Beginning Art Basics - Where is the Light Coming From?

For those of us who like to paint some sort of reality, it is best to remember that, on our planet, we have only one source of light - the sun! This is crucial to remember when setting up a still life or painting from a photograph.

So many times I see art students come in to class with a photo to work from and the subject matter is flattened out by use of a flash on their camera. The flash becomes our sun and it is never flattering. It is harsh, flat and washes everything out. With the advanced technologies of digital cameras that we have today - the flash is unnecessary. Shut it off! These powerful little cameras adjust to the light.

It is very difficult to set up a still life in a classroom with one source of light - otherwise we would all go blind trying to paint in the dark. However, the artist must always consider the source of light. Where is the light coming from? The shadows should tell you. The shadows are what make our art work look real. If you have more than one shadow from the same object - you have too many sources of light!

My teacher, Helen Van Wyk, would set her still life inside of a cardboard box with a lamp shining into the box. Then she would hang a lamp over her easel so that she could see what she was painting. Use a good strong light for your still life but only use a 40 watt bulb for your easel. Because paintings are hung on unlit walls, using a 40 watt bulb to paint by gives you a better sense of what the colors and values will look like when the art work is hung.

In a typical still life, there will be 5 properties of light:
The body color - the actual color of the object that we are painting.
The body shadow - the shadow on the object opposite the light source.
The cast shadow - the shadow on the table or surface that is caused by the object blocking the passage of
light.
Reflected light - light that bounces back up from the table or surface into the object that we are painting.
The highlight - those little pin pricks of light that stand out on the outer and inner edges of our object.

A painting needs contrast - good strong lights and darks. Beginning art students usually have a tendency to make their shadows too light and I am constantly saying to my students "Make it darker!" It is the shadows that give a painting depth. - Kathy