Nov. 16: Atmospheric Effect

• Rayleigh Scattering is what makes the sky blue. 
• The sun's effect on clouds is different when you look towards versus away from the sun. 
• From the towards the point of view, light shines around the edges of the clouds, almost outlining them with light. 
• From the away point of view, light falls more evenly on the surface of the clouds, making them look like the clouds we usually think of and get darker towards the bottom. Small clouds are not as dense as large clouds so they are more opaque. 

• One way to learn about the color of the sky is to use paint swatches from a store or a mirror to reflect the color of the sky. You can match the best color to the color of the sky.
• The sky will get lighter as it gets towards the sun, from the solar glare, and darker/more saturated away from the sun. In addition, the horizon is lighter than the open sky. 
• Overall, you will need four starting colors to paint the sky.
• Atmospheric Perspective
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• Things in the distance are obscured from the viewer by the illuminated air in between. The objects will eventually blend in closely with the sky, becoming more blue and light.
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• Distant silhouettes blend together and lose clarity as they fade away. 
• White objects in atmospheric perspective will grow in warmth. Clouds and sunsets become bright orange and red. This phenomenon only occurs when the air is clear and illuminated by the light.
• When moisture is added to he air, like by a waterfall or river, the tones are lightened and warmed.
• Reverse Atmospheric Perspective
• In some instances, the light becomes warmer further back into the scene. When dust or moisture lingers in the area of the sunlight, the light catches on the particles and scatters. 
• This kind of lighting conveys a sense of strangeness or excitement. 
• Golden Hour Lighting
• Golden hour is a short period of time at dawn and dusk in which natural colors are enhanced by the sun's light, which comes tangent onto the earth's surface and illuminates the things in its path. 
• The light has further distance to travel, and so releases more light, making colors richer. 
• Sunsets
• Sunsets can be hard to capture because there are many layers of air that the light interacts with on its way to the surface. When the sky has lots of moisture, pollution, or dust, the sun will make bright red and yellow colors as it sets. After the sun has set, a layer of grey color rises up where it went down.
• Clouds catch light on the underside because the light. Clouds closer to the sun will be a brighter color and those higher will be closer to white.
• Fog, Mist, Smoke, Dust
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• In any of these conditions, the light is scattered by the particles in the air. It isn't able to directly reach the ground, so it bounces around and can come from anywhere. Thus, extreme contrast is dimmed.
• Rainbows
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• Rainbows are a result of light refracting through the rain. Rainbows don't grow or diminish in size with distance since they are only created by the angle that the viewer is seeing the light. If there are two rainbows, the second rainbow's colors are reversed because it bounces twice through the raindrops.
• When painting a rainbow, the rainbow colors will always be lighter than their background because of the extra light.
• Sunbeams and Shadowbeams
• In dusty or moisture-laden air, sunbeams and shadowbeams are likely to appear. Sunbeams only happen in specific conditions:
• 1. A layer of clouds, foliage, or architecture has only a few openings. 
• 2. Air is filled with smog, dust, or smoke.
• 3. The perspective is looking at the sun. 
• Sunbeams usually make shadows on a form much darker and the light a little lighter. Sunbeams and shadowbeams should only be used every once in a while, as they catch a lot of attention
• Dappled Light
• The light that falls through the leaves will be different sizes or shapes depending on the foliage above. When a shape falls onto a surface that isn't flat, it will spread out.
• Cloud Shadows
• Clouds sometimes interrupt the light from the sun. This can be helpful to direct the viewer's attention.
• Do not transition from sun to shadow too quickly, and make sure that the clouds match the shadows. 
• Illuminated Foreground
• When you illuminate the foreground of a painting it is inviting the viewer to look there. 
• Snow and Ice
• Snow is able to pick up more color than clouds or foam, so shadows are also going to pick up more color. As snow gets older, it gets darker and denser, making it shinier. 
• Water: Reflection and Transparency
• Water is only especially reflective when you look at it straight across at a very shallow angle. When you look down on the surface of the water, not much light reflects back up to you. The reflections of light objects in the water will be darker than the actual object because some of the light will travel through the surface of the water instead of bouncing off. 
• Color Underwater
• Water filters out color that passes through it. When you get deep enough, the only colors that remain are violet and blue. 

