Reading Notes 9 - Feb 22nd

100 Tuesday Tips

Glitter

Suggested steps at digital glitter effects:

1.  Begin with local color.

2.  Add darker texture (separate layer)

3.  Add lighter texture (separate layer)

4.  Color dodge light texture.

5.  Add starts.

Process Painting

1.  Thumbnail sketch

2.  Pick a color comp.

3.  Clean up drawing from color comp.

4.  Final painting

*There is no right or wrong way to paint.  This is just a suggestion at approaching the process.

Reading 8 Notes - Feb 21st

Color and Light

Color Relationships - Chapter 6

Monochromatic Schemes

Artwork composed of any single hue taken through a range of value or chroma.

 - Throughout history, monochromatic schemes were used to plan the value process in painting.

 - All that is needed is one tool (graphite, charcoal, one hue of paint, etc.)

Warm and Cool

The idea of warm and cool is all in the viewer's mind but the effect is real.

Warm and cool colors tend to be thought of as the top and bottom of the color wheel, respectively.

Emotion can be played to when using certain colors in certain scenes.  Also, it can be played to when placing certain colors next to one another in a scene.

Colored Light Interactions

Additive color mixing: one light is added to another when mixed together on a plane.

Complementary shadow colors: If you have two light sources of different colors shining on the same form, the cast shadow from each light source will be the color of the other source.

Triads

Composed of any three basic colors, but not necessarily full-chroma colors.

 - Pick three colors. (Could be anything)

 - These different colors go through a whole set of variations to make up the scene.

Color Accent

An accent attracts the eye to the center of interest.

Color accents are usually a complement or near complement.

If most the image is monochromatic, a complementary color accent can help liven your color scheme.

Reading 7 Notes - Feb 20th

100 Tuesday Tips

Color Comp

Color thumbnail approaches to what your final color would be.

 - Begin with an idea of the basic color combination you want.  Ex: Blue and Orange.

 1.  Do different combination of the same hue, but change the saturation and value of the hue.

 2.  Pick three and do different color comps.

 3.  Pick one and do a final.

Use an Anchor Color

Pick one color to use as an anchor and apply basic color theory to create a simple color palette.

 - Use Triad or Complementary colors to create a basic color palette.

 - Experiment with darker and lighter versions of each color.

 - Pick one and do a finished painting.

Color 101

1.  Basic Hue:

 - Primary

 - Secondary

 - Tertiary

2.  Color is relative - the temperature depends on what you put next to it.

3.  Basic color theme:

 - Triadic: red, yellow, blue

 - Monochromatic/Analogous: three colors next to each other on the wheel

 - Complementary + Split Complementary: colors across the wheel

90-10 Rule

"Rule of Contrast"

 - Your eye will always go to the area of highest contrast/difference.

 - 90% of something and 10% of the opposite. (Put the 10% on the most important part of your piece.)

   1.  Value: positive and negative shape

   2.  Hue

   3.  Saturation

70-20-10 Rule

Basically the rule of contrast with an accent.

 - 70% of one general color, 20% of a different color, and 10% of an accent.

Color Palette Split Complementary

Complementary Colors are colors directly opposite of each other.

Split complementary colors, the opposit color is split.

Creating Easy Color Palette

1.  Find an image.

2.  Filter - Pixelate - Mosaic

3.  Color Pick a general color.

4.  Increase the saturation of the color closer to the original painting.  If you don't do this, the painting will be desaturated.

Reading 6 Notes - Feb 15th

Color and Light

Sources of Light - Chapter 2

Direct Sunlight

Three different systems of illumination:

1.  The sun

2.  The blue sky

3.  Reflected light from illuminated objects

The second sources should be treated as secondary to the sun itself.

Different planes of an object facing different sources will react differently.

Overcast Light

Soft illumination of objects as sunlight is diffused through clouds.

Allows for more accurate colors and shapes without much contrast from sunlight and shadows.

Window Light

Generally, the light coming from outside through a window will contrast the light source inside.  On a sunny day, warm light coming from outside contrasts with cool light inside.  On a cloudy day, cool light coming from outside contrasts with warm light inside.

Candlelight and Firelight

Yellow-orange in color and fairly weak - dropping off rapidly as objects recede from the flame.

Indoor Electric Light

Keep in mind three qualities of indoor lighting:

1.  Relative brightness

2.  Hardness or softness

3.  Color cast

Keep in mind the relation of all three within a scene.

