Center Light

The center light is the main modeling factor out in the light. It takes the flatness out of the  planes in the light area. It makes form out in the light.

It is found only on round forms. 

It is a half value lighter than the average light value.

There are no hard edges on the center light. 

The center light is found and used most effectively on the upright plane. 

It widens and narrows with the form.
Create the center light on big forms first, then break in into smaller forms.

If the average in the light is 7th value, you can  lay in the center light a full value lighter and brush it down on all sides to soften and darken it to 7 1/2. Remember the highlight will be a full value lighter than the average, the center light has to be in between. There is no hue change, hold the local. There is no significant chroma change. It might be slightly weaker, but making it too neutral will weaken the edge plane (edge planes is a subject for an upcoming blog segment).

Once the curved form becomes a corner, the modeling factor
becomes a highlight, not a center light. 

Shape of the form dictates shape of the center light.

As the thumb turns towards body,
the forearm twists and the center light follows. 

In the illustration below, Reilly indicates a step-by-step procedure for painting the center light. After laying-in the light, shadow and halftone, add the center light, softening the edges as needed. Then add the cast shadow from the jaw. 

Try this exercise at home. 

© John Ennis 2011

Next Topic: Highlight

The Halftone

The halftone is the modeling factor found between the light and the shadow. As a plane it is at an angle to the light source, receiving just enough light to keep it out of the shadow.

The value scale:

White is our lightest local color. A white bed sheet is lighter in value than a yellow sheet. An orange sheet would be darker yet, but still lighter than a black sheet. In typical indoor lighting, white is painted at value 10 in the light and 4 in the shadow. Black is our darkest local color. It is painted at value 4 in the light and 0 in the shadow. All other colors in the light will remain above 4, since they are locally lighter than black. All other colors in the shadow will be darker than 4 since they are locally darker than white. The halftones fall between values 7 & 2. Spend some time and thought considering this concept of value scale, it's role is crucial in representational painting.


Locals:
It is important to understand the idea of locals. It is the local quality of a white shirt that it is lighter than a gray tie. And a gray tie is lighter than a black vest. And they should appear that way under any lighting condition. A white shirt (a local of 10) is painted 10 in the light, has a halftone of 7, and is painted 4 in the shadow.  A middle value gray tie (whose local is 5) will be painted value 7 in the light, 4.5 in the halftone, it's shadow at 2. It follows that the black vest (a local of 0) is then 4, 2 and 0 respectively. 

Halftone Factors:

Surface texture: a mat surface catches and diffuses the light. A nap surface with many tiny bumps creates even more halftone. A shiny surface, with no texture to capture light, has no halftone.

Light level: A strong light creates less halftone, a weak light creates more.

Light source: a point source (light bulb, sun, photoflash) creates less halftone. A diffuse light source (north light, overcast day) creates more.

Form: Round, soft forms have more halftone. Hard, bony forms have less.

Brushing:

As a rule of thumb, it is good to keep the halftone narrow, since a wide halftone can ruin the form. If the halftone is narrow you can brush for it, meaning you can take a brush, zig-zag it through the adjacent light and shadow stokes, and brush back over the the zig-zag (see above). If this deadens the chroma, you may have to restate the halftone with more chroma and repeat.

Figure Painting:

Squint down at the halftone and determine if it masses with the shadow or with the light. Using Reilly's indoor palette, if the shadow is painted in at value 3, then the halftone will be painted at value 4 if it masses with the shadow, and at 5 if it masses with the light.

© John Ennis 2010

Next Topic: Center Light

The Lay-in

Paint Application

The lay-in is the initial application of opaque paint, wet paint brushed onto a dry wash-in. If your wash-in values are accurate, you've established a good foundation for your lay-in.  Reilly offers a specific sequence for this crucial stage in painting. Begin with known quantities. The absolute darkest dark, called the accent, where no light exists is painted first, using black warmed with a little Alizarin Crimson.  It is easy to spot and gives the painter a good parameter to start with on the dark end of the value scale. It will help determine the value of the shadow. Next paint the shadows, lights, halftones, highlights and finally reflected light.

3 Parts to a Picture

Simply put, the background is flat and should stay behind the figure. 

