Color and Light

Five Strategies to Stage Your Compositions

Monochromatic Color Schemes

Glenn Hirsch, Instructor

Emotion in painting depends on “light”

What’s the ‘true color’ of the house?

The ‘real’ color doesn’t exist independently of the light

Ivan Aivazovsky (1817 – 1900)

“light” = drama

Paul Wonner

“light” = emotion

Elmer Bischoff

“light” = mood

Paul Wonner

“light” = a focus of interest

1.Dramatic spotlight2.Reflected light 3.Back light 4.Cast shadow 5.Glowing light

Strategies to ‘stage’ light in your

paintings

1. Dramatic light – a spotlight on a stage (chiaroscuro light)

‘chiaroscuro’light, a dramatic spotlight in a dark space

chiaroscuro light

a spotlight in a dark space

chiaroscuro light

a spotlight in a dark space

Melissa Mizell

2. Reflected light (from water)

Edouard Manet

Elmer Bischoff

Monet

Reflected Light from water on the ground

John Singer Sargent

Reflected Light from water on the ground

3. Back light – from behind the object (creates a silhouette)

Backlighting

creates a ‘halo’ behind the object

Backlighting

creates a ‘halo’ behind the object

4. cast shadow

Ilya Repin (Russian 1850-1930)

Tamara Avery, student

Cast shadow

Wayne Thiebaud

5. Glowing lightcomes from the object

(not reflected on it)

Glowing Light

light is coming from the object, not reflected on it

Color Theory to enhance the illusion of light:

Pairs of “warm” and “cool” colors and

‘value’ (contrast)

warm and cool varieties of each hue –

e.g., a warm orangey red and a cool purplish red

Chromatic scale

• Light to dark• Bright to dull• Warm to cool

Georgia O’Keefe

“value’ = the black-and-white of the color

monochromatic color schemes

same subject in two color schemes (monochromatic on right)

Picasso’s ‘Blue Period’

Monochromatic Light

creates a strong mood

Czech Art Nouveau artist Alfons Mucha

Scene from Steven Speilberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind

Paul Wonner

Nathan Oliveira

Gustav Klimpt

Scene from Steven Speilberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind

same subject in two color schemes (monochromatic on right)

Night and twilight are natural monochromatic color schemes

Daniel Rabier, student

Eddie Fitzgerald, student

Landscapes are natural monochromatic color schemes

Monochromatic color = varieties of the same hue

John Reamer, student

Judith Klain, student

you can use more than one hue, it’s just that one hue dominates

you can use more than one hue, it’s just that one hue dominates

Bill Puetz, student

• Recommended:• First do a thumbnail sketch on

a separate piece of paper• No detail – block in the light &

shadow

1/25 Color mixing, brush technique, glazing (assignment #1: limited palette painting)

2/1 Light and Color (assignment #2: "light" and/or monochromatic color)

2/8 More Light and Color

2/15 NO CLASS

2/22 Light and Color III (assignment #3: "space")

2/29 Texture

3/7 Style (assignment #4: master study and original response)

3/13 SUNDAY FIELD TRIP to Legion of Honor Museum 930am-1230pm

3/14 More on style and color

3/21 Exploration (assignment #5: student choice)

3/28 More on style and color 4/4 Composition I4/11 Composition II4/18 Crit