How Light Can Change Local Color

Published: Sat, 04/30/22

I hope you enjoy this new twist on a post from 2017.

Dear ,

One of the trickiest issues painters encounter is with color. Our tendency is to mix the color we think we see instead of the color we are looking at. Any local color can appear differently under different kinds of lights. For example, what we think we see as green under a brilliant sunset might actually become red-violet.

To drive home this point I've put a white cup on a red tablecloth under four different colors of light to examine what happens to all areas of the cup, including how the reflective color of the cloth changes the side of the cup, and how that reflective color mixes with the light color.

Here's an analysis of the same four areas of each cup and the red fabric.

Under cool white light

Under yellow light

Under red light

Under blue light

COMPARISON

Now let's compare each section side by side. Notice the color changes especially in the shadow areas labeled 3 where the light's color mixes with bounced light from the fabric.

These changes in the light's color are relatively extreme compared to what we experience as normal lighting, but they illustrate how things could go south if the painter. knowing the cup to be white, were to use only white and black to paint the cup.

That's why it is important that painters learn to read the color they see, not the local color they know something to be.

NOW, THERE' SOMETHING THAT YOU CAN EXPLORE!

Enjoy a weekend of reading color!

Happy Painting,

Dianne

[email protected]

During my Language of Painting series, I explained the role of our visual elements. If you'd like to review those roles to better understand the behavior of elements, here are the links to each of those discussions: Color --Value -- Shape -- Texture -- Size -- Line and Direction

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