Composing and Drawing Tip of the Week.

November 16, 2013
Greetings!
 

Even though we know that light determines the appearance of everything we see, we can get so focused on what a subject is that we forget to notice what light is making it do.  But our perception is influenced according to how the patterns of light and dark shift.  A single subject can change in multiple ways depending upon how the light is hitting it, giving us numerous options for composing light patterns in our paintings.  Impressionist painter Claude Monet composed several series of paintings exploring this concept.

 

A good exercise for bringing this home is to journal shifting light.

Here's how:  On a sunny day, chose a time no later than 12:30 pm and a scene out a window or an easily accessible subject outside.  You'll need a sketchpad and a black felt tip pen or marker.  Once you're set up, make a note of the direction in which you are looking in relation to where the sun is.  

 

Draw three little rectangles in a row, no larger than 1" x 2" each with about a � inch space between. Looking at your subject, close one eye and squint the other until all the details diminish, making the patterns of light and dark more discernible.  

 

In the first rectangle, do a notan sketch placing all shadowed areas within the notan's dark side and leave white paper for those areas not in shadow.  Make a note of the time beneath the drawing.  Wait two hours and do another one in the second block, again noting the time.  Two hours later, do the same in the third rectangle.  You will be surprised at how many changes in value patterns you will discover.  (If you need a refresher on doing a notan, go to Barry John Raybould's video HERE.)

 

I have posted HERE a series I did Wednesday afternoon, looking northwest through my kitchen window into my woods.  Just for fun, I did two more every fifteen minutes because I noticed how quickly the light was changing as the sun was setting.  Then on Thursday morning, I did another to compare early morning patterns with those in late afternoon.

 

A variation on this exercise is to chose either early morning an hour or so after sunrise or late afternoon just before sunset, using fifteen minute intervals for each study.  

 

Enjoy discovering shifting light,

 

Dianne

 

P.S.

Part of the fun of doing these weekly tips by e-newsletter is that we can share things together in a way not possible through blogging.   To see how Isabelle Gaillardon did the Transposing exercise from last week HERE.

 

If you would like to share with our readers your results from this week's Tips, just scan or photograph your studies and email to me.

 
Feel free to forward this to anybody you think might enjoy it.

Archives of these weekly tips can be found HERE.


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