The Language of Light Painting

With light as your brush and darkness as your canvas, this online workshop invites you into a playful, surreal exploration of image-making, like you’ve never experienced before. Led by multidisciplinary artist Chanette Manso, this six-week program immerses you in the experimental world of light painting, where photography transforms into a performance of motion, color, and surprise. The process stays entirely in-camera, using a layered approach that mirrors Photoshop but relies on choreography and planning instead of digital manipulation.

Our atmosphere is playful and full of discovery. Light painting opens a space where the unexpected becomes part of the creative process. Through repetitive, flowing gestures, you develop a sense of rhythm and control with light.

Assignments and image reviews guide your progress and support creative exploration. Alongside hands-on work, you explore the history of light painting through a variety of influential artists and techniques from around the world. Projects include drawing with light, designing illuminated figures, building light tools from upcycled materials, and creating surreal scenes with still-life setups, portraits, landscapes, and stencils. 

You leave the workshop with a collection of experimental images and a deeper understanding of how expressive and open-ended this medium can be. The process expands your creative toolkit, shifts your perspective, and opens up endless possibilities for continued exploration long after the course ends.