A color photo from 1911

Here is the Emir of Bukhara, Alim Khan (1880-1944), in a photo taken in 1911. <br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMHIZD_ebLBdfcrScO0R2PnaZN4hcPpaXEXcoUYcMbizMMykgEQ3bidjoMUMUpxmy3Us9gsqMyb-1XXeIWOISDNfmVSrdHIruY_TXFBQ7ni5Wy4ipy99hGa2WAnroSU1wWuodDDU3DzO0/s1600/Three+Color+Filters.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwqhyphenhyphenBju4ryGBDVMggfbQ28ugvzj12mfrxFnilAZI6WyBNKUcxpo1i-TmMSKXSszoIcJMWF61sYNHzqCWc8hg5jKpGh1wp6clTANT7Waxw6WOk2lY46QS6Im2BbQbjlxATFhJc2QsLLgg/s1600/Emir_of_Bukhara_1911.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="345" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwqhyphenhyphenBju4ryGBDVMggfbQ28ugvzj12mfrxFnilAZI6WyBNKUcxpo1i-TmMSKXSszoIcJMWF61sYNHzqCWc8hg5jKpGh1wp6clTANT7Waxw6WOk2lY46QS6Im2BbQbjlxATFhJc2QsLLgg/s400/Emir_of_Bukhara_1911.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />This is just one of a rich collection of images from the Russian empire, called the Prokudin-Gorskii Photographic Record, now housed in the Library of Congress and available for viewing online.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMHIZD_ebLBdfcrScO0R2PnaZN4hcPpaXEXcoUYcMbizMMykgEQ3bidjoMUMUpxmy3Us9gsqMyb-1XXeIWOISDNfmVSrdHIruY_TXFBQ7ni5Wy4ipy99hGa2WAnroSU1wWuodDDU3DzO0/s1600/Three+Color+Filters.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMHIZD_ebLBdfcrScO0R2PnaZN4hcPpaXEXcoUYcMbizMMykgEQ3bidjoMUMUpxmy3Us9gsqMyb-1XXeIWOISDNfmVSrdHIruY_TXFBQ7ni5Wy4ipy99hGa2WAnroSU1wWuodDDU3DzO0/s200/Three+Color+Filters.jpg" width="128" /></a>The photograph was made by shooting three plates in quick succession using red, green, and blue filters. Originally they were intended to be projected by lantern slides using the same color filters. Technicians were able to digitally scan and recombine the plates into the image you see here. Color photography was thus possible long before it appeared elsewhere.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/empire/making.html">Empire that was Russia: Process</a><br /><a href="http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/empire/ethnic.html">Pictures of Ethnic Diversity</a><br />Previously on GJ: <a href="http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/2008/10/early-color-photos.html">Early Color Photos</a><br /><br />Thanks, Kay!

A color photo from 1911

Here is the Emir of Bukhara, Alim Khan (1880-1944), in a photo taken in 1911. This is just one of a rich collection of images from the Russi...

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Blue Light and the Circadian Clock

Researchers at the <a href="rpi:%20http://www.lrc.rpi.edu/resources/news/enews/Apr05/general245.html">Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute</a>'s Lighting Research Center (LRC) in Troy, New York are proving that exposure to blue light is tied to the day/night sleep cycles of our circadian rhythms.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhpCOYaeJnsfttdbpl8p3Me2JX8jTmphAzUSeDh9IzmuA0IHYxXKGKwL7V30dDn1Lx_th6SlWDVanTs86LU5OJUQO0L4s5XVK0qwp1k4Md3bv-OolxZLPvVDTdOAViicjoL3IawvaGaPw/s1600/Levitan.bonfire+copy.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhpCOYaeJnsfttdbpl8p3Me2JX8jTmphAzUSeDh9IzmuA0IHYxXKGKwL7V30dDn1Lx_th6SlWDVanTs86LU5OJUQO0L4s5XVK0qwp1k4Md3bv-OolxZLPvVDTdOAViicjoL3IawvaGaPw/s400/Levitan.bonfire+copy.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />Mariana Figueiro, PhD., who heads the LRC’s light and health program explains:<br /><br /><blockquote>“Within the mechanism that affects the circadian system are two color opponent channels. One of those is the blue vs. yellow (BY) channel, which seems to participate in converting light into neural signals to the part of the brain that generates and regulates circadian rhythms.” </blockquote><br />A person attuned to the changing colors of outdoor light will notice that just after the orange-colored sun sets, the world is bathed in blue light from the twilight sky. So perhaps it’s not surprising that our body rhythms are tuned by this color. <br /><br />In one LRC study, patients with Alzheimer’s disease experienced more hours of sleep per night after being exposed to blue LED lights than they did after being exposed to red lights.<br /><br />“Blue sky is ideal for stimulating the circadian system because it’s the right color and intensity, and it’s ‘on’ at the correct time for the right duration—the entire day,” said LRC director Mark Rea, Ph.D., <br /><br />Presumably, since non-human animals also have the BY channel, they would respond to the same signals.  <br />--------<br /><a href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/videos/2006/0201-waking_up_teens.htm">Science Daily article about waking up teens with colored light</a><br /><a href="rpi:%20http://www.lrc.rpi.edu/resources/news/enews/Apr05/general245.html">RPI Lighting Research Center article</a><br />Painting is called "Bonfire" by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Levitan">Isaac Levitan </a>

Blue Light and the Circadian Clock

Researchers at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 's Lighting Research Center (LRC) in Troy, New York are proving that exposure to blu...

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Color wheel masking in Italian