Nov, 9: Light-Surfaces and Effects

• Subsurface Scattering:
• Light enters the skin or any translucent material and spreads out beneath the surface, creating an unmistakable glow. 
•  Three conditions:
• 1. Translucent Flesh
• 2. Small forms
• 3. Backlighting
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• Color Zones:
• The complexion of a light-skinned face divides into three zones. The forehead is a light golden color. From the forehead to the bottom of the nose is reddish, The zone from the nose to the chin tends toward a bluish, greenish, or grayish color.
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• A person who has been physically active often gets a stronger dilation, particularly in the cheeks in a diagonal line running from the inside of the eye to the corner of the jaw. 
• Hair Secret:
• hair has always presented a unique challenge to both the traditional and the digital artist. To avoid the stringy look, use big brushes, keep the masses simple, soften the edges, and control the highlights.
• It helps to visualize the masses of hair as a ribbon, the Highlight goes across rather than following the whole length of the strands. 
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• Tips:
• Use a large brush
• Keep forms simple
• Try to state the largest masses.
• Transmitted Light:
• When Sunlight travels through a thin, semitransparent material, the light becomes richly colored. The light that bounces off the surface is fairly dull by comparison. A "stained-glass window effect"
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• Caustics:
• A drinking glass or a water-filled vase can act as a lens to focus light rays into spots or lines of light. the same effects happen underwater, the result of the undulating waves acting like lenses.
• Caustics are the spots, arcs, wavy bands, of light projected onto a surface by means of refraction or reflection from a curved glass or from waves on water. 
• Specular Reflections:
• An object with a shiny surface is like a mirror reflecting an image of whatever is around it. 
• Light Rays bounce off the surface at the same relative angle that they hit it. 
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• Rules
• 1. The more reflective the surface, the larger the value range.
• 2. Convex surfaces include a smaller reflection as well as objects in the scene outside the bounds of your composition. 
• 3. Whether traditional or digital, the reflection is a secondary layer added to the modeling already present in the piece.
• Highlights:
• The location of the highlights on the snake show that it is more flat than cylindrical as it squeezes the crocodile. 
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• In General, a highlight on any glossy surface is not WHITE but a combination of the source and local color. 
• Color Corona:
• An extremely bright source, such as a setting sun or streetlight, that is surrounded by a region of colorful light. This appears both in human vision and in photography.
• The glow takes on the native color of the source and can be found on refelcted sources such as:
• - streetlights
• -Car headlights
• - solar highlights
• -wet surfaces
• Motion Blur:
• There are two kinds of Blurring:
• 1. Motion Blur- A Form moves rapidly in front of a stationary observer/camera.
• 2.Speed Blur- the Camera tracks alongside a fast moving object. 
• MotionBlur:
• Paint figures and background wet together and then soften edges. 
• Slower drying mediums are better. 
• Crisp edges take away from the motion. 
• To show that the camera is following a middle ground object, then the background should be blurred together. 
• Speed Blur:
• Only the edges perpendicular to the movement are blurred. 
• The lines and objects that are in line with the object in motion should not be blurred. like in the painting above. 

Nov. 2: Light and Form

• The Form Principle:
• stay true to the rules of light and color, but also give your art the impact that it necessitates.
• you do not have to draw in every single shadow texture when a plane is in full shadow.
• Half Shadow:
• "One way to create drama, especially with a vertical form, is to light the top half and leave the rest in the shadow"
• the theme of impact and creative liberty.
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• Occlusion Shadow:
• Shadows that occur wherever two forms touch each other or wherever a form touches a floor.
• Three-Quarter Lighting:
• The traditional lighting for portraiture art. 
• A light source is placed about 45* from the face
• a secondary Fill Light, or natural light, is used to ensure that the face is able to be seen.
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• Short light can also be used to push the shadow of the nose further across the cheek and help make the face look thinner.
• Frontal Light: 
• Frontal lighting emphasizes two-dimensional design instead of sculptural form. 
• It's good lighting to choose if you want to emphasize local color or pattern--to features. fashion or costume, for instance. 
• Edge Light:
• thin white line around the form. 
• The width of the rim light varies according to the size of the planes that face back to the light. 
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• Contre Jour: 
• think of the light area behind the subject not as flat white paint but as a sea of vapor with light streaming out of the background melting away the edges of the form. 
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• Three points about lower lighting:
• Sources of light that shine upward are often strongly colored, either with the warm orange glow of firelight or with the blue flicker of a computer screen.
• One way to make something look large in a nighttime setting is to have the light shine on just part of the form and fall off rapidly. 
• Building a small maquette, or model makes it easier to experiment with actual light. 
• Spotlighting:
• The shadow should match the color to the surface ahead of the spotlight beam because it is receiving the same ambient light as the rest of the scene.