Enliven Your Paintings With Light

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27

Empty Rooms

In this

Edward Gordon

rooms and

Alkyd on Masonite panel

dle room.

34" x 24"

Glowing Light With Alkyds

scene there

Working

Gordon captures direct

and

is

sunlight in

in

three

alkyds (see Painting in

chapter

five)

delicate nuances of both

reflected light. Notice, for ex-

ample, that the top of the door in

all

also artificial light in the mid-

is

bathed

cool light but the downward-facing

edges of the inset door panels running

through that cool area have an orange gtow. The cool color comes from a win-

dow in the adjoining light

is

reflected

Notice, too, the floor

window

is

warm

floor.

light striking

and open door. The

door, in turn, floor.

room, and the

upward from the

light

on the

reflected in the shiny

the

Light Sources

I

once had a student who com-

was going batty because she had purposely set up a

plained she

single, bright light

source on her

source

is

light

parts of the glass enclosure as well,

light

so that light

is

not perfect

itself is

streaming toward

light

number The only perfect single source would be a point of

light

without any sort of enclosure.

the subject from an infinite of points.

single light

really a multiple light

source.

Reflector

source — obviously the primary

bouncing from the reflector was a second source. The result was a double set of shadows. The truth is, there is hardly any such thing as a single light source.

incandescent bulb in a reflector

What may appear to be a

because light radiates not only from the filament, but from all

one — but

and yet could not get sharp cast shadows. The problem was that what she thought was a single source really was not. She used an still life

Even the bulb

clamped to a piece of furniture and aimed at the still life. The filament of the bulb was one light shield,

is

primary

Bulb

is

light

source

secondary

source

Overlapping

shadows from both

light sources

Shadow from primary light

source weakened

by invading

Top view

light

from secondary light

source

Kid Stuff Phil

Metzger

Pencil

on Morilla

Bristol

paper

10"x10" The reason for the double shadows—

Painting With Rubber Stamps Rather than paint a wallpaper design (like that in

Empty

for the wallpaper

with brushes, Rooms, Edward Gordon uses rubber left)

stamps. First he draws the design he wants in pencil on paper and then darkens the design us-

ing a fine felt-tip pen.

He

shrinks

the design to the size he needs

on a photocopier. At an office supply store he has a rubber stamp made from the reduced drawing. In this case Gordon had two stamps made, because the wallpaper design included

two interlocking images. and coats the area

with Liquin. Once the Liquin

is

images — the

out— is

sources.

that there

was a lamp, the other, light

move the

ows, which can add

test paint easily with-

out damaging underlying paint. satisfied with his mix-

When

he spreads paint evenly on his palette, presses the stamp into the paint, and applies the stamp to the painting. If dissatisfied, he wipes the paint off, adjusts and tries again. You can use this method whenever you need a repetitive design on a plane parallel to the tures,

It

will

not work

for a wall in perspective, be-

cause the parts of the design are all the same size.

not

In

sources usually

cases

where there

strong sources,

washed

were two

light

The stronger and closer source

Liquin layer allows him to re-

picture surface.

He paints the wall area nearly to completion

dry he can test colors and values

dark one near each object, a lighter one farther

out.

I

all

a

window. Multiple

mean

multiple shad-

interest to a picture. is

a profusion of

shadows can be

used individual pencil

strokes instead of solid, filled-in passages

because

I

wanted the

little

flecks of light

between strokes to help keep shadowed areas

lively.

29

30

Enliven

Your Paintings With Light

Imagined Light

from your public.

make their own light. What they put into their pictures is Artists often

some combination

of light they've

actually perceived

and

light

they

fashion to suit their artistic aims.

I'm pretty

much

lighting, so

I

a slave to realistic

can only admire those

whose imaginative lighting frees them from all the rules. While some artists come by this freedom naturally,

ate,

others get there by deliber-

sometimes

painful, decisions

to violate this rule or that.

One

small violation leads to another,

and before you know it, you're (or a criminal!).

when you

What

free

matters

kick aside any rule or

and glow in places and^to recede deeply and darkly in others." She feels free to do what's necesswell

Imaginative interpretations

range from Warren Taylor's mys-

Ascending Order (below) to Mary Sweet's flat-patterned Early Morning, Bryce Canyon (page 31, tical

sary for the sake of the design. Ev-

erything you do in a painting

should be aimed at improving the

no matter what "rules" of

bottom) to Marci McDonald's surreal Rose From Last September

the real world you might have to

(page 31, top).

violate.

McDonald's comments about

Rose

illustrate

the

way some artists

deal with the idea of not-quite-real light.

She

about a

says: "I don't really think

light

source as

I

paint, ex-

make shadow and light work together to make sense. But if I want a lit place or a deepened shadow to please my design cept that

I

try to

sense, I'll always put it there even if it wouldn't actually be there. I

design,

Once you leave the realm of realanything goes— there are no boundaries and you're free to follow your imagination and see where it leads. In his demonstraity,

tion,

Sierra Vieja (pages 32-33),

Warren Taylor marries a

fore-

ground

still life

What

find engaging about

I

to a landscape.

such a

result warrants the transgres-

almost always find myself trying to

probably holds a different "story" for each viewer. When an artist allows his or her

sion—or simply testifies that you don't know what you're doing. That judgment may have to come

make

imagination a lot of freedom, the

lit

same becomes true

standard in painting

is

whether the

subjects look as if they were from within— somewhere just under the skin. ... I like objects to

painting

is

that

it

for the viewer.

Rose From Last September Marci McDonald

Airbrushed acrylic on paper

32"x40" Collection of Dr. This painting

is

and Mrs.

Jeffrey Booth.

based on D.H. Lawrence's

two

novelette The Fox, a dark tale about

women

living

them has fox

in

on a remote farm. One of

a disturbing encounter with a

the

woods

at the

same time

that a

young man mysteriously enters her

life.

The two events become tangled and

most interchangeable

in

al-

her mind. The

story gave rise to images that stayed with

McDonald nally

for

many

took form

years before they

fi-

in paint.

(Left)

%US

Ascending Order Warren Taylor Watercolor

Early Morning, Bryce

30" x 40"

Mary Sweet

Collection of Steve Johnson, Dallas, Texas.

Acrylic

on paper

22"x30" Taylor's paintings often are flooded with light playing against

mysterious shadows.

This painting deals with the

upward

imprisoned souls into pure light and time-

server

the

The potted cactus acts as ob-

and

sentinel, rising

last light

of this day.

upward

Here the early morning sunlight tially

to catch

is

essen-

the subject. To capture the drama of

the intense sunlight striking the tops of the ridges and rocky spires, Sweet highlighted the backlit ridges

and flooded the

foreground with yellow-orange. The qual-

re-

lease of spirits, the ascension of previously

lessness.

Canyon

ity

of sunlight brought out every ounce of

color

in

so she

the already color-saturated land,

let

the colors run

ing as in real

life.

she saw and

let

riot in

the paint-

She started with the

light

her imagination take over.

32

Enliven

Your Paintings With Light

Warren Taylor

Demonstration

Imagined Light Taylor specializes in imagined

scenes flooded with

light.

The

light

he paints generally obeys wakingworld rules, and that bow toward realism gives unity to his painting.

Sierra Vieja

Warren Taylor Watercolor

33WX54"

Stepl Taylor begins by determining

where white

and contrasting dark passages

will

be an-

chored. He sets the tone for the painting

by washing

in

the sky and then works for-

ward, essentially completing the landscape portion.

Step 2 He renders the life,

light

passages of the

still

taking care to coordinate the feel of

the light with that already painted landscape.

in

the

Light Sources

Detail Notice the careful pencil drawing and the

design of the cloth folds that

make a

tran-

sition into landscape.

Step 3 In

the final stage, Taylor carefully connects

the

two

differing idioms in terms of color,

value and texture. With a nod toward realism, he coordinates the

fractured

cliff

shadows on the

with those

in

the

still life.

33

34

Enliven

Your Paintings With Light

A Corner of the Universe

#1

Maczko wished to convey

a desolate, poi-

1937 Lincoln Zephyr

Tom

Sharon Maczko

sonous surface with gases choking the

Transparent watercolor

mosphere. She fabricated the layout of

Acrylic

25"x40"

the terrain on a tabletop, then placed a

40"x30"

Photo courtesy of Gene Ogami.

lamp behind the "mountain"

at-

Hale

at the right.

Most of

Hale's paintings are based

on

She hung a dark-colored fabric as a backimaginative, often surreal, lighting. His

drop and draped carefully selected colors combination of reflected

light

and moody

of sheer fabric across the foreground. The

backlighting transforms ordinary subjects

wispy fabric catching the

light

streaked, ethereal effect.

A

the

left

highlighted the

left

gave a into extraordinary paintings. Notice that

small light at

the fluid background light

is

repeated

in

surface of the

the equally fluid reflections on the car's larger papier-mach6 sphere.

the

mood

Maczko

sets

hard surface.

she wants with her painstaking

constructions, then proceeds fairly conventionally, first doing a

drawing and

then painting directly from the model

without using

slides.

Light Sources

"35

36

Enliven

Your Paintings With Light

Long Shadows at Taos

Larsen's intention

Frances Larsen

ing shapes that

Watercolor and

acrylic

on Strathmore

is

to focus on interlock-

move the

viewer's eye

across the surface. This watercolor,

one of on

cold-press board with hand-carved poly-

a series exploring the effects of light

chrome frame

old

32"x44"

verses normal color usage as Larsen gives

(including frame)

adobe surfaces

in

the Southwest,

free rein to her imagination. interest,

painted

The center of

the rust-brown Taos Pueblo, in

transparent washes of

neutral grays, as

re-

is

light,

though sun-bleached

over the centuries.

Light Sources

Studio Light Some

artists paint in the dark,

some

paint under glorious "north

shows far less shift in color, intensity and direction during the course of a day. That relatively unchanging character is what artists

some are satisfied with a couple of fluorescent fixtures, and

like

a few true-blue plein air painters

with unchanging fluorescents!

light,"

only paint outdoors.

most

is

what

sort of light the fin-

ished painting

under.

What matters

is likely

to

impossible to

It's

know

and dining rooms; others

grace the walls of coolly

some

will

effect

light.

down

in

I

get the

my dungeon

Whatever your choice of studio a good idea to view

lighting, it's

be viewed for

sure — many will hang in warmly living

about north

same

lit

Light reflected

lit

will

offices;

be hung under one of

those ugly

little

brass picture

and, of course, yours will be

lights;

hung in the controlled light of a museum.

Most painters difference"

try to "split the

— paint under light that

seems balanced, neither too warm is easy to accom-

nor too cool. This

plish using fluorescent fixtures be-

cause there are so

My

available.

equal

many

solution

is

types to use

an

number of "warm white" and

"cool white" tubes spread around so that there are no shadows on the

work. You might want to consider specially made tubes that manufacturers claim are perfectly balanced for artists' needs.

One brand,

vertised in art magazines,

is

ad-

called

Verilux.

Some

swear by "north never had a studio fac-

artists

light." I've

(my current studio doesn't face anywhere — it's

North

ing north

in a

States (except for Hawaii), there

is

unchanging

is

indirect light re-

flected from the sky; south light

changing is

a distinct difference between the light you get through your north-

and south-facing windows.

light

through a south window

direct,

and as the sun travels the

The

light, relatively

throughout the day,

windowless section of my basement). If you live in the United

facing

your paintings at various stages under other lights, especially when you're nearing completion. Take the paintings into other rooms, even outdoors, and be sure you like what you see. Occasionally, what you thought you painted and what you did paint will be far apart.

southerly sky, the light through your south window shifts markedly. But light coming through your north windows is indirect— that is, it's light reflected from the sky rather than light coming straight from the sun. That reflected light

gentina, everything

and south artists!

is

rapidly

direct sunlight. In southern Ar-

light

would be reversed

would be coveted by

from sky

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Chapter Three

Shadows

Interior With Morning Light Sally

Strand

Pastel

on paper

40"x30" Strand uses large

shadow

areas as im-

portant compositional elements.

When I was young I

program (remember radio?) about "The Shadow," a listened to a radio

invisible.

who

make himself Strange thing was, he was misnamed

mysterious crime-fighter

could

because shadows are definitely

visible.

Shadows are not only visible, but often bright and colorful as well. One of the biggest mistakes a painter can make is to treat shadows as dull, dark, dead areas. They are full of life. According to Leonardo da Vinci, who had something to say about everything, a shadow is really just a "lesser light." Before you paint another shadow, look— I mean really look — at some shadows around you. Look at them inside your studio, outdoors, everywhere you go. Deep shadows on a sunny highway often have a strong blue cast because of blue light reflected from the sky into the shadow; the

shadow of a

tree

may

be greenish where it falls across the grass, but reddish where it hits a dirt road; next to me is a blue

notebook casting a shadow on a yellow pad, a green shadow! There is much more to a shadow than absence of

light.

Besides being colorful and

lively,

shadows play

other roles in a picture: They help define form, texture and depth; they establish

mood; and they

can even be the perfect shape to unify the pieces of a composition.

40

Enliven

Your Paintings With Light

Conditions That Affect

from one source weakens the shadow produced by another

Shadows Although shadows are basically areas receiving little or no light, they're really more complex than that. At least a half-dozen conditions may influence the look of any shadow. Given an understanding of what those conditions are, you are free to manipulate them all to get the result you're looking for in your

source. Even a single light source can produce strange shadows that appear to be caused by multiple sources. A good example of this is direct sunlight entering a south-

facing

window and

ows

one direction while

window and in

sun,

is

If

a single source, such as the

shadows may be sharp and

Plaza in Granada Michael

P.

Rocco

casts softer

phenomenon

Watercolor

22"x29"

in Sally Strand's

demonstration in the last chapter. The brightness of the light

a hint of

source also has plenty to do with

shadow to see what's there. Of the strong

shadow— a

dramatic, as in Michael Rocco's

the

Plaza in Granada (below). But if the light comes from a number of sources, as in Lena Liu's The Music Room (page 41), shadows will be

peded

noticeably softened because light

indirect,

shadows the opposite direction. We saw

this

Nature of the Light Source.

casting shad-

reflected sunlight enters a north

painting.

there

in

brilliant

sun unim-

casts relatively sharp shad-

ows, but sunlight diffused through fog,

mist or polluted

air,

through gauzy curtains, duce fuzzy shadows.

ft

•

.

MMRDHi

or sifted

may

pro-

Long cast shadows wonder.

instill

a sense of quiet,

We always

foreground shadow, Rocco out

it

look into a

says,

"With-

the painting would be an ordinary

scene of a typical European town." He set

out to capture the right amount of detail in

the

shadow

restraint

area,

and an

air

"but yet to do of mystery."

it

with

Shadows

The Music Lena

Room

Watercolor on

22"x32"

This scene

is

flooded with natural light

from several windows, and

Liu silk

as well. Liu

artificial light

worked both from photo-

graphs and the actual arrangement

around husband

Bill's

piano. After

first

doing a thumbnail painting to judge composition

and

color,

she began the

painting by flooding the

canvas stretcher color.

strips)

The paints

Liu

silk

full

(stretched

on

with loose general

uses are a combina-

tion of traditional transparent watercolor

and

oriental mineral color, similar to

gouache.

41

42

Enliven

Your Paintings With Light

I Nature of the Object Causing the Shadow. A solid object, such as a

wood

post, usually casts a

strong, hard-edged shadow, while

a transparent or translucent object,

such as a glass

jar, casts

a

lighter, less consistent shadow.

shadow

The reason the

jar's

uniform

some

is

that

is

not

of the light

passing through the jar

is

deflected

up odd parts of the shadow area. The same effects can be seen in the broken shadow of the bowl and the unbroken shadow of the (see chapter four) and ends striking

small blossom at the lower left in Susanna Spann's Stolen Moments. Another phenomenon that affects cast shadows is diffraction,

the slight spreading of a light ray as it

passes by the edge of an opaque

The result is a slight fuzziness at the shadow edges as the spreading light invades the shadobject.

ow

area.

nounced

ow

The

effect

at the

is

end

more

pro-

of the shad-

farthest from the object.

Stolen

Moments

Susanna Spann Transparent watercolor on 300-lb. Arches 49" x 24" Collection of Jeffrey

and

Patricia Aresty,

Coral Springs, Florida.

The shadow cast by the glass bowl uniform

in

value or color because

is

not

it is

modified by light passing through the bowl. That light

is

bent and deflected by

the varying thicknesses of glass and by the

water

in

the bowl, and emerges

patterns to strike the

phenomenon, next chapter.

shadow

refraction,

is

in

odd

area. This

covered

in

the

y

Shadows

Texture of the Shadowed Surface. Smooth surfaces will yield smooth, sharp-edged shadows. Rough surfaces, however, will show unevenness at the relatively

edges and value variations within shadow because any light entering a rough area tends to be scattered by countless small reflecthe

tors

— blades

of grass or the

nap of

a carpet, for example. You can easily test this by performing a little

experiment. Darken your room and lay

something smooth, such as a

surface

piece of paper, on your carpet.

Hold an object such as a ruler an inch or two above both surfaces

and use a flashlight to cast a shadow on both. You'll see a clear difference between the shadow on the paper and that on the carpet. The rougher the carpet, the greater the difference.

Winter Stalk Allen Blagden

Watercolor

22"x30" This

is

Blagden's pet

bobcat. The shadows

painted over smooth

snow

are relatively

sharp; those over the

rough tree bark are broken and

less

sharp-edged.

Grass

43

44

Enliven

Your Paintings With Light

Color of the

Shadowed

Sur-

would be with no shadow and then,

down

face. Shadows are not slabs of

after letting

black; their colors are greatly influ-

transparent layers of paint until the

enced by underlying

area looks subdued enough.

colors. Paint-

ers are divided in their approaches to handling basic

shadow

dry, laying

It's

Midaftemoon, on pages 46-47.

version of the color the surface has

method, there

without shadow;

it's

used by Don Stone

the

method

in his moonlit

scene at the beginning of chapter two. Others paint shadows by glazing. Glazing, in this case, first

means

painting the area the color

it

When

opting for the glazing

What

tion,

is

always the ques-

color glaze? Using cool

colors— blues, greens, purples — works well because the area adjacent to the shadow is lit by the sun or other relatively warm-colored

and placing cool shadows ad-

light,

Navarre Beach

Who

Robert Frank

shadows on white sand are

Pastel

on paper

19"x25"

the

watercolor demonstration,

One group paints directly, obtaining the shadow color using a darker

says

shadows are

colorless? These color-

drenched. The color comes from

many

(1)

the

colors inherent in "white" sand, (2)

sky reflections, (3) reflected color from

surrounding objects, and tant of

all,

the

artist's

(4)

most impor-

imagination.

jacent to the

warm areas heightens

the contrast.

method used by Stephen Sebastian in his

color.

it

Colors of Surrounding Areas. Light of various colors will always

be reflected from nearby surfaces into the shadow, thus modifying its "basic" color. Try placing a colored object such as an apple close to the shadowed side of a white cup. You'll see clearly that the color of

the apple greatly modifies the

"gray" shadow on the cup. Including colors in

them

life.

shadows helps give

Position of the Light Source. Changing the location of a light source relative to the object causes

emphatic changes in the resulting shadow. To take just one example, an object under the sun around midday casts a short, sharp shadow, but hours later that same

Midday sun

Later sun

object casts a longer and fuzzier

Sunny Retreat

shadow, lighter in value at the end farthest from the object. The fuzziness and lighter value occur partly because of diffraction, but mostly because the farther a shadow is from the object casting it, the more chance there is for extraneous light to be bounced into the shadow. It's also important to understand that while the position of the light

source

critically affects

the

length and direction of shadows,

22"x30"

Wander

likes this

French paper for

whiteness and because of color from

allows the

it

surface.

its

its

lifting

He prepares to

paint by soaking the paper and stapling to a

Homosote board.

Like

der's paintings, this

one

and shadow.

case the large cast

shadow

In this

is

it

most of Wan-

filled

at the right unifies the

with light

composi-

it

has no effect on reflections. Shad-

ows and

Gustave Wander Watercolor on Lanaquarelle paper

tion

and helps focus attention on the

porch area with

reflections are distinctly tice that all

its

wicker furniture. No-

the shadows are varied by the

different critters, as we'll see in the

next chapter.

presence of light reflected into them. The strong reflections of the white chair and table legs break through the cast shadow;

the direction of those reflections

will re-

main constant while the locations of the

shadows

will

sition of

the sun.

change with the

shifting po-

46

Enliven

Your Paintings With Light

Stephen Sebastian

Demonstration

Painting Luminous is drawn to shadows cast on white surfaces and is intrigued by their varying degrees of color and brightness. Like most watercolor painters, he usually paints shadows over a dry, previously

Sebastian

painted surface — i.e., glazing.