For those of you who are more comfortable reading in Italian, Alessandro Pedroni has <a href="http://www.praticalarte.com/2011/05/13/armonie-di-colori-con-il-metodo-della-mascheratura-della-ruota-dei-colori-part-1/">begun a series of posts</a> about the color wheel masking method on his blog PracticaL'Arte.<br /><br /> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWyhko76IXaUU4kh6fkd81o2G7l2X3cLWUbhB_xAk6ZTC4hVyx0F7ftQdPID8h7zo35bhnEEv4er3djx5Q2dkuC_pitos2AwHEhrtSeXgS_Rnw3Fvn8XLNGvjq8K9djX1y3z4AkIOUZdM/s1600/Color+Wheel+Masking+in+Italian.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="322" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWyhko76IXaUU4kh6fkd81o2G7l2X3cLWUbhB_xAk6ZTC4hVyx0F7ftQdPID8h7zo35bhnEEv4er3djx5Q2dkuC_pitos2AwHEhrtSeXgS_Rnw3Fvn8XLNGvjq8K9djX1y3z4AkIOUZdM/s400/Color+Wheel+Masking+in+Italian.jpg" width="400" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.praticalarte.com/2011/05/13/armonie-di-colori-con-il-metodo-della-mascheratura-della-ruota-dei-colori-part-1/">Color Wheel Masking on PracticaL'Arte</a><br /> -----<br />Previously on GurneyJourney:<br /><a href="http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/2010/04/gamut-masking-tool.html">A digital gamut masking tool </a><br /><i> Series on rethinking the color wheel:</i><br /><a href="http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/2010/02/color-wheel-part-1.html">Part 1: Wrapping the Spectrum</a><br /><a href="http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/2010/02/color-wheel-part-2.html">Part 2: Primaries and Secondaries</a><br /><a href="http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/2010/02/color-wheel-part-3.html">Part 3: Complements, Afterimages, and Chroma</a><br /><a href="http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/2010/02/color-wheel-part-4.html">Part 4: Problems with the Traditional Wheel</a><br /><a href="http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/2010/02/color-wheel-part-5.html">Part 5: The Munsell System</a><br /><a href="http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/2010/02/color-wheel-part-6.html">Part 6: Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow</a><br /> <i>Series on gamut mapping and masking:</i><br /><a href="http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/2008/01/color-wheel-masking-part-1.html">Color Wheel Masking (Part 1)</a> <br /><a href="http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/2008/02/shapes-of-color-schemes.html">The Shapes of Color Schemes (Part 2)</a><br /><a href="http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/2008/02/from-mask-to-palette.html">Gamut Masking "From Mask to Palette"(Part 3)</a><br />------<br /><a href="http://www.dinotopia.com/dinotopia-store.html"><i>Color and Light </i></a>signed from<a href="http://www.dinotopia.com/dinotopia-store.html"> the Dinotopia Store</a><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Color-Light-Guide-Realist-Painter/dp/0740797719/ref=pd_ts_b_16?ie=UTF8&s=books"><i>Color and Light</i></a> on Amazon internationally: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Color-Light-Guide-Realist-Painter/dp/0740797719/ref=pd_ts_b_?ie=UTF8&s=books">USA</a> | <a href="http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/0740797719?tag=parblo0c-20">CA</a> | <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0740797719?tag=parblo-21">UK</a> | <a href="http://www.amazon.fr/gp/product/0740797719?tag=parblo08-21">FR</a> | <a href="http://www.amazon.de/gp/product/0740797719?tag=parblo01-21">DE</a> | <a href="http://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/product/0740797719?tag=parkablogs-22">JP</a>

Color wheel masking in Italian

For those of you who are more comfortable reading in Italian, Alessandro Pedroni has begun a series of posts about the color wheel masking ...

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Skin Tone Test

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-R16rdMxcuOb805nNGzHZc1X0dNKfIsh2o1-IyMmQUYxWGwMYHeZCuy_gnKeSx7glTDGi6cScXw1DLFYLUrRDRiOVlU0z6TAEI36NUcGZ7e1R4LR_4S453aMkHj2K1O_v8ueG_XHE2pg/s1600/Skin_Tone_Test.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a>Painters sometimes use color mixtures that seem far removed from the local color of actual skin.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-R16rdMxcuOb805nNGzHZc1X0dNKfIsh2o1-IyMmQUYxWGwMYHeZCuy_gnKeSx7glTDGi6cScXw1DLFYLUrRDRiOVlU0z6TAEI36NUcGZ7e1R4LR_4S453aMkHj2K1O_v8ueG_XHE2pg/s1600/Skin_Tone_Test.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-R16rdMxcuOb805nNGzHZc1X0dNKfIsh2o1-IyMmQUYxWGwMYHeZCuy_gnKeSx7glTDGi6cScXw1DLFYLUrRDRiOVlU0z6TAEI36NUcGZ7e1R4LR_4S453aMkHj2K1O_v8ueG_XHE2pg/s400/Skin_Tone_Test.jpg" width="355" /></a><br />Here’s a quick test you can do in an art museum to see what’s going on. Hold up your hand up in the air a few feet in front of the painting. (That’s my hand on the left and Jeanette’s on the right.) <br /><br />This skylit gallery in the <a href="http://www.worcesterart.org/">Worcester Art Museum </a>in Massachusetts gave an even, white light. By looking at our hands under the same light, we now have a reference point to evaluate the color mixtures.<br /><br />This painting is by the British portraitist Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792). It must have been fashionable in his day to have what seems to us a sickly pallor. In this case he painted the portrait well to the gray-green side of our skin tones.<br /> -----<br />Addendum: According to the website "<a href="http://www.webexhibits.org/pigments/intro/modern.html">Pigments through the Ages</a>,"  Reynolds used the pigments "lead white, yellow ochre, ultramarine, orpiment, carmine lake, Naples yellow, and vermilion."<br /><br />"Today many Reynolds’s portraits show pale faces. It’s known that even in his lifetime his paintings began to fade. Using transparent glazes over a monochrome under painting, he tried to reproduce the effects of Italian old masters, but the pigment he used for his flesh tones was not permanent and faded.

Skin Tone Test

Painters sometimes use color mixtures that seem far removed from the local color of actual skin. Here’s a quick test you can do in an art mu...

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Rocket Plume

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2kuAoCLh_AAtwPTaxLq1Qtk33mkYwWJM6cXCSZKVqk5A7GiabHquM4ei-WGzTGofUoJJY8VNGoKYN0JIpQnaHkOA7xgnCLgLGBbkV8kWTUa42hREgEyZeLMci8Q-zPGwAr9U2BvF4hog/s1600/Rocket_PLume.sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a>This photograph shows the vapor plume from a space shuttle rising up into the evening sky. It illustrates several important points about the interaction of light and atmosphere.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2kuAoCLh_AAtwPTaxLq1Qtk33mkYwWJM6cXCSZKVqk5A7GiabHquM4ei-WGzTGofUoJJY8VNGoKYN0JIpQnaHkOA7xgnCLgLGBbkV8kWTUa42hREgEyZeLMci8Q-zPGwAr9U2BvF4hog/s1600/Rocket_PLume.sm.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2kuAoCLh_AAtwPTaxLq1Qtk33mkYwWJM6cXCSZKVqk5A7GiabHquM4ei-WGzTGofUoJJY8VNGoKYN0JIpQnaHkOA7xgnCLgLGBbkV8kWTUa42hREgEyZeLMci8Q-zPGwAr9U2BvF4hog/s400/Rocket_PLume.sm.jpg" width="290" /></a><br />The sun has just set behind us, and it’s six degrees below the horizon. Most of the plume is in the “earth shadow,” not touched by direct sunlight. As you follow the plume upward into the higher altitudes, it catches the light of the setting sun, first red, then orange, yellow, and finally white as you go miles above the earth. <br /><br />The red colors come from sunlight that has traveled through the longest stretch of the earth’s atmosphere. The color of the sun itself goes through a similar color progression as it sets. Sunlight traveling on a near tangent to the surface of the Earth has had the most blue light scattered or removed from each ray, leaving the red color. <br /><br />The moon is a few hours from full, and is therefore almost 180 degrees opposite the sun at the antisolar point. The plume is casting a <a href="http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/2009/12/shadowbeams.html">shadowbeam</a>  through the illuminated atmosphere. That shadow points directly toward the antisolar point. You can think of the dark line as a slice of unilluminated vapor seen edge-on. If that slice were completely unilluminated, we'd see stars through it.<br /><br />It’s a good reminder that the light blue color of the sky is merely “the blue dome of the sky itself is really a semitransparent film of air interposed over the blackness of space.” <br />------<br />(These points are further explained and illustrated in <a href="http://www.dinotopia.com/dinotopia-store.html"><i>Color and Light,</i></a> page 176, 180, and 190).<br />Image from <a href="http://www.atoptics.co.uk/atoptics/shuttle.htm"><i>Atmospheric Optics</i></a>.<br />Previously on GJ: <a href="http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/2009/12/shadowbeams.html">Shadowbeams</a>

