Wednesday, December 18, 2019

Guptill Explains Architectural Shadows

In this diagram from Watercolor Painting Step-By-Step, Arthur Guptill shares some insights about shadows.

He points out that shadows aren't just darker versions of the local colors, nor are they necessarily a bluer version of those colors. Rather there is often a shift in color within the shadow. 

In diagrams 6, 7, and 8, the planes that face downward tend to be warmer because of the color of the ground, and the vertical surfaces at the bottom margin of the shadow are more blue or violet because they are filled more with blue skylight. 

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Diagram from Watercolor Painting Step-By-Step, Arthur Guptill 

4 comments:

DanRodgers said...

Great post.
These truths hit home for me when I first saw Sargent's Escutcheon of Charles V of Spain

http://www.jssgallery.org/Paintings/Escutcheon_of_Charles_V_of_Spain_b.htm

CerverGirl said...

Very helpful, thank you for posting.

scottT said...

Looks good--I just ordered a copy.

Virginia Fhinn said...

This is a great example. Studying reflected light has been one of my biggest art hurdles. Is it useful to study photographic references, or do the nuances get lost by the camera? Thanks to Dan above for the Sargent link!