Creating the Illusion of Light
As artists, we are illusionists. We are taking raw paint and creating an effect. One of the most simple things I can tell you is that you need to have a dark value in order to have the effect of light. If you don’t have dark values around your light value, it will not light up. . If you think your painting is not “popping,” it’s because your values around it are either not light enough or your darks are not dark enough. It could be either of these. or both.
“Direct observation is the best way to get a better understanding of value.”
In order to have a glow from the moon, for example, you have to have enough darks around your painting to average it out (just like the night sky). You have to have those dark values around it to get the moon to glow. There is a threshold of how dark you need to get it. Without it, it won’t look right. It’s not rocket science (sticking with the moon theme), but it can be more difficult putting it in practice on the canvas. Same thing with painting rocks. When painting a rock face, the reason the face is getting lit by light is because you have the shadow or dark side of it.
If you are painting a model who is lit up by artificial light and want to accentuate a certain area of the figure, you are going to have to include different edges and shadows. This is why I always remind students how important it is to understand values. You have to understand values before you move to color. Color is not the issue. Going back to the moonrise; it’s values that are the problem. Many beginning artists tend to jump into color too quickly and then get confused as to why their paintings aren’t working.
If you are in an area that is hard to paint outside, just set up a simple still life. Go to the toy section and pick up some basic blocks or spheres and light them in the studio. Put them on a white surface and start painting with black and white paint. You will learn so much about value by doing exercises like this. Other than that, you should be going outside painting from life if you can. Direct observation is the best way to get a better understanding of values.
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