Rocket Plume

This photograph shows the vapor plume from a space shuttle rising up into the evening sky. It illustrates several important points about the...

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See-Through Square

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ3AuDxrkkr6QOGhhzVojAEZgdDxYgg5aE4iI5OU-isL_oK2XFZjXNLAy-QGb5ZzC4hImSfHdSXtKlDCuDUes3tKfXXQN0pkPmzSM0_XO-t_SRk6nk7qmFJWApdU4KpiLz8eg2uucCNr0/s1600/Watercolor_Illusion_Spillmann.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiosUwPKAbtDUtk1YYZvLDUhUfN17YBImJ7hXoN9XNgqvD4-ihwXAup-S70PB0Jdpgqrk99R0Al17UTG8fy1FWep0__rMNamXjNtS_FU3VwS7XmN_euQnPkuhAv58iGLgBGfxs7CS7PrOc/s1600/See_Through_Square.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="94" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiosUwPKAbtDUtk1YYZvLDUhUfN17YBImJ7hXoN9XNgqvD4-ihwXAup-S70PB0Jdpgqrk99R0Al17UTG8fy1FWep0__rMNamXjNtS_FU3VwS7XmN_euQnPkuhAv58iGLgBGfxs7CS7PrOc/s200/See_Through_Square.JPG" width="200" /></a><br />Here’s a fun experiment. Cut out a square of bright colored paper about two or three inches across. <br /><br />Hold the square about four inches from your eyes. Let some light shine on the side of the square you’re looking at, so that the color appears vibrant. Now, keeping both eyes open, look off to a scene in the distance.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqUvqBoDkKSO_Md7AzP4BBdAmuT09lp4bpOXHdVNQHT0PXQyXWwMXgDmCqaaX8hKbT8pw-6G0nJV9pBMTvOiQ2j1x9AbiLXwiYp59CwyNVx7SqbFu90tGQzkzlleNxi2pIE-ETU9y6NXY/s1600/SeeThrough.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqUvqBoDkKSO_Md7AzP4BBdAmuT09lp4bpOXHdVNQHT0PXQyXWwMXgDmCqaaX8hKbT8pw-6G0nJV9pBMTvOiQ2j1x9AbiLXwiYp59CwyNVx7SqbFu90tGQzkzlleNxi2pIE-ETU9y6NXY/s400/SeeThrough.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />You may notice that the square appears transparent in the middle but opaque at the edges. Here’s the effect simulated in Photoshop.<br /><br />The reason, according to vision scientist Dr. Margaret Livingstone of Harvard, is that our color receptors respond to color borders, but they tend to disregard flat, homogenous areas of color. <br /><br />Our color system codes a color area by establishing its color contrast at the edges of the area, and then fills in perceptually. Even though a tomato is colored red equally at its edges and at its center, we only get information about its color from the edges. We don’t  get any direct information from the red in the center at all. <br /><br />The color spills into the center of a form from the edges, an effect called "color assimilation."<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ3AuDxrkkr6QOGhhzVojAEZgdDxYgg5aE4iI5OU-isL_oK2XFZjXNLAy-QGb5ZzC4hImSfHdSXtKlDCuDUes3tKfXXQN0pkPmzSM0_XO-t_SRk6nk7qmFJWApdU4KpiLz8eg2uucCNr0/s1600/Watercolor_Illusion_Spillmann.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ3AuDxrkkr6QOGhhzVojAEZgdDxYgg5aE4iI5OU-isL_oK2XFZjXNLAy-QGb5ZzC4hImSfHdSXtKlDCuDUes3tKfXXQN0pkPmzSM0_XO-t_SRk6nk7qmFJWApdU4KpiLz8eg2uucCNr0/s320/Watercolor_Illusion_Spillmann.gif" width="320" /></a><br />The phenomenon is also illustrated by the “watercolor illusion” by Lothar Spillmann, where colors along the border of a shape seem to leak into the shape, and we perceive a tint of color throughout the shape, even if it’s not really there.<br /><br />In our experiment with the colored squares, the information from the far-seeing eye takes over where the near-seeing eye is getting no data, giving preference to the scene. At the edges of the square, the color border information from the near-seeing eye takes precedence, making the square seem opaque. <br />-----------<br /><a href="http://www.journalofvision.org/content/6/5/7.full">“Watercolor illusion” Lothar Spillman on Journal of Vision</a><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Vision-Art-Margaret-S-Livingstone/dp/0810995549/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1302013346&sr=1-1">Vision and Art: The Biology of Seeing by Margaret Livingstone</a>

See-Through Square

Here’s a fun experiment. Cut out a square of bright colored paper about two or three inches across. Hold the square about four inches from y...