Sometimes the surface over which the shadows fall is white, as here, but often the surface will be full of color before shadows are applied.

Midafternoon Stephen Sebastian Watercolor on Arches 400-lb. cold-press

paper

20"x28"

Stepl Sebastian soaks the paper and staples to 3A-inch plywood.

and

taut,

he

starts

it

When the paper is dry

with a

fairly detailed

drawing and then masks off the paper's edges with drafting tape to retain a clean, white edge. He

likes, in later

stages, to re-

move the tape for a value check. also covers the

masking until

fluid to protect

the sky

is

Sebastian

edges of the building with

painted,

the white paper

and then removes

the masking. The sky color ultramarine blue and

is

a mixture of

brown madder.

Step 2 Using the same color combination as for the first

sky,

he paints the cast shadows, after

masking the roof shingles. The mask-

ing allows rapidly

him to paint the shadows more

and smoothly.

Shadows

Shadows

Step 3 He now works to bring depth, warmth and contrast to the shadows. He does so by lightening some areas and darkening others.

The lightening

is

done by wetting

an area and gently removing some paint; the darkening

is

done by adding

light

washes of raw umber and ultramarine blue.

Step 4 He paints the overhanging roof shingles and sharpens

details over the entire paint-

ing: nails, stains, cracks in boards, spaces

between the louvered

slats, joints

be-

tween boards. Notice the attention to lovely

little details,

such as the breaks

in

the cast shadows where there are spaces

between roof

shingles, allowing sunlight

to pass through.

47

48

Enliven

Your Paintings With Light

Cast

Shadows

along the edge of the roof are given

A cast shadow is formed when one

shape and solidity thanks to the shadows they cast. While defin-

object blocks light from striking an-

ing underlying shapes,

other surface. Such shadows

themselves become interesting shapes — indeed their shapes are

fre-

quently set the tone, or mood, of a

Plaza in Graand Gatewood's nada (page 40) painting. Rocco's

untitled piece (below) rely heavily

on cast shadows for their impact. Both paintings have an air of mystery that would be absent if the cast shadows were removed. Long, slanting shadows seem to invite the eye to probe. Cast shadows serve the painter more ways than by simply providing mood. They help define the shapes of surfaces on which they fall. Look at the windows, for example, in Granada. Each is set in in

deep

because the sunlight streaming in from the upper left causes sharp shadows to be cast to the right and under the frames and sills. Those shadows emphatically define the windows. Similarly, the relief

decorative brackets and cornices

shadows

often the subject of a picture. In addition to defining the basic

forms

of objects,

shadows help dea

seem to be casting their own shadows up against the overhang? There

is

apparently only a single

source — the sun high above —

light

how can these beams be casting shadows upward? The answer is that there is actually a second light source: sunlight reflected from a surface below the beams— in this so

scribe textures as well. In figure

case a light-colored lower roof.

(page 49, top), the light

Such relections can also be caused by a whitewashed wall, a bright gravel walkway, a shiny floor and

from the front and there definition of the brick

is

directly

is little

and

clap-

board wall. But in figure b, a raking light from the upper right gives the wall character by causing many small, sharp cast

shadows

that,

taken together, say "texture."

There cast

is

a curious occurrence of

shadow

that

may

at first

seem

"wrong": A shadow may appear without obvious henefit of a light source. In the illustration on page 49 (center), the roof overhang casts a shadow, as we might expect, on the side of the building. But why do the protruding beams, which are themselves in shadow,

so on. In fact,

it's

rare that a scene

truly has a single light source

—

there are almost always reflections

added sources. Another intriguing phenomenon is that of overlapping shadows. These are the result of multiple to act as

light sources,

discussed in the

chapter. There can be any

last

number

shadows overlapping and crosswhat effect you get when shadows overlap depends on the arrangement of lights and objects. As a rule, wherever shadows overlap, they reinforce one another so that the area of

ing one another; exactly

of overlap

is

darker than the

rest.

Notice that the two objects in the

on page 49 (bottom) each cast two shadows because there are two light sources. There illustration

where the shadand where they do

are three places

ows

overlap,

they are darkest.

Untitled Charles

Gatewood

Egg tempera on Masonite panel 8"

x 8"

Soft light

mystery.

and long shadows lend an

One wonders what

air

souls have

passed through this schoolroom and scribbled

on these blackboards.

of

Shadows

In (a)

there

is little

definition of texture

because of the direct frontal lighting; the raking light

means

of

in (b)

many

defines texture by

small cast shadows.

*m*mr"* The shadows cast upward by the beams are caused by light reflected from below.

Sunlight

Reversed

shadows

Normal cast

shadow

l.

._;L^Ll_

il_

u_ Reflected light

Where shadows each other.

Light source 2

Light source

1

overlap, they reinforce

49

50

Enliven

Your Paintings With Light

Modeling

from the cloth and other objects.

the folds of the blouse, around the

Modeling is the general lessening of light as a form curves away from

There's a similar effect in the lone

woman's head and hands, and

the light source.

One might

think,

given a single light source and a

simple rounded object, that modeling

would be a straightforward

matter, but of course little is is

it's

straightforward

Its lower left shadow by reflected light from the cloth; there's even a little dimple of light reflected from the bowl, on the apple's upper left shoulder.

green apple.

across the wall behind her. Notice

area is

the gentle transition of the head

hot. Very

where

light

concerned!

Consider Michael Weber's

Still

lit

Notice, too,

shadows

some

tainer next to

one might expect to see a gradually deepening shadow wrapping around the white

the shadow, and

at the right, so

becoming darkest

pitcher,

at the

edge next to the basket. Curses! Foiled again! Just look at

all

the

bright light reflected into the

shadow

That

area.

from the

light

comes

cloth, as well as the silver

bowl; there's even a good bit of green, thanks to the apples.

The

two white containers at the left show the same phenomenon — their shadowed sides are beautifully altered

by reflected

Life With Granny Smiths Michael J. Weber

Still

Watercolor

22"x28" This

still life is full

of

modeling, cast shad-

ows and

reflections.

Notice that every

shadow wrapping around a form

is

vaded by strong reflected objects.

in-

light

from other

light

The

small

white container at the left is casting a shadow on the larger con-

With Granny Smitns (below), where light is bouncing all over the place. The light source is

Life

of the cast

in this painting.

is

it.

That cast shadow

sharper and darker, as

is

so often

the case, nearest the object casting it

becomes gradu-

into

shadow, the hair melting into

the background. The brightly right side of her face

and her

lit

right

hand are presented against a dark background, but are rescued from starkness by finely modeled edges.

Everywhere you look, some form

is

receding from the light in a natural, gentle way.

As you can see from these exammodeled shadow is full of

ples, a

ally lighter and softer-edged farther away. Other shadows are treated with care — those in the crisp bas-

pleasant distractions — such shad-

ket are stronger, harder-edged,

any shadow, you'll be rewarded with an unending series of discov-

while those in the cloth are softer.

At the

right,

Weber

supplies

shadow on the backdrop

some

to help

guide your eye into the picture.

Robert Brawley has mastered many media. On page 51 (top), in alkyd and oil, he displays an exquisite touch in seekthe use of light in

and defining the many nuances of light and shadow among

ing out

ows

are no

more

cast shadows.

flat

If you

or dead than

carefully study

may revive an otherwise comatose painting. Because so many delightful aberrations can be found in any subject, it's risky to paint too much from memory unless your memory and imagination eries that

are unusually sharp.

Backlighting Backlighting

is

the placement of

the light source behind the subject.

The observer

is

rectly into the light partially blinded

result

is

looking

di-

and tends

by the

that relatively

glare. little

to

be

The

detail

can be seen in the subject, which tends to appear flat. Backlighting offers the opportunity for a dra-

matic painting with strong silhouettes,

but because of the flattening

of forms, there

also the opportu-

is

Warren

nity for a stinker!

have various ways of cashing in on the dramatic possibilArtists

ities of

backlighting and avoiding

the danger of flatness. In Porce'n Linen (page 52), Wayne Waldron uses reflected light to help model an otherwise flat shape,

lain

the pitcher. Light

is

reflected from

Taylor,

whose unrea constant

strained imagination

is

delight, backlights a

row

of spurs

Cotton-Eyed Joe (page 53). Taylor began by painting cowboy designs on the horizontal plane where in

the spur-figures are standing, using the golden "sunlight." Having

masked the sun and

with acid-free masking tape, he

into

Ted Becker uses a

similar tech-

cast by the backlit objects spread

toward the viewer

way

like

the spokes

They behave

ping set of spreading shadows.

shadows spokes

radiate in a

Bethesda, Maryland.

"The problem was the strong

light

meet

"I

white blouse but hold the ance.

I

brilliant radi-

did diffuse the light but allowed the

form to be

crisply

lit,

there

is

situated the

model to get maxi-

light.

I

mum

contrast from the darker backI

was

careful to render the back-

ground with a gently

on a always be

drawing the eye

shifting half-light,

right.

develop the

rich

I

was then able

midtones of the

source of backlighting; multiple sources would produce an overlap-

from

'

I

I

sizes

skin,

to

me-

and dark. The

a single raking effect of the sidelighting

wheel.

left

creating

a strong sense of a leftward source of

diating the extremes of light if

to

used a translucent curtain, which

at a vanishing point

distant horizon. This will

I

on the

wanted

reduce the contrast on the folds of the

similar to perspective lines

show

like

and Mrs. Robert W.

in a

the pattern

a backlit scene,

Miller,

ground.

and featureless by the presence of enough reflected light (some from the ground, most from the sky) to

In

on wood panel

Collection of Mr.

Notice that in each of the three

preceding paintings, the shadows

that

the light source

oil

22" x 26"

side of each

nique in Westside (page 52). The building is rescued from being flat

detail in the side facing us.

Alkyd and

White Blouse

spur-figures

worked from the sun outward in expanding washes of glowing color.

of a half-wheel.

it.

Brawley

J.

white blouse," says Brawley.

back onto the pitcher and provides just the right modeling illumination. As for the bowl itself, we have no problem grasping its roundness because Waldron chose to place it a little below eye level, thus showing its curved rim and allowing us

down

in a

Robert

rich colors that perfectly support

the bowl in front of the pitcher

to see

Woman

empha-

the volumes and structures of the

forms."

52

Enliven

Your Paintings With Light

Porcelain 'n Linen

Wayne Waldron Watercolor and

acrylic

22"x30" Waldron makes flected

skillful

use of light

re-

from the bowl back to the pitcher

to help define the pitcher's form. In this

two features are prominent:

design,

(1

)

He

arranges major light and dark shapes for

dramatic visual impact, and

(2)

through

patient glazing, he introduces the right

amount

of color and value transition to

keep these backlit shapes from appearing flat

Westside

Backlighting provides both a dramatic set-

Ted Becker

ting, or

Oil 1

5"

on canvas x 30"

play

mood, and the opportunity

up strong value

to

contrasts. Reflected

and

light,

lifeless.

mostly from the

sky, illuminates

face of the building just

some

defining detail.

enough

to

the

show

Shadows

Cotton-Eyed Joe Warren Taylor Watercolor

23"x35" In a

work

that pokes fun at the Texas line

dance bearing in a

this

row dance

spurs cast

name, spurs arranged

into the sunset.

shadows onto

The

backlit

a flat, figured

West

surface that features a comic, wild

theme, while three spurs create a spectator foreground.

drop and

its

The sunset acts as

light unifies

a back-

the event.

The Mind at Play #1

Like

Sharon Maczko

vents her scenes. "For this paint-

Transparent watercolor

ing," she says, "I

23"x37"

sumptuous orange-pink glow to

blanket. Backlighting dramati-

Photo courtesy of Gene Ogami.

be the basic element

cally

Warren

Taylor,

Maczko

to flood the main area with light,

in-

wanted the

at the left to high-

the bottom edge of the

light

the cre-

in

and one lamp

changes the color and

tex-

ation of a make-believe world.

ture of fabrics and objects,

After draping a rose-colored blan-

case creating a luminous environ-

ket over several chairs,

I

ment

placed

one high-wattage lamp behind

it

for the imagination."

in this

53

Chapter Four

Reflections

and

Refractions 1957 cadiiiac

Tom

Hale

30 x 40

The curved

refiec-

tions that enliven this subject are

echoed by the flowing abstract light

patterns

i

n

straight o lines, but

most things we learn in high school physics, that's a partial truth, something like the solemn vows politician. f Light but J want to go o may * © straight, © all kinds of things influence it to do otherwise. In cosmic terms, light pull J the gravitational * ° ° is bent by of a planet; on earth, light is rerouted by such ordinary substances as air, water and glass. like

Acrylic

ground

We think of y^. as travew o °

in

the back-

>

'

Light that changes course accounts for the

"twinkle" of stars;

it's

responsible for mirages,

on a lake and fuzzy shadow edges; it's what makes your eyeglasses help you see better; and it accounts for those strange blobs of color around reflections

the edges of a thick glass vase. Painters should be thankful for the errant light,

ways of

because those wanderings from the straight

and narrow often become the spark that energizes a painting. There are two kinds of waywardness: reflections and refractions. Reflections happen when light bounces from a surface on its way to your eye; refractions are the result of light veering in

course as

way

it

its

passes through various substances on

Sometimes reflections and refractions are minor players in a picture, but often they are what the picture is all about. its

to your eye.

56

Enliven

Your Paintings With Light

(a)

Reflections Although we often think of reflections in connection with flat surfaces, such as bodies of water, they can occur in surfaces of any shape.

The

reflections in

Tom Hale's 1957

(b)

Cadillac twist and curve to bring life to this subject. Hale

vibrant

starts with real reflections and then pushes and exaggerates them in his painting — having spent many

We see objects because light travels di-

(a)

rectly

from the object

(tree) to

(b)

A

reflection

from the

the eye of

the viewer.

is

seen

when

light travels

then bounces off the water

tree,

to the viewer's eye.

years in automotive design, he can

take artistic liberties with confi-

YES

dence. In stark contrast to Hale's

curved reflections, Allen Blagden deals with familiar reflections in water in his demonstration, The Inlet, on pages 58-59.

What

Is

Angle of incidence

Angle of reflection

(c)

a Reflection? Most imNO!

ages are the result of light coming

from some object to your however, is an image formed by light that has reached your eyes only after bouncing from an intermediate surdirectly

eyes.

A reflection,

face. In

(d)

sketch a (right, top) the ob-

server sees the tree across the

pond because

light travels directly

from the tree to his eyes. In sketch b he sees a reflection of the tree because light from the tree strikes the water's smooth surface and bounces up to his eyes. Usually he will see a combination of a and b. That's

all

there

is

jump around

at

in

sketch

c.

conditions light will

It

can visualize

some

smooth

bounces

(d) Light

sur-

smooth

off

does not bounce randomly off a surface.

it

meets the surface (angle

of incidence).

Light

from

hill

passes over tree

/ reflection

Hill

Light is

from

hill

same heigh

No

but farther back

hill

reflection

(f)

^>

much, you whether a reflection

see the trees reflected

in

seen

blocked

that

trees across a lake.

is

(e)

Hill

Under normal never bounce

makes sense in a given situation. Suppose, for example, you're painting

it

be-

as in sketch d.

Knowing just

off a

which

(angle of reflection) always equals the

angle at which

the angle of reflection

shown

bounces

light doesn't

random.

haves according to a rule of physics: When light is reflected from any flat, smooth surface, the angle of incidence equals as

light

to a reflection,

except that bouncing just

When

(c)

face, the angle at

You

the water

and you have no problem painting those reflections. But now you de-

(e)

When

its

light will pass

a distant object

produce a

is tall

enough,

over closer objects to

reflection.

(f)

When

that

same

tall

object

(hill) is

far in the distance, the light will

low angle by the time nearby tree and ing

no

will

reflection.

it

too

be at a

reaches the

be blocked by

it,

yield-

Reflections

cide to add a (nonexistent)

hill

in

the light from the

hill is

blocked by

the distance behind the trees.

the trees and the observer sees the

You're an

actual

artist,

so you're allowed

do that. But, you wonder, would you see a reflection of that hill in the water? The answer is an unqualified to

maybe.

the

If

hill is

that light from

it

the distance, but no

hill in

reflection of the see,

you have

lots

As you can of leeway in plac-

hill.

ing objects so that they either do

and Refractions

Homosassa River Neil H.

Adamson

Acrylic

on

illustration

board

14"x18" Along

this river often

Homer, Adamson

still

painted by Winslow finds

much un-

or don't reflect. spoiled beauty to paint. Here the strong

high enough

can pass over the

and still meet the observer's

reflections are kept

from becoming too

busy by treating them as large masses,

treetops, strike the water,

bounce up

to

eyes (angle of incidence equaling

broken only by a few tree trunk reflections

and horizontal streaks that

establish the

flatness of the water. The variety of greens

angle of reflection), the observer will see

a reflection, as in sketch

was mixed using phthalocyanine blue e.

But if the hill is so low that light from it is blocked by the trees, the observer will see no hill reflection. You can play with this situation and get just about any answer you want. Suppose you kept the hill the same height but moved it farther into the distance (sketch/).

Now

with raw sienna, raw umber and yellow oxide. Reversing the usual procedure, Ad-

amson painted the first,

trees

and

reflections

the sky and distant, misty trees

last.

57

58

Enliven

Your Paintings With Light

Demonstration

Allen Blagden

Painting Reflections in Water Wouldn't you paint an object first, and then its reflection? Not Blagden. There was a time when painters, especially watercolorists, were admonished by all the learned teachers to proceed one, two, The

three

.

.

.

and not

deviate.

Thank

goodness, we've become liberated from many needless rules. In a painting like this, with such

a dark mass representing the land and an equally dark mass for the

adjacent reflections,

it's

usually a

good idea to do something to separate the two dark areas for visual clarity— hence, the thin line of highlighted objects along the water's edge.

Inlet

Allen Blagden

Watercolor

30"x22"

Stepl Blagden pencils

in all

the important

shapes, including the tree forms and their reflections.

green and

He

paints the

when

lily

dry covers

pads

olive

them with

Mastoid.

Step 2 He washes the

entire paper with a light

pink tone to begin suggesting twilight color,

then adds gray tone toward the

bottom of the

picture.

He

also begins the

dark reflections.

Step 3 With the reflections nearly finished, Blag-

den removes the Maskoid from the

lily

pads. Against the dark reflections the

pads are too

lily

light for a twilight scene, so

Blagden darkens them. He begins laying in

the trees.

^t%t^l SVsa--

rn:<

**8S£^

'

•

I

Hp

Step 4 He

finishes the trees

painting

them with

and shoreline

reeds,

dark, earthy greens in

a silhouetted fashion,

then modifying the

darks with touches of ochre and umbers.

The

bit

of light

left at

the water's edge

separates the dark shore from the dark water. Blagden takes care to flections "lean" in the

same

make

all re-

direction as

the objects without being too

rigid.

«-£...- >\

*

60

Enliven

Your Paintings With Light

Direction of a Reflection. Light rays bouncing from a smooth, flat surface don't make erratic bounces. They leave the surface at the same angle at which they strike it. They also don't bounce wildly right or left, but remain "in line." That is,

Democratic

Independent

Republican

piling

piling

piling

Democratic

Independent

Republican

reflection

reflection

reflection

a given light ray stays in the

same

when it strikes when it bounces

vertical plane

the surface and

away. Because of

this,

the "lean"

of a reflection can always be predicted.

object

The is

reflection of a vertical

always vertical; the reflec-

tion of a leaning object always leans in the

same

direction as the object.

Occasionally there

is

confusion

between reflections and shadows, and people sometimes carelessly use the words interchangeably. A

9bBBb

shadow

is a relative absence of caused by some object blocking the light source. If you change the position of the light source, you change the position, and possibly

light

the length and shape, of the

YES If

NO

you're painting a tree leaning to the

right, its reflection will lean in

the same

direction.

shadow. As the sun "travels" the sky, shadows cast by objects constantly change in length, direction and shape. Reflections, on the other hand, are independent of the light source.

Move the

light

source

you want and the length, direction and shape of a reflection stay constant. Only in certain odd situations will an object's shadow and all

its

reflection coincide. Normally

the two will be entirely separate, as

shown

at right.

Reflection

Reflections

Length of a Reflection. A remay appear to be the same

flection

vertical length as the object being

reflected, or

it

may be

color of the object, there are

shorter or

Two factors that determine

longer.

length are the

tilt

of the object

the position of the observer.

