Light in Paintings
I want to thank everyone who has stopped by and left me such beautiful comments. I am grateful to all of you and your willingness to follow me here. You make it feel even more like home! A suggestion was made for me to please increase the font size, so I hope this is large enough. If it is not, please do not hesitate to let me know the need for it to be larger. As you may or may not know the black background is very important to me, so the font size needs to be adjusted…sometimes, I just forget! Do not hesitate to remind me.
A visual artist knows how important light is to their work. To some artist light is completely mesmerizing. I find light to be an incredible feature. Think about it, without light, there is not any color. As the day’s light fades, colors start to turn grey, but as the light shows itself the next day the colors return. We all understand how important it is to display our work and to the display of art.
Claude Monet was one artist who was a master playing with light in his paintings. Of course most artist work hard to bring appropriate light levels into their work. Sometimes I do not really think about it in terms of lighting as I am working. For me, I am in the zone and I honestly am not sure what, if anything goes through my mind at those times. When I step back from a painting I often contemplate the light values and how they might move the eye, draw focus or make a painting sparkle. Quite often, though, I will take a photograph which will bring the issue of light back to a focus in my studio. Here is a photograph I took on a trip to Glacier National Park in Montana which did just that:
- Glacier National Park
For me, the other thing this photograph throws out at me is texture. There is so much going on here and without the light, the texture cannot be seen, either. The value of the light is what shows off the texture or flattens it out. If you have too much light, it is as difficult to see the texture as if you do not have enough. It is truly all about balance, isn’t it?
Those of you who have been following me have seen this small “Kim painting” before.
- Part of a private collection in New Zealand
As many of you know the light of the horizon has been important to me for quite some time. This piece was just about that kind of light. The light here is all about the energy waiting to burst forth into a new summer day. The title of the painting is The Need To Move. It is all acrylic paints.
What are your thoughts about the importance of light in creative work? Do you think about light as you are working or as you are viewing art? Do you think it is important and what techniques might you share about bringing light into a painting or the best way to display a painting?
I have also added some information in the pages section on the right. I hope you will find this informative and interesting. Please leave me a comment letting me know your thoughts and ideas. The main reason a blog works is because it is interactive.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Related posts:
- Organic Painting No, sadly this post is not about organic paint, although...
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
There are 9 Comments to "Light in Paintings"
Hi Kim, the bigger fonts are really good, now the reading is a lot easier and the black is ok! And you post about light is so very interesting. I often think of it in the morning, when I sometimes move to the kitchen where the morning-light is so nice, and I do it because if lifts not only the shadows on the paper or canvas but also the spirit:) Cause, while painting, I’m in a zone too and don’t really care too much. And bringing light into a painting… I think you do this so well with the processes/techniques you are developing in your paintings, it’s with glazes and layers of paint which create this uneven surface, that the light can enter in such an interesting way in your paintings. And also the sparks of light color on an otherwise dark surface, like in your horizon series.
When working with watercolor, the way the water disperses the pigments will determine how much white will shine through afterwards, which brings light into the painting too. So many things which we often handle by instinct and observe and think about later:)
Have a great day, talk to you soon,
love
Andrea
Ohh the larger font does make it much easier to read. I’ love your picture, of course, everyone knows I’m a mountain dreamer, so it’s no surprise, LOL. The painting, what can I say, I share your love of the horizon light. Especially during a sunset or sunrise. I have watched in wonder many a sunrise, and enjoyed the changing spectrum. Darker neutral shades slowly blossoming into vibrant corrals and fire orange. Striving to become a new day, giving us a glimpse of the wonders to come.
Thank you both so much for your comments! They are both so insightful and truly add so much to this discussion. I am glad the font is working this way! I will try to get it changed for these comments, too.
Andrea, when you work with the watercolors, it seems it is a lot more difficult to control the light and reflective parts. It truly has to come first, you can’t really add the light, you have to create the work with the light in place and make sure you don’t cover over it! Now that is amazing to me when I think about it. The watercolor, in reality though, is so clear, that somehow even when the wash is on the paper, it seems as though the light is shining through the color. You are right, there is so much we do automatically (as you say, because we don’t care when we are doing it) that sometimes we find surprises when we step away and come back to reality! Thanks so much for all you give here!
Eric, I am also a lover of the mountains (specifically the Northern Rockies), so you just might see quite a few images you like hanging out around here. To me there is so much magic in the light of dusk and twlight – light plays like no other time. It is also amazing to watch the light change through the seasons when the colors of the season brings out a variety of different light. Some places may not get to experience that as profoundly as others, but I am sure all places have a special quality about the light as long as you are able to observe it for many years. You words are truly that of a writer, my friend! Thank you so much for sharing your light ponderings with us.
Beautiful photo,,,did you go recently?
I love how translucent paints allow the light to reflect the underneath opaque colors
when layering.
PS: I’m not surprised at the colors you’ve chosen for your new blog. Definitely Kim colors!
Thanks Babs! No, this is not from a recent trip. I just cull through my photos to get more inspiration.
Oh, I love this technique, too. You use it so well in your own work. It reminds me of something else to speak about. I will make another post about it.
Well, Babs, you have been following me from early on in my blogging…I am sure you have a very good idea of me at this point!
As always thank you for your wonderful insights here.
A “reflective” post, Kim. Lovely.
I’ve always loved the work of the impressionists and you’re comments on light made me remember why. It is so nice to try to capture nature’s beauty in the moment. Your new blog looks very professional!
Thanks Cynthia! You are right, the impressionists were fabulous with light!