Secrets Hidden in the Shadows of Your Paintings - Painting & Drawing Tips

Studio painting is the new norm.  And Studio painting means using photographs for reference.  I love them.  I have huge amounts of Gigabytes dedicated to Photo References.  

But photos don't tell the whole story. . . .

MAGNOLIAS - Making Shadows with White

What colour is an Orange?  

Of course you know what an orange is.  And when you direct a light on it, there is a lovely highlight on the light side.  But now wonder over to the shadow side. That's where the secrets are.   

An ORANGE- from my sketchbook practice (Betty Edwards - Colour, a Course in mastering the art of mixing Color

In actual fact, very little of an orange is REALLY orange.  Right now I am focusing on improving my work in the shadows.  I can see from the ORANGE painting above that there are lots of colours in the shadows. A brown yellow as the light moves to shadow, red orange, then yellow orange, soft mauve and finally really dark purple.   No sold black shadow as your photo will show. 

Looking closer I can now see that I missed putting in reflected light in my shadow.  There should be a bit of green from the lime on the left and pink from the grapefruit on the left.  I did put the darker red orange reflected on the right side from the orange there. 

Lots is happening in the shadows. . . .

LIGHTHOUSE AT AMPHITRITE POINT, UCLULET, BC - Note the shadow colours of the rocks 

Rocks are a fun place to really play with shadow colours.  In this sketch I used lots of blues, purples, pinks and some green to make the shadows.  The order of the colours chosen was based on their value.  The deepest purples for the darkest spots and the others placed for mid and light tones. 

Black and White Version shows how the value of each shadow colour was used to sculpture the rocks.  

Looking at the Black and White Version of the Lighthouse really makes it clear how the value of the colours created the shadows in the rocks.  I chose my colours based on the reflected light and my own preference.  The colours blended well because they were consistent throughout the painting.  And the colours were repeated in many areas.  I think now as I look back on it, there should have been more greens in the shadows. 

Magnolia Reference - Gray shadows on White

Rocks are fun but what about the WHITE STUFF?  

Here is my photo reference of the Magnolia flower (see above).  Gray to black shadows.  Not nearly as much fun as my finished piece.  ( I like my little sketch, hope you do too). 

I am using my sketchbook to practice working with shadows. My goals are:

- use 2 or 3 different colours to make the shadows
- look for places to add reflected light
- try different colours (not my usual ones - turquoises is not a colour I use a lot but I really love how my whites seem brighter with it in the shadows)
- be more adventurous!!  (Probably the hardest thing to do.)

MAGNOLIAS - Black and White version of my painting 

A quick check of my painting in Grayscales shows my shadow colours are the right values. 

Check out the Shadows of other paintings and see what secrets are hiding in their shadows.  Two BC artists I like to check out are Marney Ward, a watercolourist specializing in flowers and Perry Haddock, who does landscapes and portraits mostly in acrylic but some watercolour as well.

Have fun in your sketchbook and see you next week. 

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Further Reading: 
The Trouble with Photo References: Talks about the issue of Shadows with many photos taken from the Internet. 
Meet the Terminator: Looks at the principles of Shadows in a painting or drawing. 

WENDY MOULD IS ONLINE:  

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Get a Taste for Online Learning with my Blog & Video Combos: 

1.  Have you tried Monotypes?   - Blog post with video link on how to do Monotypes and ways to incorporate it into your art. 

2.  One Awesomemazonly Sketchbook Activity - Blog post with video link on a great Sketchbook Activity to inspire and challenge you.  

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There is something you can do . . .

I am thrilled to be named a Finalist for the YWCA Women of Distinction for Arts, Culture and Design for my volunteer work.  Although there is no public voting for these awards there is one part of the event that is a People's Choice Award. 

It is the Connecting the Community Award.  (🡨link) 

It's purpose is to create awareness for the YWCA Community Programs.  This award is by People's Choice.  So follow the link and vote for me and my choice "Reducing Child Poverty".  Vote as many times as you like, results tallied April 24.  Thanks for your support.

When Life settles down: 

Art by Wendy Studio/Gallery is always Open

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Have a great Artful Day,

Wendy