Look at these bricks in the shadow. They are almost black, and though they have some detail, the detail is not crisp. It can be difficult to know how much detail to put into shadows, and difficult to know how dark to go. A reference photograph often has too little information in the lightest and darkest areas, resulting in black holes. If studied in real life, our eyes adjust to what we see, so a shadow in real life will get lighter the more we look. Our eyes will pull out too many midtones and detail. The same is true for light. If we look at something light (no, not the sun, you won’t see much at all after you look at the sun) our eyes will adjust to the light and pull more midtones and detail in those areas too. The trick is to find a balance of light and dark for your painting, and put in just enough information so that it fools the eye into thinking there’s more than there is, and lets the eyes relax a little within the painting. Finding just the right balance of light, dark, detail, and suggested detail in a painting takes practice.
Detail of bricks and windows
Would you like your drawings and paintings to be suggestive but not bound to too much detail? Take my Cityscapes Workshop May 11/12.
[vc_row type=”in_container” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ width=”1/1″][vc_column_text](2015 photo above by SomanMateo Photography) Katherine Wright and Lendy Hensley are participating in the Kirkland Artists Studio Tour. Katherine is teaching Intro to Watercolor at the League this summer, and Lendy teaches Intro to Oil. Both will have their lovely paintings on display for you …
New Deadline for Submissions: January 31, 2021 The first annual Seattle Artist League Portrait Awards are aimed at encouraging artists to focus on and develop the theme of portraiture in their work. The competition is open to everyone aged sixteen and over, in recognition of the outstanding and innovative work in drawing, painting, printmaking, and mixed media. 1st Prize: …
[vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” width=”1/1″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][image_with_animation image_url=”9194″ alignment=”” animation=”None” box_shadow=”none” max_width=”100%”][vc_column_text]In the 1600’s, wood was a limited resource in the Dutch Republic (now the Netherlands), so artists either switched to canvas, or scavenged for wood panels. Rembrandt painted some of his works on mahogany …
[vc_row type=”in_container” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ width=”1/1″][vc_column_text] In 1960, pioneering American artists Sol LeWitt and Eva Hesse met for the first time and instantly clicked, quickly forming a strong, deep bond that would last for ten years and result in countless inspirational discussions and rich exchanges of ideas. Indeed, they remained …
Some dumb bricks by François-Antoine Bossuet
Detail of bricks in shadow
Look at these bricks in the shadow. They are almost black, and though they have some detail, the detail is not crisp. It can be difficult to know how much detail to put into shadows, and difficult to know how dark to go. A reference photograph often has too little information in the lightest and darkest areas, resulting in black holes. If studied in real life, our eyes adjust to what we see, so a shadow in real life will get lighter the more we look. Our eyes will pull out too many midtones and detail. The same is true for light. If we look at something light (no, not the sun, you won’t see much at all after you look at the sun) our eyes will adjust to the light and pull more midtones and detail in those areas too. The trick is to find a balance of light and dark for your painting, and put in just enough information so that it fools the eye into thinking there’s more than there is, and lets the eyes relax a little within the painting. Finding just the right balance of light, dark, detail, and suggested detail in a painting takes practice.
Detail of bricks and windows
Would you like your drawings and paintings to be suggestive but not bound to too much detail? Take my Cityscapes Workshop May 11/12.
Detail of bricks and doggies
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League Members in the Kirkland Artist Studio Tour
[vc_row type=”in_container” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ width=”1/1″][vc_column_text](2015 photo above by SomanMateo Photography) Katherine Wright and Lendy Hensley are participating in the Kirkland Artists Studio Tour. Katherine is teaching Intro to Watercolor at the League this summer, and Lendy teaches Intro to Oil. Both will have their lovely paintings on display for you …
Portrait Awards
New Deadline for Submissions: January 31, 2021 The first annual Seattle Artist League Portrait Awards are aimed at encouraging artists to focus on and develop the theme of portraiture in their work. The competition is open to everyone aged sixteen and over, in recognition of the outstanding and innovative work in drawing, painting, printmaking, and mixed media. 1st Prize: …
Rembrandt’s panels: “This Way Up”
[vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” width=”1/1″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][image_with_animation image_url=”9194″ alignment=”” animation=”None” box_shadow=”none” max_width=”100%”][vc_column_text]In the 1600’s, wood was a limited resource in the Dutch Republic (now the Netherlands), so artists either switched to canvas, or scavenged for wood panels. Rembrandt painted some of his works on mahogany …
DO
[vc_row type=”in_container” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ width=”1/1″][vc_column_text] In 1960, pioneering American artists Sol LeWitt and Eva Hesse met for the first time and instantly clicked, quickly forming a strong, deep bond that would last for ten years and result in countless inspirational discussions and rich exchanges of ideas. Indeed, they remained …