Keith Pfeiffer, Kitchen, oil on 12×12″ panel, 2020 (sold)
I met Keith Pfeiffer when he took my recent Thursday class “Drawing and Painting the Effects of Light.” I love the paintings he made with the ideas presented in class. I spotted this painting on his Instagram page during the class. I asked him what his strategies were. This is a teacherly way of saying “How the heck did you do that so good?!?” Keith complimented my class by quoting the lessons back to me. Here is how he got that window view to glow:
Detail of Keith Pfeiffer’s “Kitchen”
“I focused on complimentary colors and chroma* contrast. I really liked how even though it was brighter inside, the outside seemed to glow more so I knew I couldn’t get that effect with value alone. I made the kitchen have a yellow orange hue but I wanted the complementary color scheme to be a little subtle, so I made the kitchen very fairly low chroma with subtle hue shifts throughout to give vibrancy to the otherwise flat walls. What eventually really made it glow was the blue hue shift on the sink. It’s still roughly the same value as the rest of the counter but it still showed that the outside was effecting the inside. The glow also got a lot more punch once I added small shapes of dark values throughout what was a pretty flat (honestly boring) painting, such as the window frame, sink, cabinet edges, most importantly the really high chroma dark trees outside (thank you Phthalo Blue). Also adding the reflection of the light bulb on the window frame made an interesting area where two opposing light sources fought over who gets to glow.”
Detail of Keith Pfeiffer’s “Kitchen”
“Also also also, that blue glow on the wall on the right side was probably the most difficult thing I’ve ever painted haha. I’m still not convinced it looks right.”
*In the class, the word “chroma” was used to refer to color intensity. High chroma colors are bright saturated colors. Low chroma colors are dull neutrals. When Keith says there was chroma contrast, he means he put a bright saturated color next to dull neutral colors in its complement. These two strategies have the fantastic effect of producing glow, without using value – the glow effect was not produced by putting darks with a light. You can see the same painting with the color saturation removed completely below, to see how the glow effect disappears.
Keith Pfeiffer’s painting, with the color removed
If you find this anywhere near as interesting as I do, you have two options this quarter: take a class with me, or take a class with Keith. Classes start this week, so you have a matter of hours to make your decision. Hope to see you soon!
Below is a video by Proko showing a brief overview of basic drawing supplies, and a demo for how to hand sharpen a soft charcoal pencil. He explains what the weird sandpaper thingy is for.
I recently posted about my happy obsession with The Great Pottery Throwdown. Rich Miller is one of the regulars on the show; first as the kiln technician, then later as a judge, holding equanimity while the other judge bursts into tears. I liked the clear style of his critiques so I looked up his work, …
Alice Mao, a 17 year old student at the League, teamed up with her 15 year old classmate Taylor Wang, to mastermind “Student Art Spaces” a venue for young artists like themselves to show their work. The League is mentoring Student Art Spaces (SAS), and will showcase their curations. We are proud to support SAS in …
10 teams collaborated for this blind drawing challenge. Each team member emailed me their drawings without their team mates seeing what they drew, and I assembled them. It was fun to get these in my inbox. We are definitely doing this again. Check out these drawings! Winning team below. And the winning team is… RECKLESS LINES! …
Glow Through Kitchen Window by Keith Pfeiffer
I met Keith Pfeiffer when he took my recent Thursday class “Drawing and Painting the Effects of Light.” I love the paintings he made with the ideas presented in class. I spotted this painting on his Instagram page during the class. I asked him what his strategies were. This is a teacherly way of saying “How the heck did you do that so good?!?” Keith complimented my class by quoting the lessons back to me. Here is how he got that window view to glow:
“I focused on complimentary colors and chroma* contrast. I really liked how even though it was brighter inside, the outside seemed to glow more so I knew I couldn’t get that effect with value alone. I made the kitchen have a yellow orange hue but I wanted the complementary color scheme to be a little subtle, so I made the kitchen very fairly low chroma with subtle hue shifts throughout to give vibrancy to the otherwise flat walls. What eventually really made it glow was the blue hue shift on the sink. It’s still roughly the same value as the rest of the counter but it still showed that the outside was effecting the inside. The glow also got a lot more punch once I added small shapes of dark values throughout what was a pretty flat (honestly boring) painting, such as the window frame, sink, cabinet edges, most importantly the really high chroma dark trees outside (thank you Phthalo Blue). Also adding the reflection of the light bulb on the window frame made an interesting area where two opposing light sources fought over who gets to glow.”
“Also also also, that blue glow on the wall on the right side was probably the most difficult thing I’ve ever painted haha. I’m still not convinced it looks right.”
*In the class, the word “chroma” was used to refer to color intensity. High chroma colors are bright saturated colors. Low chroma colors are dull neutrals. When Keith says there was chroma contrast, he means he put a bright saturated color next to dull neutral colors in its complement. These two strategies have the fantastic effect of producing glow, without using value – the glow effect was not produced by putting darks with a light. You can see the same painting with the color saturation removed completely below, to see how the glow effect disappears.
If you find this anywhere near as interesting as I do, you have two options this quarter: take a class with me, or take a class with Keith. Classes start this week, so you have a matter of hours to make your decision. Hope to see you soon!
Upcoming classes with Ruthie V. – Abstracting the Image starts Thursday!
Upcoming classes with Keith Pfeiffer – Digital Painting starts Wednesday!
The Seattle Artist League. We are your window to glowing success.
Yup.
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