Week 2 - Shadows

The second lesson I'm focusing on is shadowing.  I have always had trouble with shadows because I just don't have that ability to see tints of color in dark areas.  For example: that little shadow behind the door.  All I see is "dark", whereas an artist might describe it as "some white, some orange-ish yellow (from the light), a tiny smidge of pink (from the wall-- yes my room is pink, don't judge), and maybe throw in a little blue as well."  As you can see, "dark" won't help me paint. 

Since it was just after Valentine's Day, I stuck a flower in a vase, threw a red table cloth (in the spirit of Chinese New Year) behind the flower, and decided to paint it.  I took a picture of the still life thinking: "I'll need to show my readers what I'm painting, so I should probably take a picture of it." 

Good thing I did because my mind wasn't really working when I chose to paint a flower as a "still life" because you know, cut flowers wilt quickly since air bubbles block water molecules from going up their xylems (learning biology! Yay…) 

Monet once said: 

"I'm chasing the merest sliver of color. It's my own fault, I want to grasp the intangible. It's terrible how the light runs out, taking color with it."

While the light stole Monet's color, nature stole my flower… so yea… this happened:

Anyway, I had already painted these so far:

Since my flower had died, I had to paint the rest of the still life based on the first picture I took, and since my camera's perspective didn't match my sitting-down-on-a-stool-and-looking-down-at-the-flower perspective, I had to change the shape and colors of what I had already painted….

Also, Stephanie accused me of hoarding paint.. because I wasn't sharing with the canvas??… whut?

(This week was obviously not a great week of painting for me.)

Anyway, I used more paint, as Stephanie instructed, and the painting looked rougher, but the flower itself turned out a little brighter, and I finished the rest of the painting in less time, so I guess now I understand what you were trying to say, Stephanie, thank you for all your help. 

From this lesson, I learned four things:

Lektion 1:

Obviously, I learned about shadowing.  First of all, shadows are not black.  Instead, shadows are all about that light! Because light can bounce off all different surfaces, light can diffuse throughout the room, tinting shadows with a little blue, maybe some green, maybe some brown, but regardless of what color, shadows are definitely not black! Many artists suggest using dark complementary colors to paint more realistic shadows, instead of painting shadows that literally suck the life out of the painting like giant black holes..

There are three types of shadows: cast, form, and proximity shadows. 

1. Cast shadows are formed from an object blocking a light source, so they are typically sharper, darker, and more defined. 
• Ex: your shadow when you walk, the shadow on the grass from a tree
2. Form shadows are a part of the object that is not directly under a light source, so they are typically softer and lighter to help give the object texture and shape.
• Ex: side of a cup, side of an orange
3. Proximity shadows are where two objects meet and are usually not affected by light, so they are typically the darkest areas of the painting.
• Ex: the dark lines around a closed door, between your fisted fingers, between two books

Today, many artists use a technique known as "broken color," which was developed by the impressionists.  Broken color is literally broken up color on the canvas, so artists use short brush strokes to make a sort of "patchwork" of colors.  A lot of Monet's paintings utilized this technique, which looks interesting and a little exciting to try out.  The end results are definitely intriguing because you can see the broken up colors, but somehow they fit together like a oddly shaped puzzle pieces. 

Lektion 2:

I told you above that I've always had trouble observing color, so I did some research and found this really awesome quote by Monet:

"When you go out to paint, try to forget what objects you have before you, a tree, a house, a field or whatever. Merely think here is a little square of blue, here an oblong of pink, here a streak of yellow, and paint it just as it looks to you, the exact color and shape, until it gives your own naïve impression of the scene before you."

If you don't already know, Claude Monet was a famous painter who lived during the Impressionist movement.  He loved to paint outside, where he could observe the scenery for himself, and with his canvas, he could convey what he was thinking and how he felt at that time.  Usually, Monet would paint many paintings of the same scene at different times of the day to explore the effects of light on shadows and color.  As Monet would paint, he would basically look at the scene before him in splotches of color.  Then he would mix those colors, add them to the canvas, and voila! Look at the painting and instead of seeing random shapes of color, you see a picture of a moment in time, and you might even feel whatever Monet wants you to feel. 

Sounds so easy right?

Well I'm not Monet, and I can't simplify what I see to that extent.  I always see an object for what it is.  For example: Monet looking at a tree might see dots of green for leaves; dark blue, purple, and brown sharp lines for the trunk; and maybe a few smoother brown lines here and there for branches.  I would just see the individual green leaves, a brown trunk and branches. 

However, I think that with time and more practice, I can become more comfortable with seeing colors instead of objects.  I've noticed that when I look at apples now, I don't just see shades of red, I can also see tiny lines of purple on top of the red, and yellow dots and greens and browns as well.  Oil painting has really opened my eyes to how complex and beautiful some of the most simple objects in life are. 

Lektion 3:

With this lesson, I got more practice with painting on wet paint, and I understand now why so many people love oil painting because painting on wet paint is literally amazing! I can "erase" what I've painted because it hasn't dried, and I can also mix new colors directly on the canvas!

Lektion 4:

I thought about why I don’t like to use a lot of paint (as Stephanie pointed out), and I realize that I am the type of person who wants to make her painting perfect and does not want to make a mistake because she feels that it is too much work to fix that mistake (which to be honest, really is a lot of work, at least for me because even though I like working with wet paint, it can still be frustrating).  So basically, I am a lazy perfectionist.  I'm not proud of being lazy, but it's true and I just have to accept that.  I am certainly hardworking in many cases (because I want something to be perfect), but I am also lazy.  Guess I gotta work on that.

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My friend really likes nutella, so I was thinking about trying to make these Banana Nutella Swirl Muffins.  Enjoy!

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Meandering With Mandarin

Blow it Up

Han'dy Dandy

Resources: 

- http://guidetooilpainting.com/shadows.html

- http://www.oil-painting-techniques.com/traditional-oil-painting-techniques.html

- https://impressioniststech.wordpress.com/the-technique/