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Value Planning

An art student recently asked me the following question:<br /><blockquote> Dear James,<br />Some discussions I've been involved with lately have got me thinking about the relationship between color and value. Do you approach them as two different steps of a painting? For example some people see a well worked out monochromatic grisaille painting as perhaps the most important step in a painting, with the scumbled on color as an accentuating element. On the other hand some people have a more Alla Prima approach where they jump right into color, and create the illusion of "turning" surfaces and value directly through color mixing. How long do you spend on the monochromatic stage of a painting?<br />                    ---Pro Cedure.</blockquote><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNn5TzPEbrrDVO_96ZZcW1GUJq36qdScgYMMybC1ISW7dcykSmOGHAiisLaQj8T5OufItRxESMjbUGrjpkhDiEzUp59lZKBHSanz-un8-vh7BbtgsfnCsfBHUXsKAN0hdH3rurEAuEBTc/s1600/Rockwell_The+Ferry+Story.sm.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNn5TzPEbrrDVO_96ZZcW1GUJq36qdScgYMMybC1ISW7dcykSmOGHAiisLaQj8T5OufItRxESMjbUGrjpkhDiEzUp59lZKBHSanz-un8-vh7BbtgsfnCsfBHUXsKAN0hdH3rurEAuEBTc/s400/Rockwell_The+Ferry+Story.sm.jpg" width="400" /></a>    <br />Dear Pro Cedure,<br /><br />You ask a very great question color and value. Yes, I do think about the value structure as a separate step in developing a studio composition. I tend to do that thinking as a preliminary step in the charcoal or pencil stage. As I'm sure you know, Norman Rockwell was the king of planning the value design first in charcoal before jumping into oil (above: "The Ferry Story" courtesy of Heritage auctions).<br /><br />Whether you plan the tonal structure as a separate study (as Rockwell, Cornwell, Lovell and many academics did) or whether you establish it on the final canvas as a preliminary stage of painting, either way it really is the foundation of a good picture. Color adds a lot, but it can’t save a bad value design.<br /><br />And even with a thorough planning, you can still turn forms with color temperature as you suggested in your question. Rockwell is a good artist to study for that, and I believe many of his instincts for impressionistic color effects came from his study with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Webster_Hawthorne">Charles Hawthorne.</a><br /><br />In my case with a fantasy or historical painting, once I have figured out the tonal design in two or three values as a separate step, I begin the layin or block-in. I don’t use a monochromatic grisaille but rather a limited palette of color, such as yellow ochre, burnt sienna, and ultramarine blue. The whole step should only take an hour or two.<br /><br />My goal in the preliminary block-in is to establish not only the tonal statement, but also the big warm and cool relationships and the overall color mood at the very outset of the painting process. I stay well short of darkest darks, saving those for the finishing steps of the painting.<br /><br />When working on location, or when painting the figure in under two hours, I am under shorter time requirements. So I often dive right in with color, but sometimes I do a quick pencil thumbnail sketch to plan the value design.<br /><br />All the best, JG<br />---------- <br />Related post on GJ: <a href="http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/2010/02/two-streams-hypothesis.html">The "two-streams" hypothesis of visual perception</a><br />Recommended books: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Hawthorne-Painting-Mrs-Charles-W/dp/048620653X">"Hawthorne on Painting"</a><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Rockwell-How-Make-Picture/dp/082302380X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1301411411&sr=1-1">"Rockwell on Rockwell"</a><br />I also cover this material in <a href="http://www.dinotopia.com/dinotopia-store.html">"Imaginative Realism"</a>

Value Planning

An art student recently asked me the following question:  Dear James, Some discussions I've been involved with lately have got me thinki...

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How to get a feeling of misty light

This painting from <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Dinotopia-Journey-Chandara-James-Gurney/dp/0740764314/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_4"><i>Dinotopia: Journey to Chandara</i></a> uses a simple device. The subject is placed in a high-key silhouette near the sun. The silhouette colors shift to warm hues as they approach the sun. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio6mgYDFQ_x8AN-_bAWvcSN89Hhk1AowG9fS2CUD63zNDoCT51npuomWfRsU97DEXRja52LkFZMRFsKXMMzgv9jTIReCDnBQA6DUE0wfVZKBhE8-zQJOeENNTCER9rN695vJzbzP4nRoo/s1600/FERRY+CROSSING.det.sm.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="201" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio6mgYDFQ_x8AN-_bAWvcSN89Hhk1AowG9fS2CUD63zNDoCT51npuomWfRsU97DEXRja52LkFZMRFsKXMMzgv9jTIReCDnBQA6DUE0wfVZKBhE8-zQJOeENNTCER9rN695vJzbzP4nRoo/s400/FERRY+CROSSING.det.sm.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />The color corona around the sun spills over and influences both the colors of the sky and the silhouette colors. The color mixtures are actually fairly low-chroma (not very saturated), but you can get a feeling of great brilliancy this way. This is very easy to do in digital, but it takes a bit of deliberate planning in paint.<br /><br />A silhouette treatment is good to use in a sequential work like an illustrated book, comic book, or animated film, especially if you want to give the viewer a break from looking at a lot of detail.<br /><br />Good rule of thumb: the most brilliant impressions of light are achieved in paintings when looking toward, not away from the light source.<br />----<br />Previously:<a href="http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/2008/03/color-corona.html"> Color Corona</a><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Color-Light-Guide-Realist-Painter/dp/0740797719/ref=pd_ts_b_16?ie=UTF8&s=books"><i>Color and Light, </i></a>page 166-167.<br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Dinotopia-Journey-Chandara-James-Gurney/dp/0740764314/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_4"><i>Dinotopia: Journey to Chandara</i></a>

How to get a feeling of misty light

This painting from Dinotopia: Journey to Chandara uses a simple device. The subject is placed in a high-key silhouette near the sun. The si...

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Van Gogh’s Color Schemes Served as Pie Charts

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv6oSFClTwcgwVciVyi7KNZgwJ0D-vNGIxQwOFdFoW-W2I0ZfXxR2w_awJuz9eKQG1wxhDptLwgp79hkXSJMeEQz8GCroW_T3a4_UxMN6yOwbiDuRU3KjTnoDj2ujGOD1p8-VtHH_ve-Y/s1600/Van_Gogh_Color_Pie_Chart.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a>There are various ways to show a color scheme in diagrammatic form. One way is through the color gamut overlaid on the color wheel, as I’ve shown several times on this blog and in my book. That’s best for defining which color types are in and out of your scheme.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv6oSFClTwcgwVciVyi7KNZgwJ0D-vNGIxQwOFdFoW-W2I0ZfXxR2w_awJuz9eKQG1wxhDptLwgp79hkXSJMeEQz8GCroW_T3a4_UxMN6yOwbiDuRU3KjTnoDj2ujGOD1p8-VtHH_ve-Y/s1600/Van_Gogh_Color_Pie_Chart.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv6oSFClTwcgwVciVyi7KNZgwJ0D-vNGIxQwOFdFoW-W2I0ZfXxR2w_awJuz9eKQG1wxhDptLwgp79hkXSJMeEQz8GCroW_T3a4_UxMN6yOwbiDuRU3KjTnoDj2ujGOD1p8-VtHH_ve-Y/s400/Van_Gogh_Color_Pie_Chart.jpg" width="238" /></a><br />But it doesn’t let you know how much of each color is represented in the color scheme. To show that, you can graph the distribution of colors in a pie chart. Here’s one from Arthur Buxton’s blog. It converts 28 Van Gogh paintings into sector graphs showing the percentages of the five most common colors in each painting.<br /><br />Warm colors in the dark yellow family predominate, often played against deep blues. Van Gogh doesn’t use much green, red or violet.<br /><br />Working in reverse, from a set of pie chart to a series of pictures, this would be a useful method for film or graphic novel designers to plan color scripts.<br />-------<br /><a href="http://arthurbuxton.blogspot.com/">Arthur Buxton’s blog</a><br /><a href="http://www.blogger.com/%20http://www.boingboing.net/2011/01/29/van-gogh-pie-charts.html">via BoingBoing</a><br />suggested by John Harris and Susan Fox

Van Gogh’s Color Schemes Served as Pie Charts

There are various ways to show a color scheme in diagrammatic form. One way is through the color gamut overlaid on the color wheel, as I’ve ...

