I was sitting in a teacher's staff meeting this morning, and as is my habit, I bring a couple of my art magazines to peruse thru (tsk tsk...I know!). Had a Plein Air mag with me this morning...and I was reminded on something I was going to start a discussion sometime ago.
Many past write/teachers (Carlson...for one) spoke that the sky is the lightest in terms of planes and light. The ground then next lightest, and the trees being vertical appear and need to be represented darker.
That seems to make sense in theory, but then many of us painting out there especially later in the day when the sun is lower see spectacular color hitting trees such that they glow.
When we try to paint them glowing...the paintings don't always feel just right.
Often...we nearly have to paint our skies close to white so that the lighter value of the glow of the tree registers. We might choose to put a bit of complement in the sky to pit against the trees...but that can make the sky darker, and fight against the relationship of planes.
Of course, there are storms, dark clouds and all kinds of circumstances where this isn't an issue. I think of fall colored cottonwoods lit up by sun against dark mountains and shadows as well as dark clouds.
But...for the most part, it is interesting that trees can be painted dark, lean toward the reddish side, but because of the way the sky is represented and rest of the painting still feel as though the sun's light is hitting them.
I'll put up a couple examples...
the values of those midground trees are actually quite dark, but they come off feeling quite lit up...
Now...this is one of Scott Christensen's and I imagine a studio piece painted from one of his plein air...but still instrumental to consider...
here a closeup of the same-
Another of Scott's-
the trees are quite dark...but the light hitting the rocks and so forth yet gives it a feeling that the trees are struck by the sun's light..
here an Edgar Payne...
against the foil of the hazed out background...the warmer colors, though a darker value yet feel as though hit by light. Interesting???
Here one from Emile Gruppe-
By going dark enough in general...that which is midvalue appears lighter, and thus light very light...
It seems the lower light key works better at following Carlson's ideas...
One thing that Payne said has stuck with me. For better or worse, its been the cause of a wrestling...that has taken me a bit from literalism of what I am seeing or trying to see to realize there needs to be interpretation due to limitations beyond my control.
In essense we begin with a deficit as painters, and I'll remind what I have reported in the past, Payne said that where values are concerned, the eye sees approximately 400 values outdoors in nature...but that pigment is limited in only representing approximately 40 distinct values. That's a huge difference, and if we are overwhelmed with one value or intensity of color in general may find a real struggle to get the painting to hold together.
He also suggested (back around the early 1900's) that nature's light is about 2,000 to 3,000 times more intense where color is concerned than pigment is able to imitate.
If that is true...then anyone that sets out naively thinking they can literally copy nature and produce exacting realism is in for a hard awakening and inescapable frustration. Instead we are at best given chance to interpret and we hope somehow to develop the facility or skill to pass on an exciting
feeling that our painting is speaking our heart or the moment convincingly.
This thing Payne said admittedly has been sorta dogging me...and it is more apparent there needs to be more creative license or we need to acknowledge it anyway, or we are back to fooling ourselves that absolute realism can be visually stated.
I think maybe Chris or Bill said it (sorry don't quite remember), but that there is the attempt to paint realism...but often such attempts lack 'REALNESS...
wow...I like that.
Here now is a work from Libby Tolley, a popular woman artist...
and I am impressed with the mid to darker value range yet
feeling... holding to feeling warm, lit up...
one last one of Scott Christensen's-
perhaps in this last one...is is a combination of value contrast between snow and trees...yet the snow is not all that light in value, and secondly a complementary and color temperature thing going on...
now...I'll invite comments, discussion...examples from other artist's works you may be aware of, and perhaps we'll all benefit and enjoy....