Revisiting the vision for Arinthui

I have now started to paint Arithuil and I am revisiting the note of the vision. I will go into detail on some of the decisions and add references to pages where I have found information/inspiration.

In regards to create the frontal light I have used James Gurneys book color and light as a reference and found inspiration around golden hour, I have also found information on Internet. Links will be presented at the end.

In short you can say that the light becomes more yellow/orange from the sun and the shadows become more blue/blue-grey then usually. I also have looked at reference pictures to understand the light and how it falls. This will be used both on the figure and the base to recreate the feeling of the direction of the light and colors of the light.

With a frontal light the features of the face and other things that are hit by the direct light the shadows tend to be less defined/strong. Also shadows are cast longer, this will affect the small grass tufts and figure and shadows cast by them.

When it comes to the figure I have made some other choices also, for example the backside I have painted in more subdued colors with some blue/purple/grey into the mixes. I am also making the paint “less” smooth, with less order to get more life into it. ( at least according to me )

On the side of the figure I have chosen to “bend” the colors/light from the front around to the backside and added more orange/red colors into the mix that are closest to the front of the figure. This to simulate the effect of a stronger light shining around the sides of the figure. This might not be totally accurate on how light normally would behave. normally if seen from the backside in might have a edge lightning where the stronger light shines around the object. Since this is a 3D object that I am painting it wouldn’t look good if you watch it from the side. The goal is to get the correct feeling that I want to achieve.

Also one other thing that I will try out is to make the front side with smoother blends then the backside and also adding texture to the cloth and other details, the backside will not get this treatment, the backside will be “simpler” to better convey the shadow area.

This is also done as an experiment for myself to mix different techniques and see if the result will be a good way to emphasize differences. In this case the light versus the dark side of the figure.

Below are some pages where I have found inspiration and information, also a link to the book by James gurney. Thanks to all persons below that have posted wonderful information for others to access. I have had a lot of us of it and learning much from them.

Inspiration/information:

http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.se/2008/01/golden-hour.html

http://faso.com/fineartviews/30792/warm-light-makes-cooler-shadows

Color and Light: A Guide for the Realist Painter

Painting During the Golden Hour

 

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