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Crayon Factory

Who knew that the making of colored crayons could be so beautiful?<br /><br /><object height="285" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/wSrzZwPGZ7s?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/wSrzZwPGZ7s?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="285"></embed></object><br /><br />Thanks, <a href="http://www.blogger.com/profile/01751501281929627657">Roberto </a><br />Previously on GJ: <a href="http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/2010/10/how-ink-is-made.html">How Printing Ink is Made </a>

Crayon Factory

Who knew that the making of colored crayons could be so beautiful? Thanks, Roberto Previously on GJ: How Printing Ink is Made

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Color Harmony Dials

The idea of isolating a part of the color wheel to explore the possibilities of limited color schemes was popular many decades ago. My own method borrows a great deal from Walter Sargent’s book “The Enjoyment and Use of Color” in the 1920s.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5hUWJT5vISIcZmbzgM3WNBF7a_qteIIWCIE3A_2Qd00984Sup4N8J3Q6C5xmQxXo7Qx4MS1CLenGbupXm8IBNICCYSL_g_bIf9_gFHeKgbJhTNa_TFqvJF_x4CPfMrggpvFdytFoNUeCp/s1600/Color_Harmony-thxAaron_Miller.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5hUWJT5vISIcZmbzgM3WNBF7a_qteIIWCIE3A_2Qd00984Sup4N8J3Q6C5xmQxXo7Qx4MS1CLenGbupXm8IBNICCYSL_g_bIf9_gFHeKgbJhTNa_TFqvJF_x4CPfMrggpvFdytFoNUeCp/s400/Color_Harmony-thxAaron_Miller.jpg" width="295" /></a><br />Another method, intended not only for the painter, but also for the interior designer, was published by Pedro J. Lemos around the same time. <br /><br />The color designer can choose from six “color harmony dials” that can be placed over the wheel and rotated, revealing families of colors. <br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2_7Eb3VAr_MpepmWTZ5D34Z-FWdyTRukEyH547RqJWdYsSiDrmz944xRBHjChbI8D6sIwE8cvJwET03sxnrsFCnRQCqqncSRNl6W3wpvVB5M4CFcJOYYq2AMUf1w9khlIav32FZd9KLsT/s1600/Color+Harmony+Dials.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2_7Eb3VAr_MpepmWTZ5D34Z-FWdyTRukEyH547RqJWdYsSiDrmz944xRBHjChbI8D6sIwE8cvJwET03sxnrsFCnRQCqqncSRNl6W3wpvVB5M4CFcJOYYq2AMUf1w9khlIav32FZd9KLsT/s400/Color+Harmony+Dials.jpg" width="283" /></a><br />Lemos used a color wheel with lighter tints on the outside and darker shades on the inside. As a result, the colors visible within the dials include tints and shades, but lack any real deliberate choice of relative chroma or intermediate mixtures.<br /><br />Thanks, Aaron Miller!

Color Harmony Dials

The idea of isolating a part of the color wheel to explore the possibilities of limited color schemes was popular many decades ago. My own m...

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Hatt’s Color Book

Just before my book, “<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Color-Light-Guide-Realist-Painter/dp/0740797719/ref=pd_ts_b_5?ie=UTF8&s=books">Color and Light: A Guide for the Realist Painter,</a>” was about to go to press last June, I happened to stop by a secondhand book shop and noticed a book on the shelf called “The Colorist,” by J. A. H. Hatt. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-r9XaQT4xXbnh0hHk-2OQ-YpFPKwpJavvFCnloC4UOYTX5GCvIxNcC_X8quMtqOF7CccbAr1tAiiiyhExGIydxoMRjWuDTOCLFjG1M39syAY1attF5u3f1Mz1MAvlpx93-4VWkz5SKikv/s1600/The_Colorist_Hatt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-r9XaQT4xXbnh0hHk-2OQ-YpFPKwpJavvFCnloC4UOYTX5GCvIxNcC_X8quMtqOF7CccbAr1tAiiiyhExGIydxoMRjWuDTOCLFjG1M39syAY1attF5u3f1Mz1MAvlpx93-4VWkz5SKikv/s320/The_Colorist_Hatt.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />Here was a title I had never heard of before. The date of the book was 1908. What really grabbed me was the subtitle: “Designed to Correct the Commonly Held Theory that Red, Yellow, and Blue are the Primary Colors, and to Supply the Much Needed Easy Method of Determining Color Harmony.”<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9WdOv_4HZuItVvPwSg4svn45UvaMtxMT4dpfeTpcE9P8BedxuYW-GOk6bZb9ouQNJvbKuWPriRpDvMo5_1YvsH7YDL65bdlwFJrkac13UFKm3BCrM1cLznD8wr46amI83Y0XheoDFpjPJ/s1600/Hatt.Wheel.Names.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9WdOv_4HZuItVvPwSg4svn45UvaMtxMT4dpfeTpcE9P8BedxuYW-GOk6bZb9ouQNJvbKuWPriRpDvMo5_1YvsH7YDL65bdlwFJrkac13UFKm3BCrM1cLznD8wr46amI83Y0XheoDFpjPJ/s320/Hatt.Wheel.Names.jpg" width="275" /></a> <br />I bought the book, brought it home, read it, and was thunderstruck. Here was the very same theory that I’ve been developing on my own, and which I thought was new and revolutionary.<br /><br />In essence, Hatt’s premise is exactly the same as mine: instead thinking of red, yellow, and blue as the primary colors, we should be replacing them with magenta, yellow, and cyan. (Note that what he calls "violet" is the same as what I call "blue" on the Yurmby wheel. The difference is a matter of semantics, and we're both talking about a kind of violet-blue.)<br /><br />Anyway, printers in Hatt's day were just discovering this new was of thinking of the color wheel. They made the switch then and never looked back.<br /><br />Magenta was a new color to the world of printing in Hatt’s day. He was acquainted with the chemist who developed one of the first formulations for magenta ink, and he warned readers of the book not to hold the pages open too long to sunlight, or the rare ink would fade.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizLKCcNpK7NbE8DkqVeqV1tzm5xCh626RTVY5pkMUC7hOoQUTG32wOfMloauTUF-OP31zoivtzVMWn3QQs8algI0wk8XAWF2OqdWnJaOajEJECfwGsTzuafk7BtIB9SsjiV2eukEYLYCeJ/s1600/Hatt.wheel.sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizLKCcNpK7NbE8DkqVeqV1tzm5xCh626RTVY5pkMUC7hOoQUTG32wOfMloauTUF-OP31zoivtzVMWn3QQs8algI0wk8XAWF2OqdWnJaOajEJECfwGsTzuafk7BtIB9SsjiV2eukEYLYCeJ/s320/Hatt.wheel.sm.jpg" width="276" /></a><br />The second novelty of Hatt’s book is his method for developing color harmonies, using templates laid over a gradating color wheel. This also was a lot like the system I had struck upon independently, but instead of graying the color wheel at the center, his went to white in the middle, and carried dark tones in outer rings.<br /><br />And according to the text of the book, there were supposed to be gamut masks or templates in the back of the book, but unfortunately, they were missing in my copy.<br /><br />(My own work in the area of gamut masking owes much to Walter Sargent’s 1923 book, “The Enjoyment and Use of Color,” reprinted by Dover). Link to Amazon for<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Enjoyment-Use-Color-Walter-Sargent/dp/048620944X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1286623134&sr=8-1"> Sargent's book here.</a><br /><br />So what’s new is old, I guess. Anyway, you can read Hatt’s book yourself on a<a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=3f_VAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=the+colorist+by+hatt&hl=en&ei=JU2wTOKZIor2swOU1921AQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CDEQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false"> free downloadable PDF </a>courtesy of Google Books.<br />------<br />--My book, due out in November, is: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Color-Light-Guide-Realist-Painter/dp/0740797719/ref=pd_ts_b_5?ie=UTF8&s=books">Color and Light: A Guide for the Realist Painter  </a><br /> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primary_color">--Wikipedia gives a good overview of the history of thinking about primaries </a><br /><a href="http://www.handprint.com/HP/WCL/color13.html">--And so does Bruce MacEvoy in Handprint.com</a><br /><a href="http://www.huevaluechroma.com/">--(added) And David Briggs on HueValueChroma </a><br />--Previously on GurneyJourney (Feb 2010): <a href="http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/2010/02/color-wheel-part-1.html">Rethinking the Color Wheel </a><br />--If you live in the Pasadena, California area, please come to my <a href="http://ateliermarchant.blogspot.com/">workshop tomorrow, Sunday,</a> that covers this stuff.