If

conditions. I've read that the value

object in a colored surface may appear to be a weak version of that color, not white; the reflection of an object in a body of water may be much altered by the color of the

of an object's reflection is always lower than the value of the object. Although that's most often the case, sometimes the reflection of an object appears lighter than the

water and by the color of the sky,

object because of conditions sur-

also reflected in the water. All of

rounding the reflection, the same

becomes

shorter— again, relative to the apparent length of the piling.

The observer's position is important. Suppose one observer is near water level and a second is high above, on a cliff, as shown in the sketch at bottom right.

these conditions depend on the

2,

can easily overwhelm a weak one

Leaning away CD from observer C?

observer

1

A

—

*

1

The reason

the reflection seems so short

observer

ened

1 is

is

that

seeing a foreshort-

reflected image.

It's like

seeing a long piece of lumber from

one

end— it may be twenty feet it may appear only inches

long, but long.

Observer 2

is

seeing reflec-

tion 2 with less foreshortening.

observer

1

will paint

So

a short reflec-

and observer 2 will paint a long reflection, compared to the

tion,

The

reflection of

when

the object

an object tilts

and shortened when

is

lengthened

toward the viewer, it tilts

away.

Observer 2

height of the trees.

One can

in

ways the simple way out: Paint what you see, illusions and all.

actually stretched out over a

longer span of water.

we saw

colored surfaces — an intense color

Leaning toward

even though reflection

sort of value illusion

chapter one. Confusing? There's

sees a shorter reflection than observer

rel-

by surrounding

ative brightnesses of the various

A

strange thing happens. Observer

is

Besides color, the value of a reflection is affected

backward, away from the observreflection

ette).

low pear in a blue bowl may appear

length of the piling. Tilt the piling

its

many

reflection of a yel-

greenish; the reflection of a white

greater, relative to the perceived

and

The

we

the length of its reflection becomes

er,

exceptions.

(which is no different from what happens when a strong pigment is mixed with a weak one on the pal-

and

our piling toward the observer,

tilt

Color and Value in a Reflection. Although the color of a reflection generally approximates the

and Refractions

actually calculate the

sizes of reflections versus reflect-

ing objects for any set of condi-

but that's of no concern here. What's important to the painter is to understand why reflections change under various conditions. tions,

Reflection

Observer

1

Most important, of course, is that you observe, photograph and sketch reflections to get a feel for how they behave. Given enough

A strange thing happens in

observation and understanding,

the observer sees relative to his position.

you can even invent reflections in youF paintings and make them con-

Even though reflection flection 2, observer

vincing.

a shorter reflection because of the fore-

1

1

is

will

regard to what

longer than

re-

see (and paint)

shortening that occurs from his viewing angle.

1

al-

61

62

Enliven

Your Paintings With Light

Using a Mirror to Study Reflections You can

solve

many

reflection

problems by using the sort of setup pictured here. Simply lay a mirror flat on a table, arrange various objects on or around the mirror, and observe their reflections. If there's no mirror handy, lay out a sheet of black matboard or shiny material, such as smooth aluminum foil, and cover it with a sheet of glass. Here are a few observations that can be made from the illustrated setup: • The two cutout "hills" are of equal height, but

show un-

equal reflections because of their distances

from the edge of

the mirror.

• The "sun" left,

upper shadows tomoving the sun is

at the

so objects cast

objects

and note the

their reflections.

effect

on

Move from

someone hold a flashlight to represent the moon. You can simu-

ward the right; would change the shadows, but

flections "follow"

late a lake by carefully squirting water droplets into the air so

not the reflections.

pair of eyes observing such a

that they gradually

• You can see things in the reflection that you can't see in the

scene sees a somewhat different

mirror. You'll see

some

blurring

Sometimes it's helpful to have someone move the objects for you as you observe from varying positions. Most observations can be made in full room light, but you might also turn out the lights and have

of the flashlight image.

You can

object —

e.g.,

the underside of

the roof overhang.

• Vertical objects yield

verti-

cal reflections; tilted objects

give tilted reflections.

Try changing the positions of

Sharp Versus Fuzzy Reflections. In

Tom

Hale's

1957 Cadil-

lac (page 54) you can see the be-

havior of reflections in smooth surfaces: They're sharp

Likewise, in

and

clear.

my Reflections With

Bouquet (page 63, top), the reflections are shown as fairly sharp images.

But look at Don Stone's and Don Holden's moonlit scenes in chapter five

(pages 78 and 74) and notice

no sharp image of the moon on water — only broken streaks of light. And think about driving on a rainy night and seeing the taillights there

is

right to left

and notice that reyou— each

set of reflections.

from cars ahead of you reflected in the wet pavement. Instead of sharp reflections, you observe wobbly streaks. What's going on? Let's look at the sketch on page 63, botIf the water's surface in a were perfectly smooth, you'd see a perfectly round reflection of the moon, and if the wet street in b were smooth, the taillights' reflections would be round. But rarely

tom.

are such surfaces smooth.

fall

onto the

get a similar effect by pouring

enough water over the mirror to form a "puddle" and having

someone gently blow across the surface to form ripples.

rugated mirror. Instead of a single, "mirror" surface, we have liter-

flat

ally millions of small, irregular

shiny surfaces. Each

little

wavelet

becomes a mirror and each small mirror is tilted at a slightly different angle from the others. At any given

moment, many of these waveletmirrors between an observer and the

moon

will

be

at the right

tilt

to

catch a bit of moonlight and reflect it

toward the observer. In

fact

Most water surfaces have countless ripples, caused by the wind or

you'll often notice stray flecks of re-

by passing boats or other disturbances. The result is a sort of cor-

left

flected moonlight to the right or

of the

main path of light — those by ran-

bits of light are reflected

Reflections

Reflections With Phil

and Refractions

Bouquet

Metzger

Watercolor on Strathmore

illustration

board

30"x40" Reflections fairly

on smooth,

flat

surfaces are

sharp and retain the same basic

shapes (but inverted) as the objects being reflected. Reflections in curved surfaces

generally are distorted and

ent

in

both

size

may be

differ-

and shape from the object

being reflected. Note the walnuts and their smaller reflections in the silver

bowls.

dom

wavelets that happen to be

properly positioned for an instant

bounce a light ray toward you. The same phenomenon is happening in the street scene, where instead of wavelets we have many tiny, rounded "mirrors" in the form

to

of gravel or bits of concrete coated

with water and lets,

the coated

oil.

Like the wave-

bumps

in the road-

way reflect light in a scattered way. An important attribute of a fuzzy reflection

is

that

it's

(b)

always longer

than a sharp reflection of that same object would be. Almost anytime

you see trees reflected across a lake, the water will be rippled and you'll notice that the reflections

Coating of rainwater and

oil

^»*

stretch far across the lake toward

you. There are mini-mirrors along

the light path from the object to your eye, and some of these minimirrors may be positioned to bring reflections lake.

all

the

way

across the Pieces of gravel or concrete

63

64

Enliven

Your Paintings With Light

Curved Reflecting Surfaces. Look again

at

1957 Cadillac and

notice the distorted reflections in

the automobile's curved surfaces. Similarly, in Reflections

With Bou-

quet the images of the walnuts in the convex outer surfaces of the

sil-

might expect. When you're painting from a model, of course, all that's necessary is to paint what you see. Trust your eye. But if you're painting from memory, you may easily be fooled. The best way to figure out any reflection (if

ver bowls are distorted, smaller

you're after realism)

than the actual walnuts.

model and observe.

If

the wal-

nuts were inside the bowls, their

concave inside surfaces would again be distorted, this time larger than life. Reflections in curved surfaces offer lots of surprises, such as double images, inverted images and elongated images, all depending on the shape of the reflecting surface and reflections in the bowls'

the position of the observer. Al-

though such images are predictable according to the laws of optics,

they are not always what you

is

to set

up a

Nightfall — Harris Beach Peter G. Holbrook Oil

and

acrylic

on paper

31"x40" Since the sun has set, there

is

no

single,

strong light path along the water. Instead

the entire water surface acts as a mirror, reflecting the light

tant water acts as ror,

from the

one

fairly

sky.

The

dis-

uniform mir-

while the nearer, shallower water

many

is

more broken and

its

flect bits of light.

Notice that the brilliance

of the water surface

is

mini-mirrors re-

enhanced by the

surrounding or adjacent dark land.

strips of

Reflections

Refractions

When

light

down but its direction is not changed. However, when the

passes through a sub-

strikes the

stance such as glass or water before reaching your eye, the image you see may be distorted in a variety of ways. Such distortions are

apparent in Shirley Porter's

is

Is

flected again.

Refraction? Refraction

the bending of a light ray as

it

at

an angle

does change direction, and where the beam emerges from the glass back into the air, it's deit

To

action, think of the

beam

as a solid

not seeing it at

less you're looking straight

but the part that has not yet

right.

stance (such as air) into another of

fast.

different density (such as glass or

wheeling effect as the

The illustration below shows what happens when light

comes deflected and changes

passes from

Light travels

more slowly

in a

When

the light

beam

the surface of the

first

pendicularly, the

beam

Air

Light

shown

as

in the sketch

beam

front brakes in your car grabs

because of varying thicknesses of materials, you see light whose source is hard to determine. Refractions most often come into play

makes the car lurch

when

result

is

bedi-

though one of the and in that direc-

painting

You've probably noticed that a straight stick thrust into water to

bend where

it

and

enters the

causes,

it's

isfying to

intellectually

and watch it "bend.") The

:>

when

light passes at

an

Apparent fish

angle from one material into another of different density (such as glass).

As you can

light ray

from

see, the direction of

doesn't change

perpendicular to the

when

light.

B

air into

True fish

the

the glass

Your brain processes

light as

though

it

so

it

is

had traveled along a straight

seems the

fish

is

subjects involv-

at A, not B.

line,

fluids.

know what's

Glass

Refraction occurs

still

Although you can paint strange and beautiful refractions without knowing their ing glass

Air

beam

down at below

nations of materials, and especially

of water

Air

true location (un-

Sometimes, because of combi-

traveling

water. (Stick a pencil into a bowl

slowed

it)

its

a sort of cart-

seems

strikes

glass peris

is still

tion.

dense substance, such as glass, than in a lighter substance, such as air.

The

rection. It's as

through a slab of glass and then back into air.

you're not also submerged) you're

beam that first strikes the slanted glass immediately slows down the

reached the glass

air

that light

rod with a blunt end. The part of

passes at an angle from one sub-

water).

is

from the submerged part of the object changes direction when it breaks free from the dense water into the less dense air, exactly the behavior just discussed. When you see anything submerged (provided

get a feel for this

still life

Stems and Stripes, demonstrated on pages 68-69.

What

second glass

reason for the illusion

beam

and Refractions

more

sat-

going on.

65

p

Cobalt and Cranberry Glass Michael

J.

Weber

Watercolor

24"x36" Refractions occur

obliquely from

when

light passes

one medium to another.

Notice the distortions that occur as light

from the large blue vase passes through the ribbed red vase. There are similar

dis-

tortions with the other glass containers — a discontinuity, for example, in the table-

cloth as seen through the rightmost red

container.

Water Light #20 Linda

L.

Stevens painted this picture following an

Stevens

early

morning walk along a

California

Transparent watercolor on Arches 300-lb.

beach. The night before, the tide had

rough paper

washed

29V2"x42"

beach and the

Collection of National Medical

Company, Orange,

Oxygen

California.

to be

large quantities of mica onto the

light made the sand appear "made of gold." Painting later from

slides,

she handled the reflections and

Gold Medal of Honor, Allied Artists of

fractions by using

America, 1982.

lays of color.

many

re-

transparent over-

Reflections

Painting Clear Glass. How do you paint something essentially colorless, such as clear glass? In-

tality (below), the clear glass ob-

stead of painting the glass, paint

jects are visually defined by edges

what you see reflected and

and by what you see in, through and around the objects. In Spann's painting, the bowl is essentially

re-

fracted by the glass and what

around the

is

glass.

In Shirley Porter's demonstra-

two pages) and in Susanna Spann's Southern Hospition (on the next

what's

left after

painting every-

and Refractions

thing else (negative painting).

would be

It

intriguing to try tracking

each piece of refracted color you see in a subject such as this, but if that drives you crazy, you can be content in knowing that you only need to paint what you see before you to have an effective result.

>$&*) where the white or near-white areas

Southern Hospitality

After arranging her bowl of gladioli, with

plan

Susanna Spann

a dark burgundy cloth as a backdrop for

would go. She made the

Transparent watercolor on Arches 300-lb.

dramatic effect, Spann photographed the

placing darks next to

drew her design

are built up with as

lights sing

out by

them — her rich darks

many as twenty

paper

setup. She then

32"x52"

on heavy watercolor paper, working from

of paint, each applied over a previously

photographs and the actual

dried layer.

Collection of David Atlanta, Georgia.

and

Pierrette Bailey,

painted with the paper lying

in pencil

still life.

flat,

She

neither

stretched nor fastened to anything. As she

used no masking,

it

was important to

pre-

call

Spann says her large paintings

for a lot of patience

case,

layers

and time — in

this

about one hundred hours of paint-

ing time.

67

68

Enliven

Your Paintings With Light

Demonstration

Shirley Porter

Painting Refractions What life

interested Porter in this

was

all

still

the "action" in the glass

bowls and the glass spheres. Noexample, the discontinuity between the parts of stems in and tice, for

out of the water; refraction prevents you from seeing the sub-

merged stem in its true position. The submerged parts of stems look thicker than those in

air,

again be-

cause of refraction. Cloth stripes seen through the various objects

run

in crazy directions

become

inverted, as in the larger

glass sphere.

account

and images

It's

not necessary to

scientifically for

these

weird goings-on, but it's comforting to have at least a general idea of what's happening. What really counts, of course, is to observe and paint.

Stems and Stripes Shirley Porter

Watercolor on Arches 300-lb. cold-press

paper

30"x22" Collection of Judith A. Nicely, Akron,

Ohio.

Stepl Porter

first

does a

fairly detailed

drawing

on her watercolor paper. She decides to build ers,

up the painting

in

so she begins with

colors,

transparent

lay-

two transparent

new gamboge yellow and Antwerp

blue.

Step 2 She introduces Winsor red strengths over

yellow over

some

some

in

varying

of the yellows, and

of the blue areas to pro-

duce greens. She begins paying attention to detail.

and

Reflections in Glass

Reflections

and Refractions

Step 3 Porter continues painting details using

the same set of colors, and lays

in

a dark

background using glazes of Antwerp blue

and Winsor

red.

Now

she begins thinking

more about balancing

values and colors.

Step 4 She finishes by using Antwerp blue

in

many

areas to provide

trasts

and to unify the painting. She dark-

more value con-

ens the lower right curve of the large bowl to help balance the dark

in

the upper

left.

69

I

«

PART

TWO

1HE ROLE OF

Chapter Five

Capturing Time and Place Southern Palms Neil H.

Adamson

Acrylic

28"x13"

Adamson paint

in

likes

long,

formats.

to

narrow

In this

he chose a

case

vertical

shape to emphasize the high,

and the

brilliant sky

tall

make "snapshots" of particular times and places. To signal what time and place, they fill their snapshots with clues. Some are obvious: snow on the ground, palm trees on the Like photographers, painters

horizon, rust-red rock formations in the desert.

There

a more subtle clue— the kind of light you

is

paint.

palms.

Think of your favorite time of day and your favorite

One of mine would be early evening in the Maryland countryside, when the light is golden and the shadows are long. To me, that's a special, place.

peaceful scene, without the activity and noise of

midday

defined by

There

and that time and place seem

in the city,

is

light.

no formula that tells you what kind of light

goes with a particular time or place — there couldn't be, because there are too many variables. Seven P.M. in

New England

is

certainly winter in Florida.

not 7:00 P.M. in Florida, and

New England

is

not winter in

which you signal by fauna, architecture, costume

But for a given

locale,

your choice of

flora,

and so on, the

light reliably follows certain patterns

throughout the day and night and during the seasons.

You come

to understand those patterns

only by experiencing those days and nights and seasons. (Overleaf)

Untitled Sharon Maczko Transparent watercolor

22"x30"

74

Enliven

Your Paintings With Light

Time of Day

even the "green" nearby

warm Seven pm (title Edward Gordon catches the

The same kind

In his alkyd painting

page),

lovely stillness of a spring evening.

The low

sun, far off to the right,

renders the white porch face in the

golden tones that

we

associate

with the light of either morning or evening. Think how different the

mood

be on the

of this painting might

without the golden

light

white porch. The quiet

mood is fur-

ther enhanced by the stark features in the painting: a beautifully

graded sky; long,

flat

land shapes

sculpted in shadow by the low

and severe, unornamented

light;

fields

a

look.

of light often ac-

companies the early morning, as well. Let's jump ahead (or back) about twelve hours and look at

some

paintings depicting

morning

River (bottom), Neil Adamson uses some of the same devices just discussed in Gordon's painting. He counts on an

light.

In Florida

overall

warm

glow, a smoothly

graded sky and long flat shapes to bring off the quiet morning mood. In Marshland Glow, demonstrated on pages 76-77, Robert Frank sets the stage for his pastel painting by choosing a warm-

the morning light. Like Gordon's Seven pm, this picture has a warm glow made more intense by a contrasting cool sky, and again we see the use of long horizontal shapes; horizontals generally suggest calm, or quiet, while verticals or diagonals often imply action.

Donald Holden takes us back to nighttime in his watercolor Night at Gull

on the

Pond I (below). He focuses

streaming from the sky area to the water, and dramatizes the light by keeping the land shapes stark and simple, with just light

enough dium,

and Working in a different me-

detail for identification

interest.

oil,

Don Stone demonstrates Making

lines in the building. Notice that

colored pastel paper. The amber

those same principles in

the gold of the evening light

paper will show through

Ready, on pages 78-79.

washes over everything, giving

stage of the painting to help define

Night at Gull Pond

in the final

I

In this scene,

Holden decided to omit the

Donald Holden

moon, which he

Watercolor

tracting,"

7 /4"Xl0 3/4" Collection of

American

The Ogunquit Museum of

Art,

Ogunquit, Maine.

was "corny and

dis-

effects

moonlight— stark, silhouetted shapes;

of

1

felt

and instead painted the

strong value contrasts; limited color range. Says Holden, is

lighter

"A moonlit landscape

than you might expect, so

I

painted the rocky shapes with dark color, let

them dry, and washed them down with

clear

water to make the color lighter and

more still

lights

Florida River Neil H.

Adamson

Acrylic watercolor 1

3" x 22"

Adamson was drawn

to paint this tranquil

scene even though he feared

"something

fit

it

for a calendar."

was about 7:00 am. on

a

was The time

November day

near Sarasota, Florida. While he watched this peaceful scene, a sandhill

crane flew

by and that settled matters: He had to paint

it.

transparent. While the paper

wet from

this 'bath.'

and darks

in

I

was

painted the

the sky and water."

Capturing Time and Place

Painting Glowing Light With Alkyds Edward Gordon chooses alkyds because he seeks paints that dry slower than acrylics but more quickly than oils. Alkyds can be used in a variety of ways— thin or impasto, smoothly finished or rough. Here is the approach Gordon uses

to achieve jewel-

like results in his glowing, lightfilled paintings.

Paint: The binder

a ma-

is

terial called

alkyd resin.

patible with

oil

are cleaned

Com-

paints, alkyds

up with paint

ner or turpentine.

thin-

A product

used as a thinner and for glazing and varnishing. Alkyds dry overnight, allowing a called Liquin

is

new

coat the next day. Support: Any surface

able for

oil

painting

suit-

suitable

is

Gordon uses V4-inch Masonite hardboard panels. He

for alkyds.

applies five or

more coats

of

wipes on a rag to keep them dry. As the paint on the panel begins to set, a dry brush helps in

achieving a smooth, even finish.

The Drawing: Gordon

first

does a detailed pencil drawing on Mylar drafting film. He transfers the drawing to the panel by inserting Sally's graphite paper between the Mylar and the panel and carefully tracing over the drawing with an empty, fme ballpoint pen.

Painting: To achieve the light

glow in his work, Gordon up his paintings in thin,

builds

translucent layers.

One thin coat

of paint does not cover well, but

with each successive coat he adand values. Darkest

the wet surface. With firm pres-

justs color

sure,

and

dried Liquin using 600-grit pa-

lightest areas usually re-

quire three coats to cover, while

middle values

A bit

may

of Liquin

require two.

added to a paint

side of this hardboard,

mixture increases the paint's translucence and makes it more

ally

workable. After each layer of

acrylic gesso to the textured

and usuthree coats to the smooth

side.

