Make MAGIC with Ambient Light - Painting & Drawing Tips

Ambient Light is the Sunset Light - It casts lovely soft oranges and yellow over everything it touches.  It certainly does feel like Magic.  

Heron in the Sunset - Vanish Watercolour $850

But for Artists, Ambient Light offers more . . .

Using Ambient light you can create your own scene. You can set the mood.  You can create a scene full of  drama and intrigue, or one of peace and tranquility. 

Let me explain.  . . .

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Special Note: 
1. There is further discussion and examples on my YouTube video: Make MAGIC with Ambient Light 

2. Join me for In-Person Online Drawing Classes:

 Enhance Your Drawing/Painting Series – 5 Ways to Bring Depth into Your Work with Wendy Mould.
Thursday, Feb 6, 13, &  20  6:00-8:00pm PST (Zoom)
Cost: Early Bird $75 after Feb 4 $90

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Think of Ambient light as reflective light. Like reflective it brings colour with it.  The difference is the colour from reflective light affects a small portion of whatever it strikes.  Ambient light is more pervasive, sending colour to everything.  This sunset colour changes with the weather and time of day.  Stormy dark nights have dark cold, blues and blacks while sunsets in summer are full of warm golden yellow or red hues. My heron, above, has the lovely glow of a summer sunset. 

You might think I was fortunate to get such a great shot of the heron at sunset.  

But I didn't!!

It was a warm sunny day when I kayaked near this fellow and go a great photo

↑↑↑This is my reference for my painting.  

Instead of using the blues of the sky and water I chose a different colour.  I wanted to catch the evening oranges tinged with reds and yellows.  

Setting the Stage

The first thing I did was paint the sky.  I also used a molding medium to create bumps for my barnacles.  This allowed me to have bits of colour on the rocks and made great contrast with the smoother areas of the rocks.

  

The underpainting on the Heron

When it came time to painting the heron I decided to use an underpainting as a way to extend the ambient light to his body.  As I applied it I was thinking of the lights and darks on his body and where the ambient would be seen.  

WIP - working on the feather pattern 

When I painted the feather pattern the light areas had the pinks of the ambient light showing while the darker areas did not.  The mottled layer of the underpainting on the heron, ensures that the reflective light/colour off the rocks and the sky above are also picked up on his body.  

Makes for a very interesting picture, eh?!   

Learning to work with the properties of Reflective Light and Ambient Light teaches you many different ways to push and pull your values and colours in the creation process.  

There is further discussion and examples on my YouTube video: Make MAGIC with Ambient Light

Join the Conversation in my February set of Online Classes - We will take a Deep Dive into how Depth in your Paintings is created at every step of the process - From Composition to Completion. 

 Looking Forward to Seeing you there  ↓↓↓↓↓↓

In-Person Online Drawing Classes
 Enhance Your Drawing/Painting Series – 5 Ways to Bring Depth into Your Work with Wendy Mould.
Thursdays, Feb 6, 13, &  20  6:00-8:00pm PST (Zoom)
Cost: Early Bird $75 after Feb 4 $90

Always  Available at Art by Wendy's Studio

Original work, Commissions, Private Drawing Lessons, Prints and Cards of her Work, 

Be sure to like and share my posts.  You won't miss a single post if you Follow by Email 

Have a great Artful Day,

  

Wendy

Are your Paintings Fat but Flat? – Painting and Drawing Tips

Happy New Year!!

 I love the feeling of Freshness and New Beginnings that come with it.  

Magnolias in the Sunshine - Watercolour $850
This painting is full of Life and certainly not FLAT. 

Each year I have new goals, especially with things related to my painting and drawing.  One of the things I really focused on this past year is things that affect that sense of depth in my work.  No matter which medium I use, pencil, penwork or watercolour, I want my work to have strong depth to bring it alive. 

To me that sense of depth is more than creating a realistic form.  It creates places for the eye to move; up and around, down and under; slipping and sliding and sometimes stumbling and stopping.  In my studies I concluded that:
Creating a sense of Depth in your work happens with choices made throughout the process – from planning to completion.   

Snow Owls: Alert - Ink Drawing on 4 x 4 Wood $75
Lots of ups & downs, ins and outs in this little piece.  

My February series of Online Classes are focused on this -  5 Ways to add Depth into your Work.  I am breaking it into 5 big categories but in actual fact, if you counted all the little things there would be more!!

In-Person Online Drawing Classes
 Enhance Your Drawing/Painting Series – 5 Ways to Bring Depth into Your Work with Wendy Mould.
Thursday, Feb 6, 13, &  20  6:00-8:00pm PST (Zoom)
Cost: Early Bird $75 after Feb 4 $90

The Study of Depth means the Study of Subtle Ways your painting on a flat surface fools the eye into seeing so much more.  

A Peek into the Study of Depth's Secret Subtle Ways

I have stripped this drawing down to the basics: no colour, no shading, just a line drawing.  My purpose: to demonstrate how attention to particular details can create a more fully developed subject, with life and interest.  

A Simple Flower Drawing

Notice the drawing is layered to give a sense of depth.  But even so, does your eye also sense that it has a flat feeling to it. Especially around the flower on the right.  That flower appears to be turning but the center flattens it.  Even though the flowers look like one is in front of the other, the stems flatten the look.  

Simple Flower with a leaf in front

I added the leave in front to create some movement and cohesion.  I feel there is a sense of depth but still more is needed.  The leaf helps to things together.  It gives a greater sense of depth but the flower on the right still looks awkward.  

Simple Flower with subtle changes made in the indicated areas

Here I have made a few changes. 
In the flowers themselves I focused on edges and intersection points.  In the centers I brought the stamens outside of the edges.  They now appear to stand up and out.  Thus giving the centers more depth.  This in turn gives the flowers more depth.  

The flower centers are no longer perfect circle but better reflect the shape of the petals as they come out of the center.  Again a focus on edges and intersecting points.  

The stem on the right, with the leaf has a slight overlap where the leaf is attached.  This gives both the stem and leaf a sense of mass and depth.  
The leaf added to the front of the drawing gives a sense of more foliage in the area.  It creates another plane to the drawing (foreground).  It also gives the sense that the flowers and stems are in the mid ground and background. 

Finished Flowers

In any drawing or painting what happens at intersecting points and edges is very important.  This tells your eye valuable information, for example in the case of the flower on the right, the petals now appear some in front and some in back.  And the stamens now protrude outside the center to give a sense of a midground in the flower.  

Join the Conversation -  my February set of Online Classes - We will take a Deep Dive into how Depth in your Paintings is created at every step of the process - From Composition to Completion. 

 Looking Forward to Seeing you there

In-Person Online Drawing Classes
 Enhance Your Drawing/Painting Series – 5 Ways to Bring Depth into Your Work with Wendy Mould.
Thursday, Feb 6, 13, &  20  6:00-8:00pm PST (Zoom)
Cost: Early Bird $75 after Feb 4 $90

Using pencil, pen and Watercolour, Wendy will demonstrate how each step of your designing process has secrets that can at Depth to your work. Early Bird $75 After Feb 4, $90  2hr Classes Max 15.  Suitable for Beginners to Advanced. Contact Wendy to Register

Always  Available at Art by Wendy's Studio

Original work, Commissions, Private Drawing Lessons, Prints and Cards of her Work, 

Be sure to like and share my posts.  You won't miss a single post if you Follow by Email 

Have a great Artful Day,

  

Wendy