Hatt’s Color Book

Just before my book, “ Color and Light: A Guide for the Realist Painter, ” was about to go to press last June, I happened to stop by a secon...

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Overlaid Wash Test

Here’s a chart of watercolor pigment combinations. The purpose of the exercise is to see how colors interact when they’re superimposed, rather than mixed wet. After one color swatch is painted and allowed to dry, a second color is laid over it.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG9QYQeankecR6b5IWR7Q6EKrI_uQc4agpizgABkbYHODNgsgKiZA9GEVRPFcyPCFtUG9DLXG9XLA-6ohyiVgvUvudzPIH410bPUfAvWGumUEHWwCLpMyh6vHwY1wL27cYJE2VVunGJdgO/s1600/Watercolor_Combinations.sm.W.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5525316449403982242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG9QYQeankecR6b5IWR7Q6EKrI_uQc4agpizgABkbYHODNgsgKiZA9GEVRPFcyPCFtUG9DLXG9XLA-6ohyiVgvUvudzPIH410bPUfAvWGumUEHWwCLpMyh6vHwY1wL27cYJE2VVunGJdgO/s400/Watercolor_Combinations.sm.W.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 242px;" /></a>The starting colors, on the diagonal from lower left to upper right, are: Winsor yellow, Winsor red, permanent alizarin crimson, ultramarine blue, cerulean blue, and Winsor green. Each possible mixture sits at the intersection of a horizontal row and a vertical column.<br /><br />The arrow, for example, shows a combination of permanent alizarin crimson and ultramarine blue. Farther to the right, the mixture of Winsor green and alizarin crimson makes a beautiful gray whose component colors are still visible.

Overlaid Wash Test

Here’s a chart of watercolor pigment combinations. The purpose of the exercise is to see how colors interact when they’re superimposed, rath...

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How Ink is Made

<object height="258" width="430"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Fypi6dAJB8E?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Fypi6dAJB8E?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="430" height="258"></embed></object><br />This eight-minute documentary shows how they make commercial printing ink. The colors and textures are so delicious that you’ll want to eat them.

How Ink is Made

This eight-minute documentary shows how they make commercial printing ink. The colors and textures are so delicious that you’ll want to eat ...

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Chromatic Shadows, Part 2

As we saw yesterday, adjacent colored light sources result in overlapping colored shadows.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgTGMKYXeA-s424yqr5BiW6SURY-sgi-SxgdXgxK1MM1wXbUyK_qhXzrzxV3ACtc2BFzf9g5QYaLkK4NI_GDc_zzwTZ80oEXF5IrCmx1xgnzUV2rmgu7f8vVhmxwzfysJruUNHe6Vjlvqj/s1600/Chromatic_Shadows.2.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523154504721162274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgTGMKYXeA-s424yqr5BiW6SURY-sgi-SxgdXgxK1MM1wXbUyK_qhXzrzxV3ACtc2BFzf9g5QYaLkK4NI_GDc_zzwTZ80oEXF5IrCmx1xgnzUV2rmgu7f8vVhmxwzfysJruUNHe6Vjlvqj/s400/Chromatic_Shadows.2.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 283px;" /></a>Here’s another rule of thumb: 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.<br /><br />That’s because each colored light shines into the shadow of the other. So when the amber light shines on the cylinder, it casts a shadow that is filled only by the blue light—hence the blue shadow.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHxSW27IZgFbL99D-pVtSHzYZuiT1EBQZIJs_AAOtiTDGoT1yUKw_7o5SzcZ826UYwXJatTX1pVgnkkHMHuJAgoyGKqF8xn6bn_VJDCtSFMPIy5lCwdcx35aYBqhcsL2XEU740z5Ay93Hm/s1600/Chromatic_Shadows.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><br /></a>Let’s make the scenario even more challenging: What happens to the shadows when you have three colored sources? Here’s the effect from blue, red, and green lights.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHxSW27IZgFbL99D-pVtSHzYZuiT1EBQZIJs_AAOtiTDGoT1yUKw_7o5SzcZ826UYwXJatTX1pVgnkkHMHuJAgoyGKqF8xn6bn_VJDCtSFMPIy5lCwdcx35aYBqhcsL2XEU740z5Ay93Hm/s1600/Chromatic_Shadows.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523154509780126626" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHxSW27IZgFbL99D-pVtSHzYZuiT1EBQZIJs_AAOtiTDGoT1yUKw_7o5SzcZ826UYwXJatTX1pVgnkkHMHuJAgoyGKqF8xn6bn_VJDCtSFMPIy5lCwdcx35aYBqhcsL2XEU740z5Ay93Hm/s400/Chromatic_Shadows.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 274px;" /></a>Note that the cast shadows behind my raised hand and my head are magenta, cyan, and yellow. The yellow shadow on the far right is cast by the blue light. It’s yellow because it is lit by a mixture of green and red. In the realm of light, as opposed to pigment, green and red mix to make yellow.<br /><br />The bright cyan shadow is cast by the central red light. It’s cyan because it contains the blend of blue and green light. Blue and green light mix to make cyan.<br /><br />If you’re intrigued by colored light interactions, I’d recommend going to the home improvement or theater lighting store and picking up red, green, and blue lightbulbs that you can put in three different light sockets. The best way to learn this stuff is to set them up and try all sorts of combinations. I took the photo in the <a href="http://www.nysci.org/">New York Hall of Science, </a>which has an interactive setup installed.<br />--------<br />Related GJ post:<br /><a href="http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/2008/04/mixing-of-colored-light.html">Colored Light and Form</a>

Chromatic Shadows, Part 2

As we saw yesterday, adjacent colored light sources result in overlapping colored shadows. Here’s another rule of thumb: If you have two lig...

