Thoughts on Painting Things Which are White August 29, 2000
Some of the most striking paintings we’ve seen have had a white object or objects as their centers of interest. Buildings, flowers and dresses head an ideal sort of list. I remember hearing a famous artist explain methods for drawing attention to one’s center of interest. We did an earlier edition of “Watercolor Tips” on just that subject. One of those methods is to place your lightest and your darkest values next to each other in the center of the interest area. Certainly a white subject matter affords us the opportunity to do that.
As we know, which is the absence of color. Because of that fact, white will pick up color from anything around it, including blue from the sky on sunny days and grayed blue when the sun is behind the clouds. Without a doubt, the best way to see the colors white is picking up is with a good reference photograph. If you don’t know how to make details show up in white areas of your photos, consult a good photographer or email me at rlwatercolor71@aol.com. When you study a well-made photo of anything white you will see shadows which vary in value and in color. Some shadows will look warmer, some will look cooler.
Consider the pigments you are using to make gray. To produce warm gray use a higher proportion of the warmer pigment. For cooler grays, use more blue. If a flower has a warm colored object in the center such as the young seed pod of the Magnolia or the bright yellow button of the daisy, that warm color is certain to reflect into the surrounding area of the flower in your painting. Make your gray first, keeping it slightly on the warm side then add that warm color you used to paint the center object to your gray. When something gets between the sun and a white object, the part of that object which was a warm white is not illuminated by the blue sky and results in a blue shadow.
When painting a white subject matter, remember that nearby objects will reflect their color into the white. A red automobile parked beside the white stucco wall will cause the shadow on the building to show some of the reflected red. We must combine what we see with what we know by logic when painting white objects. At any rate we don’t succeed at many efforts the first time. Keep your studies for future reference and keep trying.
If you have questions email us at rlwatercolor71@aol.com.
Enjoy painting!
Robert and Sharon
Robert Long Watercolors
12273 Emerald Coast Parkway, Unit 120 • Destin, FL 32550
Phone (850) 837-3220 • Fax (850) 837-3770
E-mail us: rlwatercolor71@aol.com
http://www.robertlongwatercolors.com