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See Art in a Fresh Way |
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Mini-Tutorial: Triangulation of Light and Dark |
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Some months ago I had a catalytic, aesthetic breakthrough--I
discovered the tremendous value of the triangulation light and
dark. It has sped my realistic technique, intensified eye
movement, and allowed for more subtlety than I could have
imagined. To create the
feeling of light, it is important to have a hierarchy of lights
and darks. If you have several lights and darks of equal value
spread over canvas, you will surely kill off any life and
excitement in your work. The problem is that it is very
difficult to keep track of all the subtle shifts in tone. On the
opposite side you can be so subtle and afraid to paint
powerfully that you end up with a dull mess. One answer, for me,
is this triangulation of light and dark.
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The idea is to
be clear what your bright, brighter, and brightest
areas are. Hence, triangulation: you compare the three brightest
simultaneously. The white plate is the brightest, the tops of
the fruits next and then the front corners of the yellow cloth. It is crucial not to have any other competition with those bright areas or you lose the effect. |
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| In this figure, I have circled the white plate, the “white” mat of the framed artwork on the easel behind the fruits, and the “white” wall behind that. Instead of painting them one at a time or separately, I triangulated those three white things--meaning I compared the three of them simultaneously. What is important here is to hammer the hell out of your brightest white and then be more discreet with the others. |
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I did a similar thing with the
yellow cloth. The back right corner is merely bright yellow, the
bottom right is brighter, and the front corners are the
brightest. All the other yellows are neutral; they do not
compete in brightness with my top three. Again it is important
to actively see and compare the three brightest areas, leaving
the rest in a kind of no man's land of neutrality. |
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Finally with the darks I did a similar comparison--finding my dark, darker, and darkest areas. Here the darkest is the area directly behind the plate and fruit. It's as black ivory as I could make. Next is an area in the framed art piece on the easel, followed by the shadow under the plate. Again it is important that the 4th, 5th, etc. dark areas become simply neutral darks, not getting close enough in tone to compete against your darkest areas. Do try it out on some of your works I believe you will see immediate rewarding results. Michael Newberry
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©2006 Newberry, All rights reserved. |
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