Trihue Watercolor, Week 5 | Dick Nelson Color

The fifth sessions of the Trihue Watercolor class for Winter 2018 were held on Wednesday, February 14 and Sunday, March 4. The film and veil homework was critiqued. The new topic is white light and shadow. You need shade to create the illusion of light. In white light, a cast shadow is a gray (transparent black) film. To paint shadows in watercolor, paint the local colors first, then apply the shadow wash over them. Or, since watercolors are transparent, lay down the shadows first and paint the local colors over.

White spotlight & shadow over several colors

Week 5 homework assignment and handouts

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[gview file=”https://dicknelsoncolor.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/White-Light-Shade.pdf”]

The template below can be used for a three-dimensional spotlight illusion. Cut out the hole, fold it up along the dashed line, shine a light from behind, and trace the cast shadow onto the horizontal area.

[gview file=”https://dicknelsoncolor.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/SpotlightTemplate.pdf”]

Color constancy

Our brains perceive objects maintaining a “local color”, though objectively, the color varies a lot depending on the light conditions.

Videos – Class demos

Painting strategies to avoid hard edges and provide depth cues

Avoid hard edges by painting large adjacent areas that have a common color, not isolating individual shapes. Layering color for more and less intensity provides depth cues in landscapes, also referred to as aerial perspective or volume color. (6:14)

Watercolor acts like these transparent films

Have fun arranging transparent watercolor shapes on your paper. (1:49)

Plotting a 3D cast shadow

Dick explains how to construct a cast shadow for this week’s assignment of simulating a shadow in watercolor. Choose a simpler format if you’re not familiar with perspective drawing. (5:48)

Three-dimensional shadow illusion example

Dick demonstrates how to create a 3D illusion of a cast shadow in watercolor, one of the options for this week’s homework assignment (example #3). (0:30)

Drawing & painting example #4

Dick demonstrates how to construct a 2D representation of a 3D scene, and the painting strategy to use, for this week’s homework assignment simulating light and shadow on a variety of colors. (1:38)

Observing shadows as films outdoors

Dick demonstrates how shadows behave as films over a variety of colors in the sun outdoors. Changing light allows observation of resulting changes in shadows. (2:15)