He sands

the five-coat side

paint dries,

Gordon builds up

he sands each layer of

per wrapped around a 2" x 9" piece of polystyrene, which provides a firm support but

is

not

hard enough to damage the painting's surface. Sanding without such a support will create an uneven, dented surface.

face with three or four coats

even more translucence by coating the entire painting with Liquin, diluted to a workable consistency with mineral spirits.

Gordon sands lightly with 1200grit paper to remove dust. Then he varnishes the painting by

(one per day) of thin alkyd light

When

pouring Synvar, a clear syn-

gray paint, sanding with 600-grit

sanded with 600-grit paper. Often he applies several coats of Liquin, followed by sanding, be-

with a drywall sanding screen until it's perfectly flat

shell

smooth.

He

and egg-

paints this sur-

paper between coats. Brushes: Any type of brush may be used, depending on whether you aim for a smooth, delicate finish or a

more

ous, textured result.

thetic picture varnish, directly

fore proceeding to the next layer

from the bottle. Using no brush, he spreads the varnish by tipping the panel back and forth

of paint.

until it's evenly covered. Finally,

vigor-

Finish: Gordon covers the

For much

finished painting with several

dust cover for twenty-four hours

coats of diluted Liquin.

The and the degree of dilution must be determined by testing— sometimes too

to dry.

number

paint

Gordon uses synwhich have bounce yet are soft enough for of his work,

thetic sable brushes,

subtle blending.

dry, the Liquin surface is

After the final coat of Liquin,

When

painting

of coats

a large area that requires

much

smooth blending (such as the sky in Seven pm) he patiently stipples with round bristle brushes that he continually

areas of the painting. While each

coat

Liquin will dull the bright

is

drying, the painting lies

under a cover to limit the amount of dust that can fall into

flat

he lays the painting

flat

under a

Should he need to

re-

some area of the painting, Gordon can remove the varnish

by rubbing the entire painting with mineral spirits. This will not harm the underlying Liquin or paint.

75

76

Enliven

Your Paintings With Light

Demonstration

Robert Frank

Painting Morning Light in Pastel Not every morning course, but

we

is

tranquil, of

like to associate

that feeling with morning.

It's

peaceful time of day before

a

all

hell

breaks loose! Frank uses some

fa-

miliar techniques to depict his

quiet scene: a gently graded sky,

warm light and long, flat shapes. To marsh scene morning light, he chooses an amber-colored Canson set the tone for this

with

its

early

Mi-Teintes pastel paper.

Marshland Glow Robert Frank Pastel

on paper

17"x21"

Stepl The

source

light

is

from the

right at a

low

angle. Frank lays in dark masses of land

and

foliage,

richness it

choosing a dark violet for

its

and for the deep, warm shadow

suggests.

Step 2

A

broken layer of blue-green pastel mod-

erates

and breaks up the dark violet to

ate texture representing grasses foliage.

The blue-green

pulls

cre-

and other

together the

foreground and background and begins to suggest color reflected

from the

sky.

Step 3 Tones of green and gold ochre add texture

and establish the

ground

local colors of

the

areas. During this step, Frank pays

close attention to texture, shapes

edges.

All

and

three levels of color— paper

color, underpainting

now combine

and overpainting —

to attain the

glow of

on ground

foliage.

flected sky light

re-

Capturing Time and Place

Step 4 He applies and

light blue to

refines the

the sky and water,

shape of the water area.

The composition

is

strengthened by

Frank's extending the water off to the

left,

thus avoiding a too-centered position for the water shape.

Step 5 Frank adds the yellow glow of sky color

and corresponding yellow the water. He also adds

reflection in

warm

to the ground area, which has

highlights

two sources

of light: the reflected sky and the strong direct sunlight that skims the surface.

makes the

distant

ground

the light source, lighter and

warmer than

the foreground. He finishes with nal blending of sky

some

fi-

and water, along with

additional touches of light areas.

He

area, closer to

on the ground

77

78

Enliven

Your Paintings With Light

Don Stone

Demonstration

Painting Moonlight in Oils The

Stone demonstrates the impor-

dued

tance of correct value relationships

neutral gray against which

and

values can be judged. Having estab-

In the final stage, a range of beauti-

lished a midtone as a point of refer-

fully

simplicity of detail in a moonlit

Working on stretched

scene.

gian linen, he

first

Bel-

by staining

it

with ivory black diluted with mineral spirits. This

grayed surface im-

Making Ready Don Stone on canvas

10"x14"

Step

1

Working on

a canvas first stained a

warm,

neutral gray, Stone quickly establishes im-

portant shapes and values. He begins with

the darkest areas: the wharf, the schooners and their reflections,

and the masts.

Then he establishes mid-values with a

warm wash

for the distant shore

and for

the seine boats and the shadows schooners'

sails.

the

in

For values lighter than

the stained canvas, such as the light parts of the

sail,

seine boats

and wharf, he

wipes out the stain with mineral At this stage everything

is

spirits.

kept thinly

painted and without detail.

Step 2 With the darks established, Stone next paints in the all-important sky value. light or

whole

too dark,

effect of light in the painting.

uses the

same

basic colors (white,

yellow, Thalo blue,

too

If

would change the

it

cadmium

He

lemon

red) to paint

the water's surface, lowering the value areas

away from the

light

in

source and

heightening the values nearer the light source. To establish the

moon's

light

on

the distant water, he uses a heavy impasto of white

and

a

little

lemon yellow.

all

other

ing the important values in the painting.

He

limits himself in the

early stages to a

few

large, impor-

tant shapes (sky, upright plane

mediately sets the tone for sub-

Oil

staining provides a

ence, he concentrates on establish-

gets rid of the

glaring white surface

light.

and

flat

plane) and a few distinct val-

ues, paying

little

attention to detail.

coordinated lower values says "night" while a glow in the sky and

on the water's surface, along with a few well-placed highlights, says "moonlight."

Capturing Time and Place

Step 3 With the all

mood now established, he works

over the canvas,

still

maintaining big,

simple shapes, adjusting values and color so that they relate well to

without unnecessary

one another

detail.

Step 4 Finally,

he adds a few

details,

such as the

schooners' masts, figures, the orange

rails

of the seine boats, and their red waterlines.

He heightens the

distant moonlight

on the water with more impasto, and adds spots of

light for

the small lamps on

the wharf and the lights on the distant land.

79

80

Enliven

Your Paintings With Light

The Seasons As the seasons change, so does the light. While seasonal change is min-

around you. Just as important as these conscious acts, however,

is

your unconscious storing-up of

in-

imal in equatorial or polar regions,

anywhere else there is plenty to keep the landscape painter from being bored.

Wherever you live and work, you should constantly sketch or photograph seasonal changes

When you

formation. easel,

you

memory

pull bits

confront the

and pieces from

as well as from sketch

pads and photo right did in his

John Boatpainting, Golden as

files,

Pastureland, below. Boatright started with a piece of Mississippi landscape. He had stopped his car

Golden Pastureland

This painting

John Boatright

farmland and an Arizona

combines a

bit

of Mississippi

summer

sky.

on a drive through the country to photograph some cows. When he turned to go back to his car, "Bingo! There was a picture on my right." Back in his studio he decided to make the cloudless sky more exciting, so he borrowed some Arizona clouds from his slide file, and added them to his pasture scene.

What lit

sparks this picture

strip across

is

the bright sun-

the center of the picture

Alkyd on linen canvas

Boatright accumulates slides of sky and

contrasting sharply with the muted, shad-

28"x42"

cloud conditions, often calling on them to

owed foreground and the

Courtesy of Capricorn Galleries, Bethesda,

enliven a scene.

Maryland.

afternoon for

its

He

loves the light of late

dramatic

possibilities.

tree line.

dark, distant

Capturing Time and Place

H» w /

While the golden

New Growth — Bullskin

This spring scene

pasture helps identify Boatright's

Michael Wheeler

green

piece as a late-summer scene, an-

Acrylic

other clue

lies in

the

trees are painted.

light in the

way the green

Throughout the

temperate zone, the greens of trees and other plants change from a pale, cool green in the spring to a darker, warmer, redder green in

on canvas

temperate regions. By

30"x36" Collection of Dr.

Kentucky.

bathed by a cool,

is

light typical of that

cool greens give

Dan McFadden, London,

greens,

like

Cool versus

way

those

in

late

time of year

summer,

to warmer, redder Boatright's trees.

warm greens are an

indicator of season

Wheeler begins

in

important

landscape painting.

his paintings

with large,

loose approximations of his final colors;

midsummer. Compare the spring greens in Michael Wheeler's New

mentary

Growth— Bullskin

does he do a detailed underpainting.

(above) with

the mature, dark greens in Pas-

tureland. The former

is

cool light, the latter by

The

difference

light effects is

washed by

warm light.

between the two important to note

if

you would have your painting believably depict one season or the other.

in

pale,

he does not underpaint colors, as

some

in

comple-

artists do,

nor

81

82

Enliven

Your Paintings With Light

Moving

into

landscape

warm days.

is

light

fall,

because instead of huge masses of

a temperate

likely to

be bathed

in

even on the coldest of

a good time for the land-

It's

scape painter of detailed realism

Stream BedLaurel County Michael Wheeler Acrylic

on canvas

24V2"x19V2" Collection of A.

Gordon Thomas, Charlotte, North Carolina.

By

fall,

masses of

greens give

way

to a

huge range of warm colors

and

light be-

gins to penetrate

sparse foliage to ex-

pose the

intricate

skeletons of trees

and other Wheeler

plants.

relies

mostly on a single

tool— line

a no.

4 Sabe-

brush — for most

of his detail.

He

feels

he can concentrate better

on

his paint-

ings by keeping his tools simple

few.

and

greens, the skeletal forms of things

begin to be revealed. Notice the glint of

warm

light

on distant tree

trunks in Wheeler's Stream Bed-

Laurel County (below), and the intricate latticework of bared trunks and branches in the nearer middleground.

Capturing Time and Place

in

When winter hits, a typical day northern climes might present

you with the cold light of Warren Allin's Connecticut Winter

general question,

(above). In this painting, Allin uses

counts, as always,

a thin, dark tree line to contrast

how you

with otherwise bright surround-

is

got there.

the result, not

Connecticut Winter Warren Oil

Allin

on canvas

24"x48" Courtesy of Images International Art GalBethesda, Maryland.

lery,

one

use of a narrow band of

brightness to contrast with

"legal" to

The sky and snow here are both

ings —just the reverse of Boatright's

is it

combine pieces of information to compose a scene, of course the answer is a resounding yes! What

muted

you view a scene glare

surroundings. In both cases, strong the

brilliant,

When

practically mirroring the other.

makes your

amount

value contrasts are central to the eyes.

The

full

of brilliant light, the

pupils constrict to limit

of light flooding into your

result

is

that you don't see

much

effectiveness of the pictures. detail in

Both Boatright and little

Allin

used a

flat,

combined

Arizona clouds with Mississippi

Connecticut Maryland in the sum-

land, Allin painted

Winter

in

mer, with only photographs, notes

and

vivid

memories

Connecticut.

It's

to place

him

in

not always possi-

combine such elements and have them work together — a palm tree in my Maryland backyard won't work, no matter what! But years of observation will tell an intelligent artist what light and other elements make sense. As for the ble to

if

they

are in the distance. They tend to appear

skulduggery in their paint-

ings. Just as Boatright

darker forms, especially

almost silhouetted.

83

84

Enliven

Your Paintings With Light

Place Much

has been written about the

such as Aries, in southern France — many painters, including Vincent van Gogh, made light in places

a beeline for that region to paint

its

Here we'll confine ourselves to examples in regions of

unique

light.

of conveying a sense of distance.

the United States.

The Southeast. Can son's Southern Palms

Neil

Adamopen-

at the

ing of this chapter be mistaken for

any place other than the extreme Southeast? Everything in

says

— the

palms and other the white egret, and certainly

"Florida" flora,

it

the warm, brilliant light that floods this late-morning

Everglades

scene. In Dusk: Seeking Shelter

he captures the

(right, top),

evening Florida

late

light.

The Southwest. While the Southeast may be thought of as dominated by warm, intense light, is tempered by masses of cool, green foliage. In the Southwest there is a similar light intensity, but here marked by the hot reds, yellows and oranges of bare rock and clay, and the browns of dry brush and wood. In Warren Taylor's unusual twopanel work, Juarez (page 85, top), an early evening light traces a transition from stark, warm desert colthat light

ors to cool, exotic green-blue

mountain shades. The many objects in the painting share a central,

horizontal light that unifies the

jumble of shapes representing the chaotic, informal rhythms of this scrambled and active city. On page 85 (center), Peter G. Holbrook decided to make a familiar Grand Canyon scene special by concentrating on a single forma-

— a floating triangle of sunset light — and stretching the colors to

tion

The dry

air

accounts for color tensity, but it also provides little mospheric perspective, so Hol-

in-

the brink of credibility. at 7,000 feet

at-

brook had to rely on other means

He painted extreme diminishing toward

detail subtly invisibility.

Bringing this off required attention to edges: sharp at focal points

and

on shadows and softer in the peripheral areas and in shadows cast a long distance or shadows turning a rounded corcast a short distance;

Dusk: Seeking Shelter Neil H.

Adamson

Acrylic

on Crescent

Adamson ments of

is

known

board

for his brilliant treat-

Florida subjects.

oped a keen eye

He has

devel-

for the rich colors

and

varied textures brought out by the strong Florida light.

ner.

illustration

10"x15"

Capturing Time and Place

Juarez Warren Taylor Watercolor 40" x 120" Collection of Mr.

and Mrs. Martin Hanan.

Once the artist's imagination

is

freed from

the tyranny of realism, anything becomes possible in a painting. Taylor indulges his

imagination by using a jumble of objects to represent a wide

hot desert on the

on the

right.

extremes

is

sweep of land from

left

to cool mountains

Crammed between

the two

Ciudad Juarez on the northern

Mexican border, painted here states of repair

and

in

varying

disrepair.

Evening — Mohave Point

Rembrandt supposedly advised,

Peter G. Holbrook

would paint an

Acrylic

and

27"x40"

oil

on paper

apple,

first

Holbrook might add, "... and

would paint

a rock,

first

"If

you

be an apple!" if

you

be a rock!" He

emphasizes the importance of knowing the subject you're painting.

In this

scene,

for example, smooth, vertical surfaces re-

(Left)

Pinnacles Beyond

flect

Harold

ing at nearly right angles. Horizontal sur-

E.

Larsen

much

of the low, late sunlight strik-

rough with vegetation and only

Watercolor collage

faces,

40"x30"

skimmed by the

In this

painting of

Monument

sunlight, reflect

muted greens and

more

ochres. "This informa-

Valley, Ari-

tion can be

zona, Larsen describes the fading light

vague

in

the film record," says

in

Holbrook, "so knowing the place helps the high desert. Toward evening, shad-

ows grow long and washed to sun

now

pastel

rock colors that were

under the hot midday

catch the long, low rays of light

and begin to glow. The graded wash of the sky adds drama and mystery.

you to paint what you can barely see."

85


The West and Northwest.

This

vantage point, Holbrook was

this

huge area I'm lumping together provides a broad range of subject matter and light that stimulates a

facing almost into the late sun.

great variety of interpretation

with the patterned, impressionistic

among the

who work

Compare the "realistic"

finely detailed,

approach of Holbrook

there.

look of Mary Sweet. In North Head-

Here are three artists whose workmethods and whose way of seeing could hardly be more diver-

lands, Holbrook delights in captur-

artists

ing

ing

all

the textures and the color

North Headlands Peter G. Holbrook

on Arches 140-lb paper

Acrylic

40"x62" Holbrook shot

and value nuances of nature,

slides of a

in-

gent.

cluding countless flecks of light

At dusk along the northern California coastline, Peter G. Holbrook photographed a scene he later painted and called North Headlands (above). In this scene the air is full of spray from a raging sea.

make his painting sparkle. In Maroon Bells Above Crater Lake

The color of the local rocks is cool, compared to those we've seen in the Southwest, and the entire feel of the painting is cool and crisp. Although the color in the most dis-

light,

is

warm com-

(page 87, top) and in her demonstration painting (pages 88-89), entirely in

flat,

em-

phatic color patches that suggest

form and

Settling

detail.

somewhere between

these two approaches stract

work

is

the ab-

of Jan Dorer (page 87,

bottom). Although she paints

little

of the precise detail that Holbrook

does she paint

pared to those close to the viewer— an apparent reversal of

loves, neither

the usual "rules" of aerial perspec-

mix of hard and edges and both smooth and textured paint.

tive

— there

is still

a perfect sense

of distance because the farthest

shapes are flattened and less detailed than the closer ones.

From

scene and from his memories

own

attempts

in

Sweet's hard-edged color patterns. Rather, she uses a soft

photo

I

I

place.

The

slides

because, he says, "The few

have

made to

that

Sweet works

scene from a precari-

and feelings about the are his

tant line of rocks

this

ous perch. He usually works from many

didn't take

paint from a

were abject

failures."

Capturing Time and Place

Maroon

Bells

Above Crater Lake

Mary Sweet Acrylic

on paper

22"x30" By playing colors against one another.

Sweet conveys a sense of depth and Yet her painting holds

ity.

its

own

real-

as sim-

ply a beautiful tapestry of flat colors. This

painting resulted from an October hike

along a

trail

between Maroon Lake and

Crater Lake in Colorado. Sweet says, "The

atmosphere was more last

like late fall

— the

gasp of autumn before winter.

I

tried

to catch that diffused light by graying the

autumn

colors

and using colors close

in

value."

Alaska Series

#4

Jan Dorer Acrylic

and watercolor on Crescent board

32"x40" Collection of Michael ston,

Hudson, Ohio.

Dorer painted a series of abstracts after

tude

spending some weeks

areas, such as the suggested

Alaska viewing

from a

in

producing

light effects. In

many

mountains

in

and

the background, she built up texture with

small, low-flying plane, oc-

white acrylic and a painting knife and then

and photographing mountains, glaciers

and Trinda John-

in

casionally landing

on a

rivers

glacier for a better

glazed over these areas with watercolor,

view. Her paintings are combinations of

sponging off some of the watercolor to

opaque

let

acrylic

and transparent water-

color passages, which allow her wide

lati-

the white

show through.

87

88

Enliven

Your Paintings With Light

Mary Sweet

Demonstration

Painting Light Patterns in the West Sweet loves the land, especially the mountains, canyons and rivers of the West. She paints "the nuances

cut by flash-flooded streams into narrow canyons and illuminated by

of the land as revealed

light

by the

ef-

upon it — the floating cloud shadows on vast

rock walls, the mysterious crevices

streaming through dark

fects of light

notches." She seeks out places that

patterns of

people have not yet ruined and cap-

desert spaces, the sharp blue shad-

ows

that contrast with sunlight

Morning

Stroll,

on

Bryce Canyon

Mary Sweet on paper

Acrylic

30"x22"

Stepl After sketching only main shapes lightly in pencil,

Sweet begins

and

at the top

works down the page. Each area takes at least

two coats of paint to get the smooth,

flat finish

she

likes.

She "draws in"

details

with paint as she proceeds.

Step 2 She uses strong reds to catch the dramatic sunlight on red sandstone. "The of paint in a

Sweet

new

says. "If

I

area

am

is

satisfied,

again with that color. until

I

am

satisfied.

If

coat

first

for the color,"

not,

coat

I

I

it

change

it

Reds and oranges are

transparent and take a

number

of coats.

Details are often lighter or darker versions

of the given color, so

put them

up on my

in

as

I

it is

convenient to

go before that paint

dries

palette."

Step 3 Sweet adds more

detail

and more middle

ground. She experiments as she moves

through the painting, placing splotches of color

where she thinks she might

them, such as the right.

warm

like

yellow at lower

tures

them

vividly

on paper.

Capturing Time and Place

Step 4 contrast to painters

In stark

paid an set,

Sweet

under-

finishes each area as she

from top to bottom, area to

who

entire paper or canvas at the out-

relating each

works

new

what she has already painted. She

has found that waiting until the-end to

add

details

some

does not work for

areas have

a lot

her.

going on

Because

in

them,

she paints other areas relatively large and simple for contrast and

relief.

Step 5

When

the painting it

the

time. She

first

is

"finished," Sweet

from a distance, generally for

looks at

is

satisfied

with an area

not just on the basis of the colors and

how

they "feel," but by whether or not she has

captured the

illusion of

sun and shadow

patterns on rock walls, effects she has ob-

served and studied carefully

many

times.

89

90

Enliven

Your Paintings With Light

The

East.

