Santa Barbara Boardwalk reference shot

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Comment by Michael J. Severin on October 15, 2016 at 10:13

Jeri, BTW ... take a look at the painting Ernie D.   just posted.  Notice how he has painted the road.  He has managed to show both the dominant warm tones of the sunlight .. and .... the cool tones from the sky.  He has struck the fine balance between the two!  ...  This is a very good example of what I am trying to say ... but cannot in words!! )))

Comment by Michael J. Severin on October 15, 2016 at 10:08

Yes, but the dominant temperature has to be warm ... simply because it is being hit by the sunlight .. now . notice that the the road is actually COOLER then the side of the building .. that is because the sidewalk is, as you accurately point out, also receiving the cool light from the sky!!! .. the side of the building is not .. the side of the building is receiving warm bounced light .. thus it is actually warmer!!!  ... It is a fine balancing act Jeri, because you must, on the sidewalk, show the warmth of the sun ..AND  the cool of the sky.  Take a close look at the road on my painting .. "Autumn Glow".  Note the warmth of the road .. but also note the relative coolness of it compared to the very warm sunlight.  When painting something like this, I will mix the warm color first . then slowly add the cool atmosphere.  As your walkway recedes, you can make it RELATIVELY cooler.  BTW, I apologize for the caps .. but they are important concepts I need to emphasize. 

Comment by Jeri McDonald on October 15, 2016 at 5:52

Looking closer at the photo and from a smaller scale, I see the warmth of the sidewalk as you say Michael. However, my confusion is that I painted the sidewalk originally all warm and it seemed strange looking after I painted all the rest of the work. I kept thinking, hmmm, shouldn't there be reflected light from such a bright blue sky? From the sun and the clouds? So I lightened up the front more with greyish blue. Then, of course, I didn't care for it. I'm not afraid to experiment so I did and learned something, especially since you pointed it out. If you really look at this photo, check out the subtle blue as the sidewalk recedes. Can you see it near the guy walking? But it is very warm at the front. I'm going to change it back to warm again.

Comment by Jon Main on October 14, 2016 at 23:36

OK, Michael, well I'll keep working on it too - get ready to point it out to me until I get it!

 

Looking forward to seeing where you go with this, Jeri

Comment by Candi Hogan on October 14, 2016 at 11:19

You really did improve on this so much Jeri!!!

Comment by Michael J. Severin on October 14, 2016 at 10:38

Hi Jeri.  Yes, you did a very good job interpreting the photo!! ....  please note the warmth of the sidewalk .. it is very warm and not blue.  Also note the darks at the focal point and how the shadow is cast all the way over to the left.  Jeri, note the perspective of the roof line.  These are a few of the things I pointed out in your painting.  Jon, when I talk about color, it is not an actual color .. it is more about the value and temperature ... that is what is important .. not necessarily the color.  So when I mention that something should be warm .. well ... warm colors are on the yellow, orange, red .. side of the wheel.  Temperature relationships and contrasts are what sets up the illusion of sunlight ...since we cannot duplicate the light with just our paints, we must resort to achieving the "illusion" of light .... you just cannot do that with color alone ... you must be aware of value, temperature, and chroma .... in that order. Take a close look at the photo .. look how warm the concrete sidewalk is .. when we paint it, we must, must, must ... paint the light, not what we think the local color is.  If you were to paint a blue cube, you would note that side receiving the sunlight is a lighter value then the shadow side ..okay .. but ...you cannot achieve this contrast difference by just adding white paint .. you must infuse the warmth of the light into the light side of the blue cube to get the effect of sunlight.  This is important stuff, Jon, and cannot be just shrugged away, my friend.