GOOD LIGHTING AND SPACE

Hi Folks,

I can not emphasize enough how important it is to paint with good lighting and in a roomy space. Recently I volunteered myself to do a demo at a Sunday art event with the end piece to be sold as a fund raiser. Upon arriving I was disappointed to find it was being held in a poorly lit very cluttered space. I tried t make the best of it and after 2 grueling hours left my ‘piece of art’ to be auctioned off on a small local social media site. it didn’t sell! When I went to pick it up and brought it out into the daylight I was appalled at the colours. Instead of all the lovely bright greens I knew to be in the original photograph I used, the colours were dark , muddy and uninspired. It weighed so heavily on me to have even attempted this under such dire conditions and produce such a dark piece I could hardly wait to get back to my studio and repaint the whole canvas. Which I did! I then sold it in a silent auction to raise funds for my students annual art show. So in the end it found a home and raised money for a better cause.

If I had a nickel for every time a student said to me, ” I painted for hours last night and when I got up in the morning the colours were all wrong, they were so dark and muddy” I’d be rich! So good lighting is important and that mean day light ! I recommend if you can only find time to paint at night to invest in a day light lamp or purchase day light bulbs from a Home Depot or lighting store and put them into your own light fixture.

Best light though is good old fashion day light, preferable NE or NW light so not to get the harshness and extreme shadows created by a southern exposure.

What about space. It too is important. I can always tell when a student is painting in a small cramped space as the picture again will be uninspired and feel crowded. Painting in a closet is not a good thing , although it may be nice to be able to close the door and leave all your stuff out. Try and find a space where you can stand back from your work often so you can see at a distance what needs to be changed.

Happy Painting

Cheers

Georgia

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CONTRASTS – SHADOWS AND HIGHLIGHTS

Hi Folks,

One of the more challenging questions often facing a student is:

Should I make my bright areas brighter or darker areas darker? Another conundrum!

You try, I know, to paint what you see but that is not good enough. You have think as an artist and use your colour sense i.e. using secondary colours on your edges, in shadows and in areas that in the back ground. You also need to make sure your tonal values as well are enhancing your perspective i.e. bringing areas closer and or make them recede. Remember dark makes things come closer and light makes things recede. As well you need to make sure your tonal values are in balance. A lot to think about but it all makes for a better painting!

You think you are finished but when you stand back to appraise your work, your tonal values seem to have a sameness. Your first thought is perhaps you have to make the bright colours brighter but they already seem so bright. Instead, go the other route and think perhaps you should make your dark colours darker, using dark purple for areas in the background and dark blue for those areas in the fore ground. Then stand back you will be amazed how your bright colours pop now because you have increased the contrast between your lights and darks. It is the opposite of what you thought you should do.

But you now have to make sure both your lights and darks are in balance. Squint and look at only the lights first, then look at only the darks. They should be in balance and your eye should move around your canvas, coming to rest on all 3 focal points.

Always stand back from your work often and when you feel you are finished, leave it for a few days then look at it with fresh eyes, assessing if everything is in balance. The final check is to ask yourself are your contrasts in balance and enhance each other and does your eye move around to all 3 focal points ending at the rest spot. If all of these work sign your painting !

Happy Painting

Cheers

Georgia

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