Where

there are ex-

tremes of light (and correspondingly, extremes of color hue and intensity), those can be used in a painting to help define a geographi-

ever, in

There is no point, howpushing that idea to absur-

dity. In

the region I'm calling the

cal area.

East (including the East, the Mid-

west and the Northeast) light is more subdued than elsewhere and

That huge temperate region lacks the brilliantly lit green of Florida, the hot, red intensity of the Southwest and the clear, cold blue of Alaska. Instead we find a range of more moderately lit landscapes that

fit

somewhere between those

extremes. In such areas there must

be less reliance on light and more on identifying features such as flora, fauna, costume and architec-

The Piedmont Lou Messa Acrylic

16"x38" Late afternoon light casts long

Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains. In a

painting with so

of less help in defining locale.

much dark shadow,

it's

important to keep the shadows lumi-

nous—there should be plenty happening

A common

the shadowed areas.

in

is

shadows

across fields and trees near the foothills of

mis-

ture. take

is

to think of

shadows as opaque

darks where nothing

the contrary,

if

much

you often see more color

shadowed

area,

and

than you see

detail

brightly

lit

area,

On

visible.

is

you look intently into a

where

if

you look into a

details

may be

lost

the glare.

in

Wash Day, Monhegan Don Stone Oil

on canvas

10"x14" The bright is

repeated

clothesline

light in

on the face of

this

house

the laundry blowing on the

and

in

the

lively

greens of the

foreground. The deeply shadowed sides of the house provide a striking contrast to

the sunlit sides, but there flected light within those

is

plenty of

dark northeast evergreens provide a ably ragged backdrop for the lines of

the house.

re-

shadows. The suit-

more severe

Dogwood Shadow

Wheeler catches the

Michael Wheeler

sphere at the edge of

Acrylic

on canvas

crisp, clean

atmo-

some Kentucky

woods. As he does so often

in his paint-

24"x20"

ings,

Collection of Robert

shadows to help describe the texture of

North Carolina.

Mason, Charlotte,

he makes

full

use of the

many

cast

the ground beneath the snow. He also

looks for

shadow

patterns that are in

themselves engaging shapes. Notice that in a backlit flat

scene (assuming reasonably

ground) cast shadows of

jects point back toward the

vertical

ob-

light source.

^

Chapter

Six

Suggesting Distance

Bryce— Natural Bridge Peter G. Holbrook

and

on

Have you ever looked at a picture you've just finished and wondered why it looks as flat as the

40"x29"

Some of my students used to protest that that was the way they wanted it to look!

Although the day

Occasionally

Oil

acrylic

paper

was

clearer than

shown

here, the art-

ist

exaggerated aer-

ial

perspective to cre-

ate an illusion of

depth.

canvas

it's

painted on?

imate, after

I

believed them.

all,

It's

perfectly legit-

to treat the surface of a painting as

that— a surface — and to ignore or even avoid the possibilities of making it seem three-dimen-

just

sional.

For a great many

artists,

of distance, or depth,

Renaissance

good

artists,

though, the illusion

is critical

who were

scientific scholars,

to their work.

often remarkably

devoted a

developing the techniques

lot of effort to

we now take

in creating the illusion of three

for granted

dimensions on a two-

dimensional surface. All these techniques together are called perspective.

You can "experience" perspective by visiting a mountaintop, as

I

did recently in Virginia's Blue

Ridge, or look out your apartment

window over

a broad cityscape. You'll see objects (be they

mountains or skyscrapers) become cooler and less distinct as they

march

off into the distance; things

get progressively smaller as they recede; edges blur; details

become

lost.

Many

of these

phenomena

are

the result of aerial perspective, the tricks light plays

on

us; others are the result of

of things by the

human

normal interpretation

eye and brain. Whatever the

reasons for seeing things as

we

do,

all

periences can be represented in paint.

these ex-

94

Enliven

Your Paintings With Light

Aerial Perspective

We all know that objects seen at a distance look different from similar objects seen size

up close— not only

in

but in color and value. The rea-

son colors and values seem ent from a distance

is

differ-

that you're

looking through a sort of veil to see

them, and the farther away you the thicker the course,

is

veil.

The

veil,

are,

of

the layer of air between

you and the

object. It contains waand impurities such as automobile exhaust, smoke and

ter droplets

dust particles. This air acts as a ter,

cutting

amount and

down on

fil-

the total

of light reaching your eye

also allowing certain

wave-

(a)

Barns with the

spective; (b)

lengths of light to pass through

effect.

Shenandoah

A number

Phil

Metzger

Acrylic

Hammond.

local color,

Mountains showing a

of techniques

back into this scene:

on canvas, 36"x48"

Collection of Dorsey

same

but

looking different because of aerial per-

(1)

similar

move the eye

Warm

colors

the distance;

up

front, cools in the rear; (2) paler values in

the distance;

(3)

more

detail close

than

in

(4) size variations,

the fence posts;

(5) linear

such as

road). Everything except a sign with

arrow pointing the way!

in

perspective (the

an

I

We generally paint close objects

while blocking others. The cool colors (such as blues) get through

most

easily,

while a

lot of

the

warm

colors (such as reds) are blocked

warmer and

distant objects cooler

and paler because

we

usually see

that's the

them

way

in nature.

Morning Fog John Boatright Oil 1

on canvas

8" x 24"

two

There are plenty of instances, how-

Courtesy Albers Fine Art Gallery,

Memphis, Tennessee.

change over distance — are called

where the scheme is reversed. There may be "cool" ice or snow in the foreground, and a mass

or scattered. Together, these

phenomena— color and

value

ever,

aerial perspective.

The

implications of aerial per-

spective for the painter are clear: If

you want something to appear

more

distant in your picture, cool

of

warm

foliage or rock formations

in the distance. If that's

paint

them

that

Scenes

in

mist or fog are treated as two-

stage paintings — foreground and middle

ground. The denser the fog, the more

the case,

way and

rely

on

other techniques (see next sec-

sual distance

is

tions) for suggesting distance.

effective painting technique. In Pe-

right's

ter G. Uolbrook's

Bryce— Natural

Bridge (page 92), there is a steady progression from warm-colored rock formations near the viewer to cooler and paler formations in the

middle distance to a flat, blue-gray range farthest away. Similarly, in

Shenandoah (page colors go from

ground

94, bottom),

warm

in the fore-

to cool in the distance.

One

A

example of

aerial per-

illustrated in

John Boat-

special

spective

is

Morning Fog

Shrouded by fog or

(above).

most completely and the farthest objects you can see are those normally considered to be in the middle distance (e.g., Boatright's barns). There is a mist, the

distant objects disappear

sort of collapsing of distance. In a

dense, foggy scene, the range of

would be even less than shown here. To treat such scenes sight

observer of this picture com-

convincingly,

mented

paint those middle-ground objects

that the farthest

little

mountain couldn't possibly be that vibrant a blue. While

it

not only

could be, but was that blue, I might have chosen to make it so because I liked it that way.

it's

necessary to

than you might paint them on a clearer day, and of course gray their colors draflatter, less detailed,

matically.

vi-

obscured and

the most distant visible objects relatively flat.

its color and lighten its value. There are all kinds of exceptions to this, but most of the time it's an

lost. Detail is

will

appear

96

Enliven

Your Paintings With Light

Demonstration

Dennis Frings

Aerial Perspective Frings was trained as a watercolor-

ing gave

me

but found that medium too limiting. "I have always enjoyed the lu-

worlds."

He now "underpaints" us-

ist,

painting," he says,

minosity of

oil

"and

same time desired the

at the

fluidity of watercolor.

Monoprint-

the best of both

ing printing techniques with thin, fluid paint,

and finishes with layers up the luminous qual-

of oil to build ities

he

likes.

Klieber's

Woods

Dennis Frings Oil

and

oil

pastel

on paper

26"x36"

Stepl Frings's first step

is

done on

a large-

format, flat-bed lithographic printing press.

He applies

thin

oil

paint (similar to

a watercolor wash) to a printing plate

with a

1

2-inch brayer

(roller),

and dabs on

Varsol thinner to break up the paint surface. Varsol in

is

the upper

responsible for the "hole"

left,

which

will

be used

later

to give the effect of sunlight hitting the

He

leaves of foreground trees.

paper using

prints his

this plate.

Step 2 Frings mixes six color groups (two greens,

two mauves,

a

brown and a

puddles. The paint

the paint

paper as

briskly,

his

is

gray) in large

fairly oily.

using

He applies

wadded-up news-

"brush." At this stage he's

looking for lots of texture. He leaves areas of the

first layer

some

untouched so that

pale distant areas contrast with the busy

foreground textures, creating a sense of distance.

Step 3 Frings paints tree trunks, branches

and

water areas, using brushes and a 1-inch brayer. Because there

already

in

is

so

much

texture

the painting, Frings decides not

to complicate the water area with reflections. Its quiet simplicity nicely

background with

oil

mist.

echoes the

He applies final touches

pastel— just

bits of color in quick,

small strokes here and there to pick

some

color highlights.

up

Suggesting Distance

Single vanishing point

Linear Perspective Although linear perspective has a great deal to do with creating an illusion of depth in a picture, it is not primarily a function of

and

will

"'

Horizon (eye

"

level)

light,

be covered here only

introductory way. (For a

^

in

an

full treat-

ment of linear perspective, see PerPain by Phil

spective Without

Metzger, North Light Books.) Linear perspective is the use of converging lines to suggest depth.

you take two lines that you know are parallel, such as the edges of a road, and make them meet, you inIf

An example of linear perspective: You know the edges of the road are parallel, but forcing them to meet at a point (called the "vanishing point") on the horizon gives the impression the road

is

stretching off into the distance. This

is

one-point linear perspective.

troduce a feeling of "distance."

The road in Shenandoah (page 94) and the one in Wheeler's Horse Creek Backroad (page 99) are ex-

Vanishing point

Vanishing point

amples of the use of converging deep into

lines to help lead the eye

Horizon (eye level)

a picture.

The

Overlap

parallel, horizontal

edges of

points on the horizon. This

is

this box,

if

extended, seem to converge at two different

an example of two-point

linear perspective.

A simple way to suggest distance is to place

one object

in front of an-

The overlapping

other.

shows that one

instantly

closer to the ob-

is

server than the other.

A

special

by Ed-

case of overlap

is

ward Gordon's

inside-out paint-

ings,

illustrated

such as April (page 98). The

abrupt switch from indoor objects to vistas seen

through a window or

doorway never

fails

to establish

depth.

Size

and Space Variation

Hold out your thumb and compare its length to that of something else in the room — maybe the dog snoozing in the corner. Your thumb isn't really bigger than the dog (is it?) but it seems to be because of the

There

is

no way of knowing whether one of these objects

different distances the

andoah

are from your eye.

they're

two objects You can put this

work for you in a picture by depicting objects of known size gradually diminishing in apparent illusion to

size as

they retreat farther into the

picture.

The fence posts

in

Shen-

is

farther

away than the

other,

unless they overlap.

are an example.

all

You know

the same size, but the

eye sees they are painted in progressively decreasing sizes

and the

brain automatically concludes that

the size difference

is

because of dif-

ferences in distance. The same

is

between objects. The fence posts can be assumed to true of the spaces

be evenly spaced, but they are shown with ever-decreasing spaces between them. Much about painting

is

fooling the senses.

97

an immediacy about

the ob-

April

There

Edward Gordon

jects in the

Alkyd on panel

to the viewer. Everything outside auto-

23V 20"

matically

Courtesy of Capricorn Galleries, Bethesda,

separating action of the windows.

Maryland.

is

all

room; they are obviously close

seems distant because of the

and Edges

Detail

we

Because distinct it's

see less detail and less

edges in distant objects,

reasonable to paint them that

way. Horse Creek Backroad

good use. becomes gradually

(right) puts this idea to

The

tree foliage

less distinct as

we move back

into

the picture, both in terms of sharp-

ness of edges and amount of Holbrook's Bryce— Natural

detail.

Bridge (page 92) is another good example. The amount of detail in the rock ledges diminishes in stages, as does the sharpness of

all

edges. In this painting, Holbrook

day was so clear that less sense of distance than usual, so he added haze to separate foreground from background shapes. "Sometimes," he says, "you have to take liberties with the weather to give credibility says, the

there

to

was

an incredible place."

Modeling You

also

need

to express "dis-

tance" on a more modest scale

when painting, life.

say, objects in

The distance

I

have

in

the thickness of an object,

a still

mind is and of-

ten the key to representing this

is

modeling. In the illustration below, the apple drawn in silhouette has

when modbecomes three-dimensional. The same, of course, is true of objects on a grander scale, such as hills and little

hint of depth. But

eled with shadow,

it

buildings.

V

Horse Creek Backroad

Wheeler wanted the hazy

Michael Wheeler

the feeling of midday heat and humidity.

light to

convey

Acrylic

He uses several techniques here to achieve

20"x16"

a sense of distance: (1) aerial perspective,

Collection of Carol Ciganko, Brecksville,

achieved partly by using white and orange

Ohio.

washes, or glazes, (3)

(2) linear perspective,

diminishing detail,

soften

in

(4)

edges that

the distance, and

(5) overlap.

1

1

00

Enliven Your Paintings With Light

Sudden Value Changes Often a jolt in values can signal a jump in distances, as in Late Zin-

nias

and Twilight MemoSuch value jumps are

(right)

ries (below).

really just a special case of aerial

perspective with middle grounds

missing — there

only foreground

is

and background. As is nearly always the case, there are other techniques at work here, such as overlap and color change.

Late Zinnias Michael Wheeler Acrylic

24"x20" Collection of Sandra Hylant, Toledo, Ohio.

The abrupt change

shadowed

zinnias

in

value between the

and the

creates the illusion of a

The

illusion

is

sunlit

jump

backdrop

in distance.

further emphasized by (1)

overlap, (2) aerial perspective,

minished detail

in

and

(3) di-

the distant woods.

kJffo't±-t'.\}&/L*iJk

IxdL.

.jMB

9

1

Twilight

Memories Robert

E.

Frank

Pastel on 0"

paper

Tx

p

1

Aerial perspective

and a sudden jump in

values

-••^S "W». H^jj.jjwj **

combine to

suggest distance.

Combining Techniques Nature doesn't always cooperate. Sometimes, as in Holbrook's Bryce painting, conditions are so clear

that aerial perspective

is

minimal.

In other cases, objects are not ar-

ranged for overlap or for effective linear perspective or for size variation.

But having a bag of tricks

allows you to invent or manipulate

Farmyard

conditions to suit your needs.

no particular merit in painting something just as it is — There

Phil

Distance

Metzger

spective

suggested by the trees and

(1) aerial perhill

at

is

there's only merit in painting

you want

it

it

as

Pencil

on Morilla

8V2" x

1

Bristol

2" (3)

diminishing sizes

Courtyard Garden

Depth

Barbara Hails

in

24"x30"

in

the fence posts,

(4)

overlapping of the large tree, shed and

to be.

on ground glass board

left, (2) lin-

ear perspective in the road and buildings,

paper

barn,

Pastel

is

in

is

achieved by

(1) linear

the walkway and arches,

spective

(warm

the distance),

perspective

(2) aerial per-

colors forward, cools in

(3)

more

detail in the fore-

and

ground than (4) bits

liage.

value changes.

(5)

in

of sky

the distance, and

showing through the

fo-

Chapter Seven

Defining Structure

Life

Still

on a

Blue Table

tree

Jane Lund Pastel 253/4"

on paper X 27V8"

The modeling and cast

shadows are

soft

and

delicate be-

cause there are two light sources, a north

window and light.

studio

The two

sources account for

the double cast

shadows.

"Okay, John," says the teacher,

came

out."

He

looks at John's

being a kindly fellow,

how your

"let's see

tries to think

flat

painting and,

how to break the

news.

"How's

it

look?" asks John.

"Well, let's put

it

this

way.

Do you

feel

you could

wrap your arms around this tree?" "What?" "Have you painted the impression there may be something hidden behind the tree?" "Huh?" So much for form. Trying a different line, the teacher asks: "Do you feel you could get your fingernails under a piece of bark and pry it loose?" "Bark?

It's

only paint!"

So much for texture. "Hmmmmm! John, have you ever climbed a tree?" "Nah! I lived in Brooklyn. Only sissies climbed trees!"

The teacher decided

in representational painting.

began a course

up teaching courses The following week he

to give

in abstract expressionism.

1

04

Enliven Your Paintings With Light

Pregnant

Form

Woman

Jane Lund

The form of an object is its physical presence— its bulk, shape and size.

Form

is

factors:

revealed mostly by three shadows, color change and

Pastel

38" x 22Vz" "In this self-portrait,

depicting

surface shapes.

volume

was of prime con-

Shadows. If John's tree had shown nothing more than careful attention to light and shadow, it

cern," Lund says.

"I

worked from

a

life:

full-length mirror to

might have looked round instead of There are at least three ways in which shadow can help define

same

form:

minated the easel

flat.

1.

The shape

of the

clearly signals the

shadow

shape of the sur-

which it falls. Remove all shadow from Warren Allin's Rock Creek (right, bottom) and face over

the

you

will flatten

2.

the terrain.

you that the wrapping around some

usually tells is

curved surface. In her pastels

Still

on a Blue Table (page 102) and Pregnant Woman (right),

Life

Jane Lund describes

in

left

and

my

easel

front of me. The

also

light that illu-

shone on me.

The placement of the figure against a dark

background, the limited pictorial space,

and the intense ob-

Gradual value change in a

shadow shadow

my

many

servation of detail

transforms this

woman life

still

Use of a

single light source

heightens the vol-

ume

rounded forms by defining subtle value changes with exquisite care.

into a

object.

of the figure

and increases the sense of detached observation."

Rock Creek Warren Oil

Allin

on panel

11"x14" Collection of Mr.

and Mrs. William Snape.

Shadows define most

of the shapes in this

late-afternoon painting. Allin began by

covering the panel thinly with blue-gray paint mixed with a fast-drying

Before this midtone in

was

dry,

medium.

he blocked

the dark areas. He pressed suggestions

of trees and brush into the tacky surface

with the side of a coarse brush loaded

with a mixture of paint and gel

medium

(Weber's Res-n-gel). The dark water came next, a mixture of Thalo blue, burnt

and

gel

medium.

Last

came the

umber

sunlit

snow, white with a touch of yellow ochre.

i_

In

Lund

most

of her

still life

paintings,

prefers natural light.

ing from

life

Work-

rather than photo-

graphs, she sometimes covers her studio

windows with black

plastic

on the subject to one main source, such as a north window. If necessary for stronger definition, she places a lamp near the studio window to supplement the natural light. At other times, as in Pregnant Woman, she uses a single light source to emphasize to limit the light

volume. 3. Sharp value contrasts between lighted and shadowed ob-

emphasize the shapes of The shape of the table Lund's still life is shown by the

jects often

the objects. in

value differences between adjacent

edges of the tabletop. In Every(right, top), Joyce

thing in White

occur alone. Usually two, or all three, are present. In each of the paintings just mentioned, more

behind white petals, instantly de-

than one kind of shadow is present, and in this pencil sketch of a tree

fining the petals' shapes.

(below),

Pike places large areas of

shadow

These three attributes of shadows—shape, gradual value change and sharp value contrast — rarely

all

three are illustrated.

Everything

in

White

Joyce Pike Oil

on canvas

24"x36"

A continuous

shadow holds

all

the elements of this painting together.

In

pattern of

shadow on

addition to the obvious cast

the backdrop, there are delicate shadows

on some of the

petals, helping to give

them form. Shadow

in

the foliage behind

the flowers provides contrast with the

white blooms and modeling on the pitcher

and vases gives them form. Here,

many

as in

paintings,

shadow

helps inject

a third dimension into an otherwise two-

dimensional arrangement of colors.

There are several "kinds" of shadows and they

all

help define structure: (1) Cast

shadow and

(2)

modeling indicate round-

ness of the trunk; helps

(3)

backdrop shadow

show the shapes

(4) thin,

of forward objects;

sharp cast shadows

tell

of cracks,

holes and overlapping surfaces, such as scaling bark; (5) cast

shadow

of a cuff of

bark shows the roundness and direction of the branch; and (6) thin cast

where two surfaces

shadows

join help define the

shapes of those surfaces.

1

06

Your Paintings With Light

Enliven

Demonstration

Michael

Rocco chooses a simple but power"To me," he says, "this painting is more than a pictorial representation of a doorway in a ful subject.

A Church

in

Michael

Rocco

P.

Spain

Watercolor

20V2"x14"

Stepl Because

be an

this will

intricate painting,

Rocco makes a precise drawing on vellum

from a

35mm

He

slide.

major shapes to

transfers only the

watercolor paper to

his

keep the paper as clean as possible, and traces off

more

details as

he needs them.