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Chromatic Shadows, Part 1

The painting below shows a warrior standing on a ledge. He is lit by a slanting bar of light that shines from below.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhapu-tlAxTU2ZF3UMVK3GD1oDjWyM5BXyUPe55l14ofrvt4MDt4JSnbmUYXL8rKPlG2jJXu6ZFXQyHQpGBHIKDF3qGvunjxKv8N697GMApDDEJXEoNv2kt58W_Kn8fzZ1pjM4XQ6wnCq3Y/s1600/Warrior_On_Ledge.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5522771465816340610" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhapu-tlAxTU2ZF3UMVK3GD1oDjWyM5BXyUPe55l14ofrvt4MDt4JSnbmUYXL8rKPlG2jJXu6ZFXQyHQpGBHIKDF3qGvunjxKv8N697GMApDDEJXEoNv2kt58W_Kn8fzZ1pjM4XQ6wnCq3Y/s400/Warrior_On_Ledge.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 305px; height: 400px;" /></a>Note that the cast shadow from his arm is red on the bottom and blue above.<br /><br />The colored shadows suggest that the scene is lit by two adjacent spotlights, a red one below and a blue one above. This is typical of theater lighting, where two or more colored spotlights cast shadows with chromatic edges.<br /><br />Tomorrow we’ll take a closer look at chromatic shadows.<br />-------<br />I painted the image for "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0886770327/stevensilvershomA/">Witches of Kregen</a>," 1985, Daw Books. The painting will also appear in <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Color-Light-Guide-Realist-Painter/dp/0740797719/ref=pd_ts_b_16?ie=UTF8&s=books">Color and Light.</a>

Chromatic Shadows, Part 1

The painting below shows a warrior standing on a ledge. He is lit by a slanting bar of light that shines from below. Note that the cast shad...

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Red Cube, Pink Cube

The chroma, or saturation, of a color should be carefully considered as an object transitions from light into shade. Making the shadow color too intense can create a false effect.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGI54xicW1zQfd1odyDLTLf2J4M1YqS_U-iSDB6oi7ZeRlUGkv7sLXWbwUTowolCkQ6avjGM7MYMuuVBPQBFrr10-a5_W3h82xpGM5RasKDpWM6X9bZtwdDxSfJz4zUGJCrZ0oMLTBoSVC/s1600/Red_Cube_Pink_Cube.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5519276410663264450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGI54xicW1zQfd1odyDLTLf2J4M1YqS_U-iSDB6oi7ZeRlUGkv7sLXWbwUTowolCkQ6avjGM7MYMuuVBPQBFrr10-a5_W3h82xpGM5RasKDpWM6X9bZtwdDxSfJz4zUGJCrZ0oMLTBoSVC/s400/Red_Cube_Pink_Cube.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 235px;" /></a>It’s a common mistake with beginning painters, who sometimes use pure tube colors for middle values and add white to lighten them and black to darken them.<br /><br />The diagram is by Andrew Loomis, from his book <span style="font-style: italic;">Creative Illustration</span>, still one of the best books on painting, color, and composition. Unfortunately it is out of print and expensive to obtain in its printed form.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYV3lR1_g9nesqO_v5Tm0fROiZNEwlgjMSLnPPdGnxRl-obKWX3GbyQeM_cQ7YwUXkJ5zoxv61PS8DeGs3Hj4TWlVupKt3EVlJfFyAIr0VvuyPQSjaKtUXVhfSKKyXQowrg7zQTXdd01l6/s1600/Creative_Illustration.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5519276416491758834" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYV3lR1_g9nesqO_v5Tm0fROiZNEwlgjMSLnPPdGnxRl-obKWX3GbyQeM_cQ7YwUXkJ5zoxv61PS8DeGs3Hj4TWlVupKt3EVlJfFyAIr0VvuyPQSjaKtUXVhfSKKyXQowrg7zQTXdd01l6/s400/Creative_Illustration.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 308px; height: 400px;" /></a>But there’s good news: You can download a PDF copy of <span style="font-style: italic;">Creative Illustration</span> and Loomis’s other books. They’re all well worth study.<br />--------<br /><a href="http://escapefromillustrationisland.com/2010/01/07/free-andrew-loomis-art-intstruction-downloads/">Loomis books from Illustration Island.com</a><br />Previously on GJ: <a href="http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/2008/04/color-obtains-in-light.html">Color Obtains in the Light</a><br />Thanks, <a href="http://www.fathomlessbox.com">Evan!</a>

Red Cube, Pink Cube

The chroma, or saturation, of a color should be carefully considered as an object transitions from light into shade. Making the shadow color...

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J. P. Wilson's Plein Air Oils

