an 🎨 illustrator, 👨💻 developer, 🎤 podcast host , ⚡️ chaser of 'aha' moments and I love sharing my process and findings online.
This workshop is the one I wish I’d taken back when I was stuck in the “just copy references” phase, wondering how others could draw, paint and invent characters and worlds from scratch that actually felt real.
It’s essentially a workshop for my younger self who was struggling to make the leap from observation to imagination.
Super excited to have you join me!
Cheers, Ben
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Frequently Asked Questions
Choose Your Seat for the 5 weeks
Three ways to join the workshop — pick what works best for your learning style and goals
The
Sit-In Seat
Watch, learn, and follow along — at your own pace
✅ No Application Required
Available for direct purchase
INCLUDES
The
Workshop Seat
Live, structured training designed to build lighting instinct from the ground up
📋 Application Required
Only 12 spots total
INCLUDES
🎁 BONUS
Early access to my Graymatter On-Demand Course (currently in development)
The
1 on 1 Seat
The full workshop + 3 x 60 min 1-on-1 calls with me
📋 Application Required
Only 3 spots total
INCLUDES
🎁 BONUS
Early access to my Graymatter On-Demand Course (currently in development)
🚨 Deadline to Apply: August 3, 2025 — or when all 15 spots are filled (whichever comes first).
Time remaining:
📋 Workshop Details
| 📅 Start Date | Aug 10th, 2025 |
| 🕐 Session Time | Saturdays 3:30 PM - 6:00 PM PST |
| ⏰ Duration | 5 weeks |
| 📹 Format | Live sessions (recorded for replay) |
| 🌐 Location | Online via Zoom |
| 🕐 Time per Session | 2.5 hours each |
| 👥 Group Size | Limited to 15 participants |
Note: All sessions are recorded, but live attendance is highly recommended for real-time critiques and Q&A.