Week #8 The colors in shadows

Sargent was a master at finding color in shadows. Shadows can really make or break a painting. A lot of times, they are included as drab colored, darker areas. If you look at Sargent's paintings shown here, you can see that his shadows are anything but drab. Many times he would use the complimentary color of the lightest area for the shadows.  For example, in the second painting posted here, notice how the lavender shadows work so believably on the yellow house. By doing this, his colors remained vibrant and lively and the shadows become a point of interest. 

This week, set up a still life. Make sure you have a strong source of light shining on your still life. This will help to create strong shadows. Look at your set up for a while before you begin so that you can notice areas where the shadows exist. You may find that you have to push your palette a little so that you are really making the shadows the compliments of the light areas. It will really open up possibilities and help you to develop a vibrant, and dynamic palette in your paintings. 

Check out the color in the shadows by these artists below!

Says artist Virgina Naughton of her striking watercolor: " I was intrigued by the complimentary colors, and the odd shadow from the dogwood blossom, but might have picked a less dense shadow with more colors going on and a non-white blossom. I worked on it too long which I tend to do anyway. I certainly do learn something from every challenge even if it's out of frustration. "

The shadows in this stunning still life by Janet Filemyr is a point of interest...

 

 Ellen Campeas drew this exquisite bowl of fruit using complimentary colored shadows.

 

Riki Lee Braunstein painted these two beautiful and charming illustrations!