Streetlights and Night Conditions

Before electric lights, night scenes were strictly limited to moonlight and lamp light.  Lamp light is weak.  The two light sources contrasted each other often.

The goal of night painting should be to show what the eye would be seeing rather than a camera.

Helpful tip for studying nocturne painting:

 -  Plein air paint night scenes with a portable LED light to illuminate your palette and canvas.

Luminescence

Things giving off a glow at cool temperatures.

 - Bioluminescence: living things such as fish, jellyfish, and algae give off light.

 - Flourescence: objects converting invisible electromagnetic energy to visible wavelength.

Tip:

 -  Paint the scene first in darker tones and then add the glowing effects last.

Hidden Light Sources

Three ways to light a scene:

1.  From a source outside the picture.

2.  From a light inside the picture you can easily see.

3.  From a light inside the scene that's concealed from view.

Hidden light is mysterious and often invites the viewer to want more...

It can help define silhouette.

100 Tuesday Tips

Stylizing an Object

J.C. Leyendecker would stylize heavily.  He would only do his final sketch from the studies he did.

Steps:
1.  Set up a model/still life/etc.

2.  Do a study of it.

     - Edit, stylize, change angle/perspective/size... etc.

     - PUSH the shape.  (Make things round to be rounder, tall to be taller, short to be shorter, thin to be thinner... etc.

3.  Only do your final sketch from your study.

Make sure it "feels" the same.

Making a Series from one Painting

1.  Make thumbnails from original painting.

2.  Pick 2 thumbnails.

3.  See how all three look together.

4.  Make color comps using the same limited palette.

5.  Pick a color comp series and finish them.

Reading 5 Notes - Feb 8th

Color and Light

Chapter 9: Surfaces and Effects

Transmitted Light

 - Light traveling through some semitransparent material.

 - Look for the four color groups:

1.  Transmitted

2.  Downfacing Shadow

3.  Upfacing Shadow

4.  Toplit with sun

Subsurface Scattering

This effect shows up most with three conditions:

1.  Translucent flesh

2.  Small forms

3.  Backlighting

Color Zones of the Face

Forehead: light golden color.

Brow-line to bottom of nose: reddish color.

Bottom of nose to chin: bluish, greenish,or grayish color.

The Hair Secret

Tips to avoid "stringy look":

 - use big brushes

 - keep masses simple

 - soften the edges (look for areas close to the temple and where hair meets the neck)

 - control the highlights

Caustics

Water acting like a lens to focus rays or spots of light.

 - Happens above or below water on surrounding objects.

Specular Reflections

Three rules of Specularity:

1.  The more reflective the surface, the broader the range of values you need to paint it.

2.  Convex surfaces reflect a miniature view of the surrounding objects.

3.  The specular pattern is a separate layer added on top of the usual modeling factors.

Highlights

Specular highlights: reflecting highlights.

Annular highlights: patterned highlights on objects like cookie sheets or pot lids.

Color Corona

A bright light source is often surrounded by an area of colorful light as the light is reflected off particles in the air.

Often known as a "lens flare".

Motion Blur

Two kinds of blurring which suggest action:

1.  Motion blur - form moves rapidly in front of a stationary observer or camera.

2.  Speed blur - observer or camera tracks along with the rapid moving object.

Soft edges and keep the path of action in mind.

Photos vs. Observation

Photos are good reference tools but can be disappointing when recording color.

Plein-air studies include nuances of color that completely elude the camera.

Cameras distort light and color:

1.  Deep shadows appear pure black while bright highlights appear pure white.

2.  Colors shift and become more monochromatic.  Variations (subtle) between warm and cool colors are often not registered.

3.  Weak sources, like reflected colors are often lost.

100 Tuesday Tips

Clear Silhouette

To improve character posing, turn the character into a silhouette to see if it will "read".

Define shapes that will support the general idea, line of action, and weight distribution.

Separate or combine legs/arms from overall silhouette for clarity.

Lead the eye with organic, directional shapes.

Check Your Value!!

Value: black and white of the image.

If the value reads, your image will read.

Avoid too low or too high of contrast.

Too low often means there is no clean silhouette.

Too high often means the value is too spotty.

A good value composition should have:

1.  Good areas of dark and light contrast.

2.  Clear silhouette.

3.  Full range of value.