After wetting the area of the wall around

the doorway, he paints into this the glowing color of the wall

shadows

at the

and the

upper

thrown upward by

right

soft reverse

(shadows

light reflected

from the

floor).

Step 2 He begins to define the

intricate

molding

around the doors, capturing reflected

and shadows. Here he

light

ing

more on

is

concentrat-

establishing values than

on

architectural detail.

Step 3 This

the most important step, establish-

is

drama

ing the

of the composition. The

strong reflected light on the door moldings has to be held back so as not to conflict

seen

with the stronger light from an un-

window at the

feeling

point I

is

know

I

left.

Says Rocco, "The

get from the painting at this

like it is

a crescendo in a musical piece.

what wanted." He continues I

to define the arch in the upper

left

corner,

an important element that keeps the viewer's focus on the

doorway and keeps

attention from wandering out the of the painting.

left

faith." His beautiful

side

demonstration

captures not only the form-giving

property of light and shadow, but intense reflections and reverse

shadows as

symbolic of one's

it is

Rocco

Form With Light and Shadow

Defining

church,

P.

well.

Defining Structure

Step 4

He

paints the wall tiles carefully, but

avoids being mechanically precise. He

adds details

in

the floor and deepens

some shadows. Rocco

paints the holy

ter container at the right,

the painting. Without

it,

you would not know you were

in

spiritual story of

he

feels,

a church lost.

wa-

wrapping up the

and the symbolism would be

107

1

08

Enliven

Your Paintings With Light

Color Change. Color change usually

goes hand-in-hand with value

change. In Lund's rounded forms,

each form curving around into deeper shadow also ex-

for example,

hibits subtle color variation as well.

The color often becomes deeper and cooler. In Tree and Meadow (right), I relied on value and color change to show the roundness of the trunks and branches, deepening the color on their

shadowed

For most of the modeling I painted the area opaquely from light on the sunny side to fairly dark on the shadowed side, and then deepened the shadows further by overlaying successive washes of bluish acrylic. I've always felt that shadows painted by glazing are more transparent and convincing than those painted directly and opaquely. Mr. van Gogh might disagree. Working in pastel and exhibiting her trademark vibrant color, Sally Strand delicately models the forms in White Bucket (right, bottom) with shadow and color. She picks a few spots where the value is highest (left shoulder, right knee, white bucket) and uses varying degrees of shadow to push everything else back and to give objects their form. Because warm colors tend to advance and cools recede, she insides.

creases the effectiveness of the

by keeping the light areas warm in color and the shadtransitions

ows cool. Surface Shapes. Obviously, the shapes of an object's visible surfaces contribute to

its

you the pot

is

round

and the individual rectangular faces in the

sill

comes

into play as well. Notice, for ple,

sur-

signal that these are

bricks. Linear perspective

exam-

the extra solidity given the

because the joints between the bricks converge and aim brick

at

on canvas

Acrylic

window.

was concerned with three (1

)

the trunks and branches, (3) a

Collection of Scott Douglas Metzger, Fred-

and the meadow behind

erick,

Maryland.

light-related

the roundness of

and

(2) textures,

sense of distance between the tree it.

While the

modeling and texture were achieved

pri-

marily by painting shadows, the illusion

of distance between the tree and the

meadow depends on the abrupt value and color change

White Bucket Sally Strand

Pastel

on paper

38"x22" Courtesy of

J.

Cacciola Galleries.

Asked whether she sees

all

that color in

shadows, Strand says she heightens

what she sees to get the vibrant effects

she

likes.

Colorful

shadows serve not

face, but also to

model the forms, providing a striking

three-dimensionality.

Compare

Strand's

lively,

hatched pastel strokes with the con-

sill

some vanishing point outside the

I

aspects of this scene:

24"x30"

entire picture sur-

109), the elliptical top

of the pot tells

Meadow

Metzger

Phil

only to enliven the

general

form. In Rocco's Millwright's

Shop (page

Tree and

trolled, invisible

strokes of Jane Lund.

between them.

Texture Texture

Painting Patches. tively small

is

ture—the

the visual or tactile na-

— of a surface. The

"feel"

may be

notion of texture

applied to

may be smooth or wrinkled, cloth may be silky or coarse, and even water may be calm or choppy. The depiction of an object realistically in paint

ture

is

its

illusions of texture rely

on

the creation of side-by-side patches that are different in value or color,

or both. Objects around you trate the point:

A

illus-

"solid"-colored

carpet, for instance, looks textured

because tions in

it

shadow

that contrast

are in light; a multicolored carpet exhibits the

same

light-and-

texture, but

its

as well, as he paints patches of rock

usually the result of both value

and

and there are

sev-

color variations,

eral techniques for establishing

these variations on canvas or paper: painting patches, scumbling,

painting on textured grounds,

and spraying.

lift-

Michael

Shop

Rocco

P.

Watercolor 1

8"

x 24"

Both direct and reflected

or water surface that vary in color

Thanks to his painstaking observation and photography of his subject and careful translation and

light

model the

forms and bring out the textures

in this

scene. The crumbly texture at the right

the result of numerous

pits,

is

which catch

shadow, contrasting with the

smooth texture

of the pot and the moder-

ate textures of the

sill

and wood window

frame. Rocco's procedure was to lay general light areas of the wall and

sill,

first,

in

the

then the planes

followed by the darks

value.

of the foreground and the wall at the right.

The cast shadows followed. The bro-

ken plaster was done with some drybrush-

easy to place your-

into paint,

it's

self in this

scene and

ing

feel

and

careful lifting to soften edges.

both the

textured solidity of the rocks and

Rocco arranged shapes, such as the tools at the lower right

the agitated surface of the water. lower

left,

to

and the object

at the

nudge the eye into the paint-

All this as a result of painting in the

dark! (See the sidebar on page

to the textured look. Textures are

Millwright's

bits of

pays meticulous attention not only to the form of each element in the painting, but to the texture of each

adjacent

patches of contrasting colors add

ing

one another, the abrupt transition from color to color or from value to value creates an illusion of unevenness. In his demonstration painting, Blue Fish Cove (on the next two pages), Peter G. Holbrook

has lots of tiny indenta-

sharply with the surface areas that

shadow

patches of value are painted along-

is

surface tex-

captured.

Most

rela-

side

any surface: Skin or bark

not complete until

When

patches of color or

ing.

The dark

tom edges

112.) trast

strip

along the right and bot-

provides dramatic value con-

and helps focus on the lighted center

of the painting.

110"

Enliven Your Paintings With Light

Demonstration

Painting Blue Fish Cove Peter G. Holbrook Acrylic

on Arches

Peter G. Holbrook

Form and Texture Stepl Holbrook soaks the watercolor paper,

clamps

its

140-lb. cold-press

wooden

paper

nuts,

40"x58" Collection of

page

in

a

framework of secured by wing

and allows the paper to dry drum-

tight. In

Dave

edges

lattice strips

1

the darkened studio (see sidebar,

12) he projects his slide onto the

Tonhemacher, South

watercolor paper and masks off the paper

Pasadena, California.

in

the proportions he wants, using wide

masking tape. Over the masking tape he places narrower black photo tape that

provides both a border visible

in

dim

light

and a black reference for dark values

in

the painting. By the light of the projected

image he begins painting the darkest

val-

ues with mixtures of ultramarine blue and

burnt sienna.

Step 2 Still

operating

placing darks

in a

way "forward" fies

darkened room and Holbrook works

first,

in

still

his

the painting. He modi-

the dark gray mixture with siennas for

warmth, Thalo blue or Payne's gray for

added water

coolness,

for lightness,

and

tube-strength titanium white to stiffen a

mixture for dry-brush work and softer edges. He uses the largest brush capable of rendering a given scale of detail. His objective

is

to swiftly capture the patterns

of light and shade.

The unfinished water area with loose

initial

its

brushstrokes contrasts with

the more finished rocks, where Holbrook has intensified his color and has sharp-

ened focus and contrast with transparent

shadows and opaque

highlights.

Step 3 With

light

adds thin ter,

and dark values established, he layers of local color. In the

wa-

for example, a transparent blue in

some

areas indicates reflected sky. Accu-

important to Holbrook at

rate color

is

this stage

than accurate values.

less

Defining Structure

Step 4

Now

with the studio lights on, Holbrook

views the slide under various magnifying lenses

and

lays

out a

fuller palette,

painting proceeds along lines.

ing,

He

refines

more

and the

traditional

most areas of the

paint-

but makes no radical changes,

though he considers some:

"I

al-

debated a

long time," says Holbrook, "over whether to delete the bits of sargasso floating

in

the lower right water— they seemed too

busy

at

one

point, but

became

sufficiently

integrated with further darkening of the

shadow face

areas. That great

mass of subsur-

seaweed creates the calmness of the

water and gives acter, so

this place its special char-

was glad

I

at last to

keep

it."

Step 5 Carefully working

all

over the picture, Hol-

brook introduces more color nuances and

many

hardens or softens matically

areas and

in

large

smaller cracks and crevices,

in

making forms

more

edges. He dra-

deepens the shadows

tactile.

still

bolder and surfaces

He uses an airbrush without

masking to give greater density to some areas without introducing added lines or

edges. The elaboration of form, color, texture and focus are

all

ing pattern of light

hung on the underly-

and shadow, and Hol-

brook takes pains not to contradict or eradicate that pattern. As the painting

nears completion he views

it

under many

different kinds of light as well as in reverse in a mirror.

says:

"The

Not at last

all

timid at the end, he

strokes should be at least

as bold as the first."

"111

112"

Enliven

Your Paintings With Light

ken strokes lively

Painting in the Dark Peter G. Holbrook's brand of realism begins with carefully observing his subject slides

from several vantage He chooses one domi-

points.

it

burns

in the projector.

The

and shooting

the dark

is

to capture the pat-

terns of light and shade. For photo-realists this first

stage

would be done under nor-

darkened or dimly lit studio, and paints directly on the paper without drawing. Because the

tailed pencil

projected image, in effect, is his

mal

effort

and care

painting over a de-

drawing in a sort of paint-by-numbers approach, a

method Holbrook avoids because it's tedious and stifling.

"When working

drawing, Holbrook expends

much

light,

in produc-

An

exten-

the use of tools

such as sponges and wads of tissue or newspaper to deposit thick paint

Frings does in his demonstration in

chapter

in the dark,"

says Holbrook, "a strange phe-

In

six.

Sycamores (page

used a small natural sponge to help build up the foliage on the scrub growth as well as throughout the background area. 113, top),

many

in a

is

over existing layers, as Dennis

objective of painting in

nant slide (keeping the others it onto his stretched watercolor paper for reference), projects

effects.

sion of scumbling

to rest your slide before

up

of color, producing

textured

I

The varied texture

of natural

sponges is preferable to the uniform texture of synthetic sponges. Be careful. Overuse of a sponge can result in a monotonous, too-busy surface, as

some

of

my

earliest

nomenon takes place. You are in a darkened room listening to the

paintings emphatically illustrate!

drone of the projector's cooling with your nose in a field of projected light. Shapes begin to

Grounds.

of detail, beginning with the

lose their identity as discrete ob-

other ground to produce effects

darkest values and working to-

jects

ing the slide.

Working with

light

from the

projector and from a small lamp illuminating the palette, he

amount

paints an area in a fair

ward the

lighter ones.

not follow the

fan,

He does

common

practice

masses of color, because to do so would rapidly of laying in large

obscure the projected image.

In-

of

and appear more

like parts

an abstract but unified

You lose track of exactly what stuff you are recording and where its edges lie, but you become aware of other field.

.

.

.

Painting on Textured Paint

may be

applied

over a textured canvas, paper or similar to scumbling. Watercolor-

use this method when they whisk the side of a not-too-wet brush over the surface of rough or ists

cold-press papers, so that paint

is

deposited only on the "hills" and not in the "valleys" of the paper.

As he works an area, he frequently holds up a white card to

rhythms that permewhole scene. Thinking becomes very right-brain and the application of paint becomes rhythmic and tireless. I hesitate to define what quality this pro-

recapture the original projected

cess imparts to the painting, but

media, such as pastel and graphite,

image. Painting in the dark re-

it is

quires developing a "feel" for

on the

the paint in your brush.

surprise."

stead, the initial process

one

is

of reinforcing the projected image. Detail later

is

suggested and

may

be eradicated or refined.

It

also

things, like

ate the

always there lights,

when you turn

and

it is

always a

(In general, "rough"

per's surface

is

"cold-press" paper

is

is

pa-

only moder-

ately textured; "hot-press"

paper

smooth.) Artists working in other

often use textured paper to help attain the illusion of texture.

Painters in

needs some alarm to signal you

means the

heavily textured;

also

may

oil,

acrylic

and alkyd

get a running start on the

texture they want by painting over

Scumbling.

Paint

may be

applied

roughly, one color or value over another, leaving small patches of the layer to peek through the broken outer layer. This is called scumbling, and its effect is twofirst

fold:

The patchiness suggests

tex-

does the roughness of the paint layer, although the latter effect is usually minor, depending as it does on seeing the painting up ture, as

under raking light. Some scumbling is evident in all but the smoothest paintings — there is some, for example in Holbrook's relatively smooth work. And although historically the term has close

been applied

to oil painting, there

a great deal of what I would call scumbling in Sally Strand's, Robert

roughened grounds. In Sycamores I wanted to paint the broken light of an overcast winter day on the brittle trees and scrub growth. To create initial texture I slathered on acrylic gesso

with a painting knife

and then textured the wet gesso randomly with both the knife and a coarse brush.

I

carried the texture

is

Frank's and Barbara Hails's pastels;

they

all

build

up

over the entire canvas, even the sky area, to enhance the "broken light" effect.

layers of bro-

^

N.^

,t

¥ Sycamores Phil

Metzger

Acrylic

on canvas

36"x48" Collection of Scott Douglas Metzger, Frederick,

Maryland.

A

brushload of paint applied to rough,

cold-press and hot-press watercolor

papers.

Aiming for a textured surface that would suit

the

brittle

nature of the subject,

added a coat of

acrylic

I

gesso to the facto-

ry-gessoed canvas, smearing and moving

the gesso around with a painting knife

and a coarse brush to get as random a ture as possible. This final coat as

Vie

is

inches thick in places, while

parts the

through.

tex-

as

much

in

other

weave of the canvas shows

1

14

Enliven Your Paintings With Light

A favorite

Lifting.

technique

among watercolorists is to lift paint from the paper, thereby exposing earlier layers or the white of the paper itself. Sometimes the lifting is done by scraping through still-wet (fairly thick, not too soupy) paint using a dull object, such as a kitchen bowl-scraper or your fingernail. At other times, dried paint is lifted by gently scrubbing it with a moistened brush or sponge, a

wad

of tissue, a cotton

formed. The result varies with the wetness of the paint — if the paint is

too wet,

it

will

simply run back

and the efbe lost; if too dry, there may be no effect at all. You must experiment to get the right paint

consistency and the right timing. If

you substitute droplets of

thinner for water, this technique

works

into the blotched area

also

fect will

again, timing

But and paint consistency

in oil or alkyd.

are crucial.

Scraped into

wet paint Lifted

from

dry paint

swab or

whatever.

A

variation of the scraping

method

is

scratching

wet paint

with a sharp object, such as a pointed brush handle or a tooth-

you cut the fibers and the frayed fibers

pick. In this case,

of the paper

attract paint like a blotter; the

paint gathers in the scraped areas

and forms sharp, dark (and permanent) lines. These techniques can easily be overdone, resulting in a harsh, hard-edged painting or one that appears overworked or gimYou can achieve textures

micky.

lifting

Lifting

is

in

watercolor by

paint from the surface in a variety

often appropriate in

other media, as well. The tools are varied: In a graphite drawing,

might remove a tiny

you

of ways. Here, thickish watercolor

was

scraped aside using a plastic kitchen bowlscraper; this took

about

The softer trees

at the right

scrubbed out with a after the paint

damp

were gently

bristle

had dried. Similar

can be achieved

in

brush results

other media.

fifteen seconds.

bit of graphite

with a point of a kneaded rubber eraser or by scratching with a blade, although ful to

you must be care-

avoid dirtying or damaging

the picture's surface. You might re-

move

acrylic with

knife.

On

Allin

sandpaper or a

the facing page,

demonstrates

Warren

how he

away

oil

lights

on a textured old

carves

paint to reveal the highface.

Spraying. The paper

I used to demonstrate scratching (at right)

was hot-press (smooth), yet its surface looks textured. You can easily get this mottled appearance in watercolor or acrylic by gently squirting water droplets into the air above the horizontal painting.

These dark

Where each

marking the paper, while the paint

paint, the

aside a

droplet hits the

damp

water pushes the paint

little

and a small blotch

is

lines are

the result of firmly is still

wet, with the pointed end of a brush handle.

The cut paper

fibers suck

up paint

like

a blotter.

The

overall blotchy texture

was

attained by squirting droplets of water into the still-damp paint.

Defining Structure

Warren

Demonstration

Allin

Achieving Texture in Oils by Lifting stumbled onto

Allin

method

this

while confronting a failed paint-

As it was not going well, he smeared the paint (which had been mixed with a damar varnish medium) in a thin layer over the surface of the panel and began poking at it with his fingers and brushes. After a few hours of this therapy, ing.

he found he had "released" from the darkish paint a man's head and hand. It was easy to manipulate the paint and create textures by drag-

gels that are similar in consistency

ging, pressing, stippling or scraping

ent drying time, and different

with anything that would make a mark.

Allin's early

use of damar to

achieve the appropriate paint consistency gave

way

to

modern tube

Stepl (Van Dyke brown)

Allin thins his paint

with a roughly equal amount of gel me-

dium (Grumbacher) and covers the panel using a 4-inch thick bristle

fairly thinly,

brush.

He cautions against using

proportion of medium, for

He

yellow.

loose face

will

it

a larger

tend to

establishes the subject in a

way by

scratching through the sur-

some

areas with the brush handle

in

and using straight brown pigment ers.

in

oth-

For further thinning of the paint other

than that provided by the gel

medium he

uses a turpentine substitute— odorless, to

keep peace

in

the family.

Step 2 He begins modeling the head by removing and

paint (using brushes

his fingertips) to

on areas such as the

establish highlights

cheekbone, forehead, nose, lower

He also

earlobe.

cheek at the

in

in

shadow

a

little

and

lip

paint from the

of the picture to suggest

left

He adds thinned brown

reflected light.

madder

lifts

areas around the cheek. Areas are defined using

brown with very

little

Van Dyke

medium.

Step 3 Always keeping

mind the

in

Allin further defines

he

structure. Since

is

light source,

bone and muscle working from

imagination, not from a model, he to experiment.

movable

Still

paint,

he

working

in

his is

free

"wet,"

easily alters the back-

ground, adds the cap, and softly defines using a combination of

the

collar,

ing

and applying

still

took much longer than the Total

lift-

paint. This last stage

Fisherman

earlier ones.

Warren

working time for the painting: about Oil

sixteen hours.

Allin

on acrylic-gessoed Masonite

16"x20"

to tube paints

and are not as deEach manu-

structive to brushes. facturer's gel

medium has

a

differ-

colors also have different drying

times rin,

(e.g.,

burnt umber,

slow), so

fast; aliza-

you must experiment

to find suitable combinations.

1 1

116"

Enliven

Your Paintings With Light

Combining Form and Texture

wright's Shop, on page 109, light dances all through the picture, defining the structure of

Shadows and

all

that

it

Subjects such as "form" and "tex-

touches.

ture" are separated in this book

changes invade the crumbly wall at the right, the brick sill, the jumble

only for discussion purposes. In practice,

you never find one with-

of tools

— everything.

color

and Adamson's Everglades Cypress (page 117, In a different sense, light

shadow combine

top) to define a sort of mosaic back-

Similarly, in

drop, texture on a large scale. in Porter's

supporting roles in describing both

time uncovers the texture of the

value.

form and texture.

bark and the shape and texture of

which light and shadow play strong

In Michael P. Rocco's Mill-

Afternoon Light on

New Snow

Michael Wheeler Acrylic

on Masonite

the ground beneath the snow.

The broad shape of the by the

terrain is shown way shadows drape over the con-

tours; trees are

modeled by the darkness

10Vz"x18"

wrapping around

Collection of Charles Luellen.

The ground texture attention to the light

and dark.

their is

shadowed

sides.

rendered by paying

many adjacent patches of

And

117, bot-

and the crispness of their skins are plausible by recording in paint nuances of both color and

made

several quite different paintings in

Onions (page

tom), the roundness of the onions

Wheeler's Afternoon Light (below), light models the roundness of each tree trunk and at the same

out the other. Let's look briefly at

in

Everglades Cypress Neil H.