Michael Anderson of Yale's Peabody Museum is publishing a book online about the work of James Perry Wilson, who I believe to be one of the most resourceful landscape colorists of the 20th century.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2XzZUawOSGRExIyajtSDNlIODsgcajhyphenhyphenitVNymc6Af4fb5k67S5fisL9jU6riFsjy-N5VrpcBenOvcqAGKKzX_piIbssmkB6ar7oqco4jw15QtZDfoAywTdnvs_iRYCdr-VYIa56Fw_wy/s1600/Perry-Wilson_James_phillips_hill.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5502401033287307938" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2XzZUawOSGRExIyajtSDNlIODsgcajhyphenhyphenitVNymc6Af4fb5k67S5fisL9jU6riFsjy-N5VrpcBenOvcqAGKKzX_piIbssmkB6ar7oqco4jw15QtZDfoAywTdnvs_iRYCdr-VYIa56Fw_wy/s400/Perry-Wilson_James_phillips_hill.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 291px;" /></a>Mr. Anderson writes:<br /><blockquote>"James Perry Wilson loved to paint. He loved to paint dioramas, architectural subjects, and more than anything else, he loved painting outdoors en plein air. <br /><br />"In sharp contrast to his diorama painting or architectural work however, Wilson painted other works in a single day on transportable 8"X10" mahogany panels or 12"X16" canvasboards. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7JSD-AyI_3QTq9D6TeTej9IjdQAtLTB2fHb4WutcvVPu3HbTnVP5URVYtl48VE093kyCyMua0CnnDLYhEwcZ_iK2tYJpES09lzDnVUtUQpT9ygnoG3po5graHH8hWPzsMT0XQffjBMVEj/s1600/Perry-Wilson_James_gull_cove.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5502401027433420162" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7JSD-AyI_3QTq9D6TeTej9IjdQAtLTB2fHb4WutcvVPu3HbTnVP5URVYtl48VE093kyCyMua0CnnDLYhEwcZ_iK2tYJpES09lzDnVUtUQpT9ygnoG3po5graHH8hWPzsMT0XQffjBMVEj/s400/Perry-Wilson_James_gull_cove.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 302px;" /></a>"These small works, done apparently for the sheer love and challenge of painting, reflect the same skill and intelligence seen in his diorama work with the addition of a working spontaneity. They guide us directly to the heart of James Perry Wilson and where his passion lay.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPtonVOuDBh6RJrw9RDrRB0FXSfpwunG2CJCv_yxNZaKmKXAqBfNF0aKmEXa4HlMj48taJvEo-gAcgiBv_wW94fYdllx8VzZLWfgKVadt9EkqNFvhu5vmNPqJguOXrguSnzgandoguZmfc/s1600/Perry+Wilson.Plein.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5502399672833419090" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPtonVOuDBh6RJrw9RDrRB0FXSfpwunG2CJCv_yxNZaKmKXAqBfNF0aKmEXa4HlMj48taJvEo-gAcgiBv_wW94fYdllx8VzZLWfgKVadt9EkqNFvhu5vmNPqJguOXrguSnzgandoguZmfc/s400/Perry+Wilson.Plein.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 299px;" /></a>"There is a palpable quality of joy in Wilson’s paintings. He expresses his awe of nature through paint. This is a meticulously observed landscape that emanates his love of color in nature and his depiction of light and atmosphere."</blockquote><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie7C13uAPX570dx9h2fOZvPImZcJObgB5239bT66rkoSx0rgpqZ5cyi2FSdIVO622NHHlC2YXfVLH9aYmHpfiWvEkR2kQyc3lnBS2CQLE8ldOagtQWDf1oWnBasg3i3M_dyXBWiQF4aAF-/s1600/Perry_Wilson24x30.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5502471245028502402" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie7C13uAPX570dx9h2fOZvPImZcJObgB5239bT66rkoSx0rgpqZ5cyi2FSdIVO622NHHlC2YXfVLH9aYmHpfiWvEkR2kQyc3lnBS2CQLE8ldOagtQWDf1oWnBasg3i3M_dyXBWiQF4aAF-/s400/Perry_Wilson24x30.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 318px;" /></a>For the full chapter, follow this link to <a href="http://www.peabody.yale.edu/james-perry-wilson/chapter4-en-plein-air-paintings.html">JPW's Plein-Air Painting.</a> I highly recommend this link, and be sure to scroll down a little past halfway to read JPW's notes on atmospheric colors. This is like a whole textbook on plein air practice by a painter who thought more probingly about light and color than almost anyone.<br />-------<br />Previous GJ posts about J.P. Wilson, <a href="http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/2009/01/james-perry-wilsons-dioramas-part-1.html">Part 1</a> and <a href="http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/2009/01/james-perry-wilsons-dioramas-part-2.html">Part 2</a>

J. P. Wilson's Plein Air Oils

Michael Anderson of Yale's Peabody Museum is publishing a book online about the work of James Perry Wilson, who I believe to be one of t...

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Indigo Fading

“Bridge With Mountains” is a watercolor from J.M.W. Turner’s Cyfarthfa sketchbook. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoQ8RFd22TDLuQo13cUdNPOi1851-QIMoIaos16Yps_fN13O8O8nVAJ1jhK1ljVRmOTp0r_fvcjhvw9XdiciqLuxcqOA4_pIxKK33UoMU1Y1wibthzEiDsFjyzT231vorckT6IvVHoPMHT/s1600/IndigoFading.sm.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5494137763047135730" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoQ8RFd22TDLuQo13cUdNPOi1851-QIMoIaos16Yps_fN13O8O8nVAJ1jhK1ljVRmOTp0r_fvcjhvw9XdiciqLuxcqOA4_pIxKK33UoMU1Y1wibthzEiDsFjyzT231vorckT6IvVHoPMHT/s400/IndigoFading.sm.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 253px;" /></a>It was on exhibition until 1905, when someone noticed that everything but the part covered by the frame had turned brown.<br /><br />What happened to the blue? The same indigo that dyes blue jeans was used as a pigment, and it either faded or shifted under strong light. <br />------<br />from <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Turners-Early-Sketchbooks-Drawings-1789-1802/dp/0823054721/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1279203792&sr=1-1">Turner's Early Sketchbooks,</a> by Gerald Wilkinson

Indigo Fading

“Bridge With Mountains” is a watercolor from J.M.W. Turner’s Cyfarthfa sketchbook. It was on exhibition until 1905, when someone noticed tha...

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Undertones and Tints

Pigments can be rated according to their transparency or opacity. A good way to test your paints is to spread a thick layer, called a masstone, across a white gessoed surface (far left swatch). <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhep8XwzFkFmaBU6A_YAf-aMlFDDl4T-GCznCEBVnfS7vpZIj33QBhMrUf91mfO93ez8b6swG78AzuGuduuiygbH9SvKhxVhLctVc6Uet0ouDbi8RZNNckUeEsJHuSXh8ffQ_FEw0Lx-9Ru/s1600/Undertones_and_Tints.sm.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488949840093621682" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhep8XwzFkFmaBU6A_YAf-aMlFDDl4T-GCznCEBVnfS7vpZIj33QBhMrUf91mfO93ez8b6swG78AzuGuduuiygbH9SvKhxVhLctVc6Uet0ouDbi8RZNNckUeEsJHuSXh8ffQ_FEw0Lx-9Ru/s400/Undertones_and_Tints.sm.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 256px;" /></a>Next to that, spread a thin, transparent film, called an undertone (swatches 2 and 3). A dark mark on the board behind the film of paint helps to test opacity.<br /><br />The colors in these swatches are ultramarine blue, Venetian Red, and terre verte. The Venetian red is the most opaque of these three. <br /><br />You can also test the pigment’s tinting strength by adding white. Tinting strength refers to the ability of a pigment to maintain chroma with the addition of white (remaining swatches). Some colors, like pthalo blue are powerful in tints. Some, like terre verte are relatively weak. <br /><br />Most colors shift a bit in their color temperature. Warm colors typically shift to the cooler or bluer side.

Undertones and Tints

Pigments can be rated according to their transparency or opacity. A good way to test your paints is to spread a thick layer, called a massto...

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