We had to pick a movie poster to recreate for a school project. I had made thumbnails for some of my favorite fandom movies: Marvel, Star Wars, and Harry Potter, as well as my favorite movies of Greece and August Rush.
I decided on Doctor Strange for the idea of doing some light painting photography. In a couple classes over the years, I was able to play around with light painting, but never done so by myself. As the years go by, I decide my school projects around the things I like and want to learn how to do.
And that's my advice for any artist. Use your strengths and interests to your advantage.
I went into my basement to the storage room because it would be the darkest room with enough room for light painting. I got someone to move the flashlight in circles while I stayed behind the camera. I used different flashlights to see which one was the best, even different colors. In the end, I had used six separate pictures and layered them on top of each other before I got the look that I liked.
Then, I worked in illustrator, one of my strengths, and created cityscapes of Hong Kong, New York City, and London. These were the three sanctums in the Doctor Strange movies. I used a tones of blues to balance out the yellows from the light painted circle.