Adamson

Acrylic

on

illustration

board

14"x18" Centered on two huge bald cypresses, painting textures

is

a

good example of

— smooth water, crumbly Spanish

moss, spongy green moss, crisp liage.

this

a variety of

But

in

textures, the entire

"texture"

bits of fo-

addition to these individual

all its

tions in color

woods backdrop has

a

own because of the varia-

and value within

it.

Onions

The roundness of the onions

Shirley Porter

(a)

Watercolor on Rives BFK printing paper

color changes, and

22"x29"

by gentle value changes,

lines,

(c)

is

described

by gradual

by the directions of

such as the striations

Texture

is

(b)

indicated by

in

the skins.

more abrupt

color

and value changes — e.g., between a sec-

tion of skin

and the smoother underlying

"white" of the onion. Texture nalled by the contrast

is

also sig-

between the

light-

colored strips of the skin and the sharp,

darker grooves separat'ng the

strips.

m

\W

Chapter Eight

Creating

September 21 Edward Gordon Alkyd on Masonite

32"x24" Collection of

Edward

and Karen Gartner. Light

is

used here to

describe a

Years ago

I

Mood

painted a watercolor of an old spruce

The colors were pretty much browns and light blue. I looked at it when I was finished and wondered why I had wasted perfectly good paint and tree in Maine.

paper.

warm, I

hate throwing stuff away, so

I

decided to rework

quiet place indoors,

away from the door

chill.

out-

The deep

shadows surrounding the sunny spot,

along with the oldfashioned

and

window wood

chair, the

floor

and small-print

wallpaper

all

help

create a quiet, nostalgic

mood.

the thing. Trouble was, disliked about

it.

I

didn't

know

exactly what

(Ever happen to you?)

I

A friend

came to the rescue. She asked what sort of mood I was after in the painting. Mood? Oh, yes, mood. Forgot about that. The fact was, I couldn't answer because I didn't know. I was working with a tree I liked and throwing paint at the paper, assuming everything would come out okay. I had no mood in mind at the outset and it

just

showed at the finish. I had painted what teacher Edgar Whitney used to call a 'thoughtless painting." I decided to whack away at this pale, lifeless watercolor and convert it into an acrylic with some oomph. I thought of this gnarled old tree as a tough, quiet survivor, and that's the mood I decided to try to paint. This time I was happier with the result, Blue Mood, shown in chapter one. I've become convinced that a painting begun with no mood in mind may become a painting with no reason for being. '

1

20

Enliven

Your Paintings With Light

The Elements of Many

Mood

things affect mood, but cer-

tainly light

is

a dominant element.

You know how light affects you and those around you; surely you feel the difference between winter gray

and the lightness of springtime, or between a noontime sun and evening shadow. Filmmakers make lots of

money

playing with the

way

lighting affects a scene.

The mood of a picture is the feelit evokes in the viewer. Although here we're most interested in the effects of light on mood, let's

ing

take a brief look at other picture

elements as well, for they

all

con-

tribute. 1. Shapes. Smooth horizontal shapes impart a sense of stability

and

quiet, while vertical or

jagged

shapes signal action or energy.

Compare a

flat

lake with a splash-

ing waterfall, or long, flat

meadows

with abruptly rising

or

cliffs

moun-

color ple,

is.

A mass of foliage, for exam-

may be a

dull,

muted green

or

Textures.

Rough or choppy

6.

Value.

The

play of values

against one another, regardless of

mood

hue, contributes enormously to

smooth context, tile

from that of a

surface. Texture, in this

means more than the

two rows of books on my bookshelves: One is a jumbled, helter-skelter row of books of uneven sizes and colors; instance, there are

is

13"x16" Collection of Art Institute of Chicago, gift

Soft light

mood. Strongly contrasting values

a row of look-alike

books with identical bindings. The

tend to speak loudly, while closer tones whisper. 7.

Objects.

ows

and soft-edged, luminous shad-

perfectly support this relaxed pose.

how

different the

mood would

be with a sharp, hard-edged

shadow

The things one

chooses to paint can themselves fect the mood of the picture. In part, this

Brawley

J.

Egg tempera on paper

Imagine tac-

nature of a single object. For

the other

Robert

Illinois.

surface textures often signal a different

Judith in Reverie

of Richard and Jalane Davidson, Chicago,

a bright, dazzling green.

tains. 2.

Color intensity. Also called is a measure of how strong a particular 5.

saturation, color intensity

light

and

pattern.

af-

has to do with the shapes

of those objects, as already

men-

tioned, but

and mystery. Light is arguably the single most important element in

former has an active, eye-catching "texture," while the latter is

it also has something to do with the nature of the objects and what kind of feelings they

painting. In Robert Brawley's Ju-

smooth and

bring forth. Nostalgic paintings of

dith in Reverie (above), every-

old barns tend to induce a quiet

thing about the pose of the

edge makes the difference between a quiet and an active mood. Sharp edges tend to be more lively

yearning for "the good old days," while a painting of a congested

painter's wife

than softer ones.

easily

3.

4.

quiet.

Edges. Often the nature of an

steel-and-glass city scene might

have the opposite

effect.

sage can violently alter the

mood of

— the

relaxed droop

of the hand, the lowered gaze, the

relaxed face — says she thought. But

it's

is

lost in

the play of soft

light that finishes the idea.

Hue. The hue (red, yellow,

green, blue, etc.) chosen for a pas-

establishing such conditions in a

Quiet

Mood

this figure in a different light

— bright hues,

Imagine

kind of

hard-edged

ply not suggest moonlight, nor

The term "quiet" includes a range of states and feelings, such as con-

shadows — and the spell is broken. Brawley sets up a similar mood in

would orange

templation, sadness, wistfulness,

James (page

peacefulness, stillness, reverence

there

that passage.

A

red sky would sim-

foliage

be consistent

with a springtime mood.

is

121, top), but here an intensity about the char-

Creating

acter, rather

away

than the relaxed,

light is crucial.

softly

far-

lostness of Judith. Again

lit

By depicting the

character (his friend,

James) emerging from a dark, subdued background, Brawley establishes a sense of mystery about who this man is and what he has experienced.

Elements of a quiet mood. Don Stone relies on both light and shapes to set the tone in Morning Surf (page

124).

The

long, flat

shapes of the sky and horizon are calm; the rolling wave, despite its obvious action, is kept relatively quiet by making it a long shape without too

much

The warm hues echoed making

in the

this

value contrast.

of the sky are

water and the rocks,

scene friendly and

comfortable. The same scene could have been made brash and threat-

ening by replacing the

warm

sky

James

color with cool, by similarly cooling

Robert

the rock and water areas, and by

Graphite on paper

introducing

some

stark value

changes within the foaming water. Lots of darks in a painting will usually guarantee a quiet

mood, as

Lou Messa's Fond Memories (page 124) and in my Catoctin

in

(page 125).

When

large, relatively

painting such

dark areas,

it's vital

that something be going on in those areas. In Messa's picture, for ple,

there

is

exam-

243/4"

Brawley

x 33 V2"

Collection of Philip Desind, Bethesda,

Maryland.

"We

are old friends

who grew up tois now a

gether," Brawley says. "Jim

writer and sea captain. For his portrait

wanted to work

blacks. This

I

essentially in darker mid-

tones resonating with

and moody

rich

resonance that sought would I

be keyed by the contrast of lighter forms.

plenty of reflected light I

on hay, posts and walls to keep them interesting and alive. Dark areas are not the only road to a quiet mood. Shirley Porter's Spectre (page 125) is high-key, but the melting of edges into the back-

J.

composed him

as

I

deep

reflection as

fee.

chose to show

I

so often

he held

his

saw him, cup of

in

cof-

his face half in light,

half in dark, creating a Janus-like duality

that expressed his intensity and reservedness.

The cross-lighting brought out the

character of his face and history."

ground, the bird's stance (note the

bottom of the and the absence of other

legs suggested at the

picture),

objects in the picture

all

gest an aloneness. There

times

little

help sugis

some-

separating a quiet from

an active mood.

If

the bird in Spec-

were shown not perched, but flying toward you, there might be a distinct switch of moods. tre

James (Detail)

Mood "121

1

22

Enliven Your Paintings With Light

Linda Stevens

Demonstration

Painting the Sacredness of Life Many painters work on more than one level. They produce works that have a straightforward decorative appeal while at the same time they

address some favorite personal

theme. Linda Stevens's paintings are an example. Her work for many years has had a certain unifying

theme, which she describes as "affirmation of the sacredness of life."

Her demonstration, The Seventh Day, is from her Creation series.

The Seventh Day Linda Stevens

Transparent watercolor and 24 K gold leaf

on Arches 300-lb. rough watercolor paper

60"x40" Photography by Gene Ogami.

Stepl Working from

several slides of her subject,

Stevens draws preliminary sketches pencil

and

transfers the final

in

drawing to

her watercolor paper. She builds her painting using Painting first

many

overlapping layers.

on dry paper, she establishes her

layer with

cadmium yellow pale wher-

ever the final result

where yellow

will

is

to be yellow or

be needed to build an-

other color, such as yellow-green.

Step 2 Next she paints cadmium orange over

many

areas, including

sections,

some

of the yellow

and then repeats the process

with a third

warm

color, alizarin crimson.

At this stage, some areas are touched,

some have one

some two and some

still

un-

layer of paint,

three.

Step 3 Stevens continues methodically layering, a single color at a time,

now using Winsor

green and Winsor blue. The layers of

warm and

cool colors begin to mix opti-

cally.

!

Creating

Step 4

Now

she introduces strong value con-

trasts using a dull blue-green

Winsor

mixed from

blue, ultramarine blue, alizarin

crimson and burnt sienna

in

various

binations. She applies gold leaf to

the "shen" sign (the

circle

com-

form

with a bar un-

derneath at the top of the painting), used in

ancient Egypt as the sacred sign for cre-

ation.

The shapes of the two flamingos

re-

peat the symbol; lotus blossoms symbolize

new

life.

As

final

touches, Stevens

brightens the flamingos and emphasizes

the edges of the lotus leaves using alizarin

crimson and cadmium orange.

Mood

•

1

23

Morning Surf

Stone often underpaints an area with a

Many

Don Stone

complementary

advantage of the way complementary col-

Oil

on canvas

20" x 30"

color. In this case

paints a thin orange

he

wash under areas

painters use this approach to take

ors vibrate next to

one another.

that will later be painted in the blue range.

tant^

Fond Memories

Like

Lou Messa

depicts not a specific place, but a "ge-

and transparent passages. Very

neric" barn interior: quiet, peaceful, nos-

are usually transparent, without the use of

Acrylic

on Crescent watercolor board

many

of Messa's paintings, this

one

16"x28"

talgic.

Collection of Rose Novack.

as a transparent watercolor (using acrylic

Messa begins a painting

essentially

paint)

and

finishes

opaque white.

up with both opaque light areas

Creating

Mood

Spectre Shirley Porter

Watercolor on Strathmore

illustration

board

20"x30" Working

into a very

laid in faint

wet

surface, Porter

background color and then

painted increasingly darker areas as the

paper became

less

wet. Only a few small

shapes were painted on dry paper. She obtained

some

lighter

with a

damp

bristle brush; others,

ative painting

around an

(i.e.,

object).

shapes by

lifting

paint

by neg-

painting the space

The limited palette was

burnt umber, raw umber and Winsor blue.

Catoctin Phil

Metzger

Acrylic

on canvas

36"x48"

This

is

a secluded spot in Maryland's Ca-

toctin Mountains,

where the sunlight

broke through an opening

opy to

strike

in

pool represents.

the tree can-

the snow-covered rocks.

was tempting

It

to load up the water area

with strong reflections, but to do so

would have destroyed the quiet that the

a

I

began

this painting

with

medium-value, blue-green (Winsor blue

and Winsor green) over the entire canvas

and then worked from there.

in

both value directions

125

1

26

Enliven

Your Paintings With Light

John Boatright and Stephen Sebastian both use muted, almost

monochromatic palettes to conjure up a restful day. In Study in Gray (right) Boatright uses several tools

to set the tone he wants — overall low values, soft edges, restricted and muted hues, quiet texture, and the long, flat shape of the horizon. Sebastian, in Passing Storm (be-

low), uses those same devices, but heightens the value on the boat and

buildings to say that the sun has

broken through as the clouds move away. Restfulness doesn't necessarily

muted colors, as Michael Brown shows in A Chair For Rest call for

(page 127, top). Although he uses and strong value

vibrant colors

contrasts — usually a recipe for ac-

— he still achieves a quiet mood. He lets other elements tell the story— an empty chair, simple shapes and long cast shadows. The tion

absence of animals or human ures also helps; add figures

some

fig-

active

Study

in

A

Gray

John Boatright Oil

on canvas

soft

22"x28" Collection of Mr.

limited palette (white,

cobalt blue),

edges

of a late

and Mrs. John

Heflin

all

muted

raw umber and

colors

and

values,

help create the restful

summer

and

mood

day.

II.

and the mood might be

quite different.

Passing Storm Stephen Sebastian Watercolor

22"x40" Sebastian's interest

was

here size

to

empha-

the brightness

of the sailboat. To

accomplish

this,

he

manufactured passing storm clouds, ting the boat

let-

and

buildings catch the

reappearing sunlight.

The muted

background and the quiet water surface

combine to suggest a restful scene.

Active

Mood

To represent an upbeat or active mood, painters often abandon muted colors, placid shapes and soft

edges

in favor of

treatments

that rattle your senses. Betts, in

Edward

Summerscape

II (right,

bottom), chooses brilliant colors

and splashy shapes that almost

A Chair for

Despite the vibrant colors and stark con-

Rest

seem to move. The painting says "summer" without depicting any of

Michael David Brown

trasts,

Watercolor

one. The

mood in this painting is a quiet warm cast shadows establish a

the accepted visual symbols of the

30" x 40"

peaceful

mood,

season. In a similar way, Jan

the

as does the lack of any ob-

vious activity. Looks

like siesta

time to me!

Dorer's Ice Flow, opposite the Introduction, recalls her Alaskan ex-

perience without resorting to whales or walrus. She relies on translucent color, plenty of texture

and

lively

shapes to

tell

the story.

Active shapes, values and texture. In Three Koi and Wings (page 129), Shirley Porter paints recognizable objects, but arranges patterns of color and value that de-

mand you pay

attention.

Some

teachers nag their students to establish big, important shapes in

their paintings to capture attention

and hold things together. In Koi, the large water shapes — the light blue and the blue-black areas — serve that purpose. These shapes are the foundation of the painting,

and

their strong value differences,

along with their ragged edges, create a lively backdrop for the rest of

the action. The ripples, reflections

Summerscape

and bubbles

Edward

water and the all add up to a

in the

details of the fish

Acrylic

warmth;

on Masonite

42" x 50"

ture surface.

Collection of William A. Farnsworth

show up

brary and Art

was

restricted to high-key

colors to project a feeling of light

texture that enlivens the entire picSimilar action qualities

This painting

II

Betts

light

is

specific landscape motif. Li-

Museum, Rockland, Maine.

lected, mostly yellows

chosen for

cadmium orange and

white, that intersect like pieces in

olets

a jigsaw puzzle. Overlaying those

shapes color,

is

a combination of vibrant

sharp value change, and

plenty of texture.

mium

The colors

yellow

medium

se-

and oranges, were

their natural brilliance.

Wings. Again there are two large shapes, the blue and the in

and

more the subject than any

is

Cad-

dominant, with

pale pinks, blues,

and greens playing supporting

vi-

roles.

Color relationships or color vibrations

were more important to expressing the

summery image than conventional or value contrasts.

tonal

1

28

Your Paintings With Light

Enliven

Demonstration

Metzger

Phil

Painting Nostalgia Despite the large mass of darkened area,

view

I

this painting as

one

having a decidedly active mood.

The

brilliant

outdoor

light,

con-

trasted with the dark interior,

kind of wake-up

a

Out

Inside Phil

is

call.

Metzger

Alkyd on canvas

16V2"x12V2" Collection of Jim Halota, Rockville,

MD

Stepl After tracing the drawing onto a gessoed

canvas,

I

established the lightest, bright-

est part of the painting, the outdoors. All

values inside the barn could then be

pared to the outdoor values. Next,

smeared

acrylic

gesso

liberally

com-

I

and

roughly over the barn wall area to help

suggesting rough stone texture

in

later.

Step 2 Using thinned alkyd paint,

I

roughly

painted the entire barn interior. Then,

with a dark mixture

I

indicated joints be-

tween stones. Most of the

interior

was

painted with combinations of ultramarine blue, burnt sienna,

raw umber and

alizarin

crimson.

Step 3 I

glazed the interior with dark, transparent

layers of paint thinned with Liquin, re-

peating this process several times until the interior values

were dark enough to pro-

vide a sharp contrast with the outdoor values. Before each

new

glaze,

I

allowed the

painting to dry thoroughly, a matter of

about eight hours. While each glaze was wet,

I

painted into the wet to modify both

the wall and floor areas. Most of the hay

on the into

floor

was suggested by scratching

wet paint with various sharp

tools.

Creating

Three Koi Shirley Porter

Transparent watercolor on Arches 300-lb. cold-press paper

22"x30" This watercolor

makes good use of

active, intersecting shapes,

sharp value changes and texture. Porter began by painting the

two

large shapes

on dry paper using combinations of Winsor

blue, alizarin crimson

and yellow ochre. Nothing was masked -

she painted around the white streaks and round bubbles, soft-

ening their edges with clear water. Porter in

the light blue water areas using a

clean water. She

wet the

stiff

lifted

the soft ripples

dampened with them to keep their

brush

koi before painting

markings from becoming hard-edged.

Wings

This

Shirley Porter

painted the major shapes on soaking wet

dampness

Transparent watercolor with opaque

paper with

apply to the

white highlights on Rives BFK printing

Winsor green, yellow ochre, new gam-

paper

boge

30"x40"

the wet surface from a loaded brush (no

was

a two-stage painting. Porter

brilliant color

yellow).

(Winsor blue,

She dropped the color into

actual

brushwork on the paper) and

lowed

it

al-

to spread. For this method, to

keep paint from spreading farther than

desired,

you must

test

and control the

of the paper and the paint you

damp surface must not be too

watery. The second stage

was done on dry

paper, wetting only small portions

where

necessary to maintain soft edges. Porter

painted the wings, mostly Chinese white,

with small, pointed brushes.

Mood

•

1

29

Mood N.F.

Indigo

Olson

Watercolor and pastel on Stonehenge printing paper

30"x40" Despite the dark colors

the upper two-

in

thirds of this painting, the

decidedly upbeat for lively interplay

two

mood seems

reasons: (1) a

between the warm and

cool colors, and (2) well-placed value contrasts that

keep the eye moving

all

the picture surface. Looked at less cally, it's

by

all

a scene saved

over clini-

from gloominess

that fresh, strong light breaking

through the clouds. The painting

is

a

com-

bination of watercolor overlaid with pastel,

on paper that was embossed by the

artist.

North by Northwest— Cary Grant

Powers

Alex Powers

using

Gouache, charcoal and pastel

cussed: sharp value contrasts, irregular

29" x 39"

injects action into this painting

many

by

of the devices we've dis-

shapes, plenty of texture, and

some sharp

edges. The light on the shoulder of the

near figure connects to the background

and serves to

A

tie all

sense of distance

the figures together. is

defined by the

di-

minishing sizes of the figures moving into the picture space, and by the small white fence posts emerging from the ground area.

The sense of action

is

strongly influ-

enced by the poses of the various figures.

Creating

The Greenhouse

This watercolor relies

Charlene Winterle Olson

to set the

mood. The

on high-key values splashiness of the

Watercolor on Stonehenge printing paper

many hues and

24"x30"

over the painting surface, along with

the variety of textures

downplayed shadows,

all

all

contribute to a

decidedly cheerful scene. Olson kept the

hard

too

lines of

rigid

the greenhouse from being

by painting them loosely, with-

out masking, and by keeping most values close.

Mood "131

Index to Contributors

Neil H.

Adamson N.W.S., F.W.S.

Jan Dorer

87

Pages 19, 57, 72, 74, 84, 117 7089 So. Shore Dr. S. Pasadena Isle, FL 33707

Introduction, Page

Warren

Robert Frank P.S.A., P.S.W.C. Pages 44, 76, 77, 100 149 Shore Line Dr.

Allin

Pages 83, 104, 115 5901 Kingswood Rd. Bethesda,

MD

20814

Page 52 8751 SaraCt.

