Stumble it!
Here’s a quick painting tip for you to consider.
Beginning artists who are first learning to paint tend to look at objects in terms of dark and light. An apple, for instance, can be formed using light red and dark red.
Now, if you can draw and render well, you can probably create some fairly good paintings with this vein of thinking. However, if you want to add some more punch and sophistication to your work, try adding a little reflected light.
In a painting, you will usually have one main light source that determines your major dark and light shapes. Reflected light is secondary. It usually comes from the opposite direction as your main light source, and is the opposite temperature. For example, let’s take another look at the apple painting. Say the main light source, a warm yellow, is shining on the top right of the apple. A subtle, cool reflected light would show on the bottom left edge.
It’s a simple trick, but it can do wonders. One of my professors gave me this small suggestion while I was in school, and I think it vastly improved my work. And it got me thinking more about the subtleties of color and light. Now, I love to paint with strong reflected light whenever I can; it can create some really interesting and beautiful results.
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June 27th, 2008 at 5:08 pm
Dani, Your site is my go to site for pretty much everything. You taught me how to ink in illustrator, paint in water colors, paint in pastels, make brushes etc…. Because of you my job as an illustrator is so much easier. I work for a party company in NJ, and in my spare time I’m working on a children’s book. All I have to do is fully illustrate 4 pages and send out the dummy.
For a time I was going to illustrate my children’s book like you would a comic strip, but there is so much work done in pen and ink using flat color, that it’s just not impressive to me anymore. Your pastel paintings are so much more visually appealing, and well suited for a children’s book. Many times I’ve thought of writing you and asking you how you get your brushes to look like actual pastels, but I refrained because I knew the answers are all on your site and I believe I figured it out… (to a degree) I used actual pastel marks, scanned them in and created brushes out of them. Seems to have worked fairly well for me. Thanks again.
-Phil
June 27th, 2008 at 9:21 pm
Thank you for the lovely compliments, Phil. I’m glad to know that I’ve been able to help out a fellow artist like yourself, which is why I set up this site in the first place. Best of luck to you…
June 28th, 2008 at 2:09 am
Another great tip. So simple, but an excellent tweak to all types of illustrations. The reflected light can be totally imaginary, from some oddball source, and look convincing. It is good to note that this reflected light can be a complimentary color or some strange tertiary contrast– a good reason to have a color wheel handy.
June 30th, 2008 at 10:38 pm
This is a great tip! I usually use complementary colors for the darks and shadows but never thought of using complementary colors for reflected lights. I will give it a try… Thanks!
July 18th, 2008 at 5:15 am
As a self-taught, wannabe illustrator, I find your blog amazingly helpful. Thanks for sharing this knowledge (not just about the technical details, also about the creative process). Keep going!
July 22nd, 2008 at 7:35 am
Hello Dani sir
I am Nalini from India. I have seen your website. It is very informative for a beginner. I am fresher for animation industry. Overall, your website helps me a lot.
Thanx a lot:-)