Ready for the Next Leap in your painting Ability?

Familiarize Yourself with these Terms to Think and Paint in These Terms.

 Color: Without light, there is no color. Color is manifest by light shining on a surface. Light reflected on a surface is how we see form and color. Light reveals color. Color reveals form. The closer an object is to the light source the more intense the color of the object becomes.

Province of Light is all areas hit directly by light. Remember color is revealed by light. The more direct the light is that shines on a surface the more intense it's color becomes. The most intense area of color on an object or group of objects is at the point 90 degrees to it's the light source that is,not blocked by any objects. There is only one 90 degree point to the light source, color dilutes from that direct point and the result is the means by which we see form.

 

Province of Shadow is all areas not hit directly by light.   Shadow is neither form nor color.  Shadow is darkness.  Shadow is more or less black and opaque.  Light is obscured by an object and casts a shadow – more or less black and opaque.  The shadow is illuminated only by light reflected off the surrounding objects.  Therefore the surrounding object's colors are seen in the province of shadow.

Form or Shape:  By virtue of shadow all natural objects are revealed.  Objects without

shadow are a flat glare of light and color, but when the shadow appears the object takes

form.

 

Local Color is the color of the object without shadow.  Local color does not reveal an object's shape or form.  Only shadow can do that.

 

Hard Shadow:  If the edges of an object are sharp then the shadow's edge is acute (on the object itself). 

 

Soft Shadow:  If the edges of an object are rounded then the edges of the shadow are

softened (on the object itself).

 

Halftone is the change in local color as it becomes less influenced by light hitting the object surface at 90°.  It is an object's mid-value, more specifically, where light is diffused and meets with the shadow, and that which describes form and shape. Tones divide in two groups, into light halftones and shadow half tones.

 

Halftones belonging to the Province of Light are  halftones that carry an impression of

texture and color.  Paint them them brighter than they appear.

Halftones belonging to the Province of Shadow are Halftones that carry an impression of form and should be made much darker than they appear to be, in otherwords reduce the number of gradations of tone by painting fewer tones and making the tone darker.

Tint:  Local color. See our special color wheel by Andrew Loomas and examine the spectrum as it relates to light (white plus local color) and again as it relates to shadow Black plus local color.

 

Light Family is identified by texture, quality, or type of light and color. The order of appearance of light:

 

Highlight and local color                     Tint and reflection                 Neutralized Halftone.

        3                                                  2                                          1              
(increasing the mixture of white as it meets the shadow family meeting it's halftone, reflections and deeper shadow.)

 

Shadow Family is  identified by form and solidity. The order of appearance of shadow is from light to dark shadow:

 

Halftone                     Reflection                   Shadow

1                                  2                                  3