06-27-2015, 05:01 AM
Learning to paint is a combination of both - a whole lot of study (from life and master artists) and reading up on the theory behind it. The latter might not be necessary for just copying real life, but definitely helps speed along learning process, and will help to do things without perfect reference. Don’t be frustrated though if you’re not understanding things and relationships right away - it takes years and years (a lifetime, really) to master these kinds of things! Just keep up the studies, and keep asking yourself „why is this as it is?“.
As for your question about complementary colors, I’m not sure which study you are referring to… using complementary colors next to each other is something that can happen in real life, but also as a tool artists use because it looks pleasing to the eye. So they might choose to paint it even if they don’t see it, or they see it and decide to enhance the effect (artistic license!). You can sometimes see it in a situation when warm evening light illuminates an object in an outdoor setting - with blue sky above, which gets picked up in the shadow areas. I would suggest you just keep doing studies from life, and observing what others do in their work - and read up on it on the side. The Gurney book VoodooMama linked is very good and explains many different light/color scenarios. There’s also a gnomon dvd by Jeremy Vickery that’s excellent:
http://www.thegnomonworkshop.com/store/p...-and-Color
As for your question about complementary colors, I’m not sure which study you are referring to… using complementary colors next to each other is something that can happen in real life, but also as a tool artists use because it looks pleasing to the eye. So they might choose to paint it even if they don’t see it, or they see it and decide to enhance the effect (artistic license!). You can sometimes see it in a situation when warm evening light illuminates an object in an outdoor setting - with blue sky above, which gets picked up in the shadow areas. I would suggest you just keep doing studies from life, and observing what others do in their work - and read up on it on the side. The Gurney book VoodooMama linked is very good and explains many different light/color scenarios. There’s also a gnomon dvd by Jeremy Vickery that’s excellent:
http://www.thegnomonworkshop.com/store/p...-and-Color