Edward

VA 22123

Betts N.A., A.W.S.

127 2 Wonderbrook Pages

15,

Kennebunk,

Dr.

ME

04043

Pages 43, 58, 59 P.O. Box 248

CT 06068

John Boatright Pages 80, 95, 126 1222 W. Crestwood Dr. Memphis, TN 38119 Robert Julius Brawley Pages 19, 51, 120, 121 624 Louisiana St.

Lawrence, KS 66044 Michael David

Brown

Pages 7, 18, 127 Winterberry Publishing 932 Hungerford Dr., Suite 24 Rockville,

Reston,

VA 22091

Charles Gatewood

Page 48 4019 28th Ave. Phenix City, AL 36867

Edward Gordon

Allen Blagden

Salisbury,

Mary Esther, FL 32569 Dennis Frings Page 96 2635 Steeplechase Dr.

Ted Becker

Nokesville,

3037 Lake Arrowhead GA 30183

Waleska,

Pages 28, 98, 118 P.O. Box 337

Fran Larsen N.W.S., W.H.S., R.M.W.S. Page 36 1512 Paseo de Peralta Sante Fe, NM 87501 Harold E. Larsen N.W.S., K.W.S. S.L.M.M. Page 84 1512 Paseo de Peralta Sante Fe, NM 87501

Lena Liu Page 41 11516 Potomac Lake Potomac, MD 20854 Jane Lund

Pages 102, 104 Norton Hill Rd. Ashfield,

Title page,

Walpole,

NH

03608

Barbara Hails Pages 9, 10, 11, 101 c/o McBride Gallery 215 Main St. Annapolis, MD 21401

Tom

Hale A.W.S.

Dr.

MA 01330

Sharon Maczko Pages 20, 34, 53, 70-71 3900 Pontiac Trail

Ann

Arbor,

MI 48105

Marci McDonald

Page 31 30 N. 16th

St.

Allentown,

PA 18102

Pages 35, 54

37986 Tralee Trail Northville, MI 48167 Peter G. Holbrook

Pages 2-3, 64, 85, 86, 92, 110, 111 5719 Briceland-Thorn Rd.

Redway,

CA 95560

MD 20850

Lou Messa Pages 90, 124 P.O. Box 503 Madison, VA 22727 Phil Metzger Pages 14, 29,

Donald Holden Page 74 128 Deertrack Ln. Irvington, NY 10533

63, 94, 101, 108,

128 P.O. Box 10746 Rockville, MD 20850 113, 125,

Index to Contributors

Charlene Winterle Olson

Page 131 3189 Springlake Dr. Conyers, GA 30208

Don Stone A.N.A., A.W.S., D.F. Pages 16, 78, 79, 90, 124 Box 305 Monhegan Island, P.O.

N.F. Olson

ME

Pages

26, 27, 38,

7,

33402 Dosinia

Dana

Point,

Mary Sweet Pages 31, 87, 88, 89 P.O. Box 280 Tijeras,

Shirley Porter A.W.S., N.W.S.

Pages 4, 68, 69, 117, 125, 129 14315 Woodcrest Dr.

MD

20853

Alex Powers Pages 13, 130 401 72nd Ave. N., Apt. Myrtle Beach, P.

Academy A.W.S.

108

NM 87059

Warren Taylor A.W.S., N.W.S., W.H.S., R.M.W.S.

D.F.

Pages 30, 32, 33, 53, 85 Box 50051

TX 79710

Wayne Waldron 1

SC 29577

F.R.S.A.

Fellow, Royal Society

F.W.S.

Florida Watercolor

of Arts

Society

K.W.S.

Rocco A.W.S.

Pages 21, 25, 40, 106, 107, 109 2026 South Newkirk St. Philadelphia, PA 19145

Stephen Sebastian Pages 46, 47, 126 1100 Ferndale Blvd. High Point, NC 27262

Susanna Spann Pages 42, 67 1729 8th Ave. W. Bradenton, FL 34205 Linda Stevens N.W.S., W.W.,

W.C.W.S. Pages 66, 122, 123 9622 Zetland Dr. Huntington Beach, CA 92646

18, P.O.

N.A.

Bedford, IN 47421

Gustave Wander Page 45 88 Audubon Rd. Teaneck, NJ 07666 Michael

J.

Weber A.W.S.

Pages 50, 66 12780 59th St. N. Royal Palm Beach, FL 33411 Michael Wheeler

Pages 81, 82, 91, 99, 100, 116 P.O. Box 226 Manchester, KY 40962

National

Academy

of

Arts

N.W.S.

National Watercolor

Society O.P.A. P.S.A.

Oil Painters of America

Pastel Society of

America P.S.W.C.

Box 889

Kentucky Watercolor Society

F.R.S.A.

Pages 21, 52

RR #

Dolphin Fellowship,

A.W.S.

P.O.

Midland,

of Arts

American Watercolor

Dr.

Pages 22, 23, 24, 105

2536 Bay Vista Ln. Los Osos, CA 93402

Associate, National

Society

CA 92629

Joyce Pike O.P.A.

Michael

A.N.A.

Sally Strand P.S.A.

Page ISO 3189 Springlake Dr. Conyers, GA 30208

Rockville,

04852

Key to Abbreviations

Pastel Society of the

West Coast R.M.W.S.

Rocky Mountain Watermedia Society

S.L.M.M.

Society of Layerists in

W.C.W.S.

West Coast Watercolor

W.H.S.

Watercolor

Multi-Media Society

USA Honor

Society

W.W.

Watercolor West

133

Bibliography

Betts,

Edward

New York: lications

Arthur L. Watercolor Painting Step-by-

Guptill,

Creative Landscape Painting lications

Watson-Guptill Pub-

1978

lications

Watson-Guptill Pub-

1981

Master Class in Water Media

New York: lications

Step

New York: lications

Creative Seascape Painting

New York:

1992

Watson-Guptill Pub-

1975

New York,

North Light Books

Cincinnati:

Master Class in Watercolor

Hill,

Watson-Guptill Pub-

1967

Tom

The Watercolorist 's Complete Guide to Color Cincinnati: North Light Books 1992

Watson-Guptill PubMetzger, Phil

1993

How to Master Pencil Drawing Faber History of Color in Painting New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold 1965

Birren,

Rockville, Maryland:

Perspective Without Pain

North Light Books

Cincinnati:

Blake,

Wendon (Donald Holden)

LC Publica-

tions 1991

1992

The Complete Acrylic PaintPike, Joyce

ing Book Cincinnati:

North Light Books

Oil Painting,

A Direct Ap-

proach

1989

Cincinnati: North Light

The Complete Oil Painting

Books

1988

Book Cincinnati:

North Light Books

1989

The Complete Watercolor Book Cincinnati: North Light

Books

Powers, Alex

Painting People in Watercolor: A Design Approach

1989 Getting Started in

Painting Flowers With Joyce Pike Cincinnati: North Light Books 1992

Drawing

Cincinnati: North Light

Books

New York: lications

Watson-Guptill Pub-

1989

1991 Willis,

Lucy

The Artist 's Guide to Using Color: A Complete Step-by-Step Guide in Watercolor, Acrylic

Light:

and

1991

Oil

Paint

How

to

See

it,

How

to

it

Cincinnati:

North Light Books

Index

101

Detail, 99,

1, 30, 32 Impressionists, 15

Imagination,

45 Direct painting, 44

Abstraction, 13, 86 Active mood, 127

Diffraction, 42,

Adamson, Neil

Distance, creating, 97

H., 19, 57, 73, 74, 84,

116-117 Afternoon Light on

Incidence, angle

116

Airbrush, 31, 111

Alaska Series #4, 87 Alkyd, 28, 75

Warren, 83, 104, 114-115 April, 97, 98 Ascending Order, 30, 31

Double shadows, 29 Dusk: Seeking Shelter, 84

James, 121

91 Quixote, 17 Dorer, Jan, 1, 86, 87, 127

J

Juarez, 85 Judith in Reverie, 120

Allin,

Backlighting, 34, 51, 53, 91

Edward,

15,

127

Blagden, Allen, 43, 56, 58-59 Blending, 9 Blue Fish Cove, 109-111

Blue Mood,

14,

Boatright, John, 80, 95, 126

Brawley, Robert J., 19, 50, 51, 120-121 Brown, Michael David, 7, 12, 18, 126127 Brushstrokes, 23 Bryce — Natural Bridge, 92, 95, 99

Larsen, Harold E., 84, 85 Late Zinnias, 100 Lifting, 109, 114

Bull's-eye, 14

Light: abstract, 55; artificial, 24, 28;

Fish Pails and Floats, 19 Fisherman, 115

balanced, 37; brightness 37; direction

9

intensity, 7, 37, 120; multiple

sources, 24-26, 40, 48-49, 103; nature of, 1; north, 25, 37, 105; rak-

121, 124

15, 48, 103-108 Frank, Robert E., 44, 74, 76-77, 100 Frings, Dennis, 96

ing, 49; reflected, 1, 11, 18, 21, 25,

28, 34, 37, 48, 51, 56, 106; reflected, in

Collage, 7 15, 25;

change, 108;

circle, 6;

complementary, 5, 7, 10, 22; cool, 8, 25, 27, 108; harmony, 7; local, 94; patches, 15; primary, 6, 8;

secondary, 6; and shadows, 44; shift, 37; standard, 8; temperature, 8, 25-26; warm, 8, 27, 95, 108; wheel, 8 Composition, 23, 26 pure,

ture

Gatewood, Charles, 48 Gel medium, 9, 115 Geography, 84 Gesso, acrylic, Glare, 51,

9,

of, 1;

40; source, position 1,

18,21,44,46 Golden Pastureland, 80 Gordon, Edward, 25, 28, 29,

74, 75, 97,

37; wavelength

94;

Lincoln Zephyr, 34 Liquin, 75 Liu, Lena, 40

Long Shadows

118

of,

white, 6

68

Glazes,

at Taos, 36

Lund, Jane, 102, 104

22

Greenhouse, The, 131

M

H

Maczko, Sharon, 20, 34, 53, 70, 71

Hails, Barbara, 10,

Hale,

Tom,

Making Ready,

101

Holbrook, Peter G., 5, 64, 84-86, 93, 95, 99, 109-111 Holden, Don, 62, 74 Homasassa River, 57 Homosote board, 45

Crucible, 19

Horse Creek Backroad,

97,

Hot-press paper, 112, 113 7,

120

I

Ice Flow,

1,

Illusions, 12

127

74, 78-79

Marble dust, 9

34, 54, 56, 62

Connecticut Winter, 83 Corner of the Universe #i, A, 34 Cotton-Eyed Joe, 51, 53 Courtyard Garden, 101

Hue,

45;

31, 37; surreal, 34; viewing, 37;

warm,

80

5, 6, 8,

of,

17, 24; south, 25, 37;

studio, 37; sun-, 18, 22, 24-25, 28,

112, 113

Glass: ground, 9; painting, 67,

Grays,

of,

sources,

7;

Dark, painting in, 109, 112 Dark areas, action in, 121 Darks, 15 Design, 18, 22, 23

shadows, 90; role

single source, 18, 40; source, na-

Center of interest, 14 Cezanne, Paul, 15 Chair For Rest, A, 126-127 Charcoal, 26 Church in Spain, >1, 106 Cobalt and Cranberry Glass, 66 Cold-press paper, 112 1,

37; fluorescent,

Fond Memories,

Catoctin, 121, 125

Color,

of,

37; imagined, 30; indirect, 18, 37;

Florida River, 74 Fog, 95

Form,

Carborundum, 9

40;

of,

cool, 37; diffused, 22, 40; direct,

Fixative, 9 Flint,

29

Larsen, Frances, 36

Farmyard, 101

119

Stuff,

Klieber's Woods, 96

L

Everglades Cypress, 116-117 Everything in White, 105

Birches, 13

K Kid

Knife: painting, 112, 113; strokes, 23

Empty Rooms, 25, 28 Evening— Mohave Point, 85

Becker, Ted, 51, 52 Betts,

Early Morning, Bryce Canyon, 30, 31 Edges, 22, 99, 101, 120; of shadows, 42; values at, 14 Egg tempera, 48

B

56

Don

Dogwood Shadow,

New Snow,

of,

The, 56, 58-59 Inside Out, 128 Interior With Morning Light, 39 Inlet,

99

Maroon Bells Above Crater Lake,

86,

87

Marshland Glow,

74, 76-77 Masking, 46, 110 Masonite, 15,28, 48, 115 Matboard, 1, 9 McDonald, Marci, 30, 31 Mending the Nets, 21 Messa, Lou, 90, 121, 124 Metzger, Phil, 14, 29, 94, 101, 108, 125, 128

Midqftemoon, 46

1

36

Enliven

Your Paintings With Light

Midtones, 15 Millwright's Shop, 108-109, 116 Mind at Play #1, The, 53 Mind at Play #7, The, 20 Mirror, 62 Mist, 95 Modeling, 21, 50, 51, 99, 116

Pregnant Woman, 104

Stevens, Linda

Printing press, 96

Still life,

Pumice, 9

Still

Mood, 24, 48, 119; ments of, 120;

Reflection: angle

Mood Indigo, Moon:

active, 127; ele-

quiet,

120

130

17-18, 62, 78; reflection

-light,

Mystery, 40, 48

N Navarre Beach, 44 Negative painting, 15, 67, 125 81 Newspaper, 96, 112 Night at Gull Pond I, 74

New Growth— Bullskin,

Nightfall— Harris Beach, 64 1957 Cadillac, 54, 56, 62, 64 North by Northwest — Cary Grant, 130 North Headlands, 86 Nostalgia, 128 Nostalgia, 25

Old Soldier,

Life on a Blue Table, 102 Life With Granny Smiths, 50 Stolen Moments, 42 Stone, Don, 17, 62, 74, 78-79, 90, 121,

Realism, 13, 30 Reflecting surfaces, curved, 64 definition

56; curved, 55;

of,

of,

56; direction

of,

45,

64; into shadows,

60; distortion

of,

45; length

61, 63; moonlight,

of,

124 Stone Barn

II,

Strand, Sally,

7,

Strokes, broken, 10

Structure, 103, 109

Study in Gray, 126 Study of Light, 22

Relativity, 12

Suncoast, 15

Res-n-gel, 104

Sunny

,

;

Summerscape II, 127

Reverse shadows, 106

Retreat, 45 Sweet Springs, 23

Rice paper, 1 Rocco, Michael

Sycamores, 112, 113

Sweet, Mary, 30-31, 86-89 P., 21, 25, 40, 106, 108,

116

Synvar, 75

Rock Creek, 104 Rose From Last December, Rose Gate, 9, 10 Rough paper, 112 Rubber stamps, 29

30, 31

Taylor, Warren, 30, 51, 84, 85

Texture, 18, 48-49, 91, 109, 116, 120,

Sanded board, 9 Sanding, 75

127; and shadows, 43 Textured ground, 109, 112 Theater sets, 20 Three Brown Jugs, 21 Three Koi, 127, 129 Tree and Meadow, 108

Sandy Sequence, 13

Tricks, 17

Saturation, 120

Twilight Memories, 100

Rules, 8, 30

Scraping, 114 Sculpting, 15

Olson, N.F., 130

Scumbling, 109, 112 Seasons, 80 Sebastian, Stephen, 44, 46, 126

Underpaying,

Overlap, 97, 99, 100, 101

Senses, fooling, 97

Value,

Overlapping shadows, 48 Overnight Guests, 17

September 21, 118

Onions, 116-117 Oriental mineral color, 41

u

Seventh Day, The, 122 Shadows, 11, 39, 90, 104-106;

24, 48, 50-51; causes of, 42; difPalette, 8

29; overlapping, 24, 48; patterns,

Passing Storm, 126

91;

non-photo blue,

10 Perspective, 51; aerial, 86, 93-96, 99, 100, 101; linear, 97, 99, 101 Photo-realism, 112 Photocopier, 29 Photography, 86, 109, 112 Piedmont, The, 90 Pike, John, 8 Pike, Joyce, 18, 22-23, 105 Pencil,

9,

Pinnacles Beyond, 84 Plaza in Granada, 40, 48 Plein air painting, 37 Porcelain 'n Linen, 51, 52 Porter, Shirley, 5, 65, 67-69, 116-117, 121, 125, 127, 129

Powers, Alex,

of,

45; double,

reflections, 60, 62; re-

verse, 106

Patches, 109, 116

13,

130

Shapes, 74, 76, 78, 104, 108, 116, 120121, 127; defined by shadows, 48

Shenandoah,

94, 97 Sierra Vieja, 30, 32 Silhouette, 51, 83 Silk, 41

Size variation, 97, 101

Skulduggery, 83 Southern Hospitality, 67 Southern Palms, 72, 73, 84 Spann, Susanna, 42, 67 Spectre, 121, 125

Sponge, 112 Spotlighting, 14

Spraying, 109, 114 Stamps, rubber, 29

Stems and Stripes,

96

11-12, 17-18, 22, 45, 78, 95-

trast,

cast, 18,

fused, 24; direction

and

1,

9-10, 26,

96, 127; change, 100, 104; con-

Painting from memory, 5

Pastel, 7, 9

5

25-26, 39, 108

Stream Bed— Laurel County, 82

15 Olson, Charlene Winterle, 131 5,

7

Storm— Lipan Point,

with a mirror, 62 value of 6 1 versus shadows, 43; wet road, 62, 63 Reflections With Bouquet, 62, 63, 64 Refraction, 1, 42; definition of, 65 ;

Morning Stroll, Bryce Canyon, 88-89 Morning Surf, 121, 124 Muddy color, 9 Music Room, The, 40, 41

66, 122

Still

62, 63; sharpness of, 62; studying

62 Morning Fog, 95 of,

L.,

20, 22

65, 68-69

105

Varsol, 96

Verilux lights, 37 Vestibule, 25-26

Volume, 15

W Waldron, Wayne, 21, 51, 52 Wallpaper, 29 Wander, Gustave, 45 Wash Day, Monhegan, 90 Washes, 21 Water Light #20, 66 Weber, Michael J., 50, 66 Westside, 51, 52 Wheeler, Michael, 81-82, 91, 97, 99, 100, 116 White Barn, 18 White Bucket, 108 White Roses, 24 Winners, The, 7 Winter Stalk, 43 Woman in a White Blouse, 51

Wood

panel, 19, 51

BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY

3 9999 02402 329

1

/

9\ Boston Public Library

BRIGH"

BRANCH

L

BR BR

ND1484 .M48 1993

The Date Due Card

in the pocket indicates the date on or before which this book should be returned to the

Library. Please do not remove cards from this

pocket.

*?J

ART "REFERENCE

PAINTING SERIES ELEMENTS O ENLIVEN YOUR PAINTINGS WITH F

LIGHT Reading

this

book is

like

having 42 outstanding painters teach you their techniques for cap-

turing light in their paintings. You'll find seventeen step-by-step demonstrations illustrating

two light sources, how to paint a sample of what's inside:

various techniques, including underpainting with color, using

luminous shadows, and painting morning

From

the chapter

on

reflections <

and

light.

Here's just

From

refractions:

the chapter

on

creating mood:

Southern Hospitality

Susanna Spann, transparent watercolor. Here Susanna Spann shows

ed through cut

glass.

how

light

She made the

out by placing darks next to them darks are built up by using as layers of paint,

is

refract-

lights sing

— her

many

as

rich

twenty

each painted over a previously

dried layer.

From

the chapter

on shadows: Westside

«

Ted Becker,

oil

on canvas.

Backlighting provides both a dra-

matic setting, or mood, and the

opportunity to play up strong value contrasts. Reflected light, mostly

from the

sky, illuminates

of the building just

enough to

show some defining

From Dorit miss the other books

the face

the chapter

detail.

*

on

capturing time and place:

in this series:

September 21

Edward Gordon, alkyd on Masonite hardboard panel.

Gordon

delights in painting details that

the casual observer might skip over.

Energize Your Paintings

come together to create the mood he was looking for.

these

With Color

All

of

quiet

Dramatize Your Paintings With Tonal Value Strengthen Your Paintings

With Dynamic Composition

Enrich Your Paintings

$27. TS •

Seven

ISBN 0-6=1134-514-0

PM

With Texture

Edward Gordon, alkyd on panel.

(available Fall '94)

Simple shapes, long shadows, a golden glow

Revitalize Your Paintings

on the porch, and gently graded sky establish the evening

90000 light in

mood. Using

With Nev) Ideas

painstaking layering technique, Gordon

(available Fall '94)

painted

six

the

his

or seven thin layers over the sky

area to get the glow he wanted.

9 780891"345145 I