I'm looking at a portrait by David Tanner in
Plein Air Magazine (May 2015 issue). I'm noticing that 90% of the portrait is in shadow, yet it is full of radiant color. Too often, we assume shadows as just darker areas to be dealt with, but within the shadows often we can find the most intriguing areas of a subject. Look at this flaming azalea photo.
Now, using my notan principle of shadow and not-in-shadow, let's substitute the not-in-shadow areas with a neutral middle value. (If you watch the YouTube video Notan-Why and How, this might make more sense.)
Look at the variety of of hues, values and intensities we find here in the shadow areas! A hue-value-intensity analysis might look like this:
The intensities range from mid to neutral, the values range from mid to low and the hues range (in the blossoms) from yellow orange to red-orange) and (in the foliage) from yellow green to slightly bluish green.
TIP: When painting shadow areas, observing the variations in intensities, values and hues can add a new vibrancy to your painting.
Happy painting,
