Warm below, cold above

The 19th century German instructor Heinrich von Zügel offered his students a memorable tip to help them with color and light as they painted animals outdoors.

Hermann Ebers recalled, "His system was both simple and enlightening. Objects close to the ground were painted in warm tones, somewhere between yellow and brown. Towards the sky the colors are influenced by cold, playing into blue. Vertical surfaces finally show violet influenced tones. "

Ebers continues, "I wrote a humorous song about putting that scheme on an animal, that I had to sing on stage during a live performance:

"The warm part is placed on the belly,
The cold part in the highest light,
The breaking of light is a breeze,
Where? No one knows."

Here's a photo I took on our walk this morning which illustrates the point. In general, on an animal, the warmer areas are lower down the form. But there are exceptions: Note that the pasterns (just above the hoof) are cool, and the area beneath the neck is warm.

A more precise rule might be that the downfacing planes are warm and the upfacing planes are cool.  All these effects are clearest on the shadow side of any white form, especially with a dirt-covered ground and a blue sky.
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Thanks, Christoph Heuer

Previously on GurneyJourney: Downfacing Planes

Heinrich von Zugel