For the form of the drapery, mix two lights (top, and front planes) and one shadow.

For the form of the model, use three lights, one shadow.

Action

Brush paint on first with the action first, then with the form. 

Brush the paint onto the planes.

Massing

Initially try to combine all of the areas in the light into a simple graphic shape, ignoring small shapes and isolated darks in the light. Make a similar massing in the shadow, ignoring isolated lights in the dark. This will help establish the action.

The Effect of Light

In a typical indoor setting, the part of the figure closest to, and at a perpendicular angle to the light source is five values lighter than the shadow. The part of the figure at a somewhat oblique angle to the light source, the darkest light, is 3 values lighter than the shadow. The effect of light is the result.

Factors affecting the light on the  form

Size has little effect, but the amount of light, distance from the light, and angle towards the light are relevant. Also the texture, and the difference between locals.

From Reilly's notes:

The success of a painting is due to the lay-in. 

The putting down of paint so as to execute the final stage. 

The paint mixed and put down are called averages. 

The correct averages make a condition called the poster. 

The lay-in sets the complexion of the model.

The averages are the local condition in chiaroscuro (light-shadow) 

-so each local is to be mixed in light & shadow 

-the poster is the look of the chairoscuro together as a pattern.

© 2011 John Ennis

Next Topic: Half-tones

Complexion

From Reilly's notes:

"The complexion should be first comprehended as a generality. Visualize at the start of a painting the model at 200 ft. All the colors of the model would average out into a generality. As the painting would proceed to completion, technically the model would come closer and closer and as this happens the complexion would then divide up into smaller color changes for you to paint into the chosen basic complexion."

On the Head:

The string of complexion flesh tones on your palette, chosen from the forehead for a portrait, represents the average of the subject's complexion, as if seen from a distance. Once this average is laid in, you will begin to see and make local changes. Remember, we are thinking in terms of hue, value and chroma. In general, the middle area of the face becomes darker (value), redder (hue) and stronger (chroma) than the average, while the lower section is darker and weaker than the average, as Reilly illustrates below.

On the Figure:

On the figure, where the complexion average is drawn from the torso, you will see the complexion become darker, redder, and stronger as it approaches the extremities.

Here Reilly illustrates differences between a light, middle and dark complexion. 

© 2010 John Ennis

Next topic: The Lay-In

The Color Note

ColorNote On Wash-In ©1955Allison

In the Reilly class we spent the first half-hour of each session drawing from the model, the remainder of each session would be devoted to painting the figure. A pose would be set on Monday and kept for the rest of the week, giving us the opportunity to complete one figure painting each week. Monday was devoted to the Wash-in which would dry overnight. On Tuesday we mixed the palette and would begin the Lay-in. As the complexions were mixed we developed a color note, a small 4"x6" oil sketch of the figure in the corner of the canvas, to verify that the palette "averages" would represent the model's local (specific) complexion in light and shadow. It includes the background averages simply stated, the whole thing taking no more than 15 minutes. The color notes should represent the "Poster"; a simple but comprehensive statement of flat shapes and major color averages. This insures that your color choices, including the complexion, are in balance with entire painting.

From Reilly's notes:
It must show the kind of light. The color of the light, the position of the light and its size, distance and strength relative to the model. In this illumination it must describe a particular condition of skin (in general first) in a chosen particular pose.
The model must exist in atmosphere (air) in front of a background.
Put in light & shadow only, on each object or area.
Put in 3 lights and one shadow on the model.
Put in known quantities.
Put in extremes- darkest first, then lightest. Strongest chroma then weakest chroma.

© John Ennis 2010

Next Topic: Complexion

The Reilly Palette: a Palette of Convenience

To set up the figure-painting palette, you must first create the string of neutral control values described in the previous post. By the 1970's the Grumbacher Reilly Neutrals were no longer available. In the Faragasso class we sometimes skipped adding Raw Umber, perhaps for the sake of expediency, finding that the cooler grays worked well in neutralizing flesh. Gamblin makes three useful grays, calling them Portland Grey Light (v.8), Portland Grey Medium (v.6) and Portland Grey Dark (v.4). Their Munsell value designations are on the tube label. You can intermix to get the rest, and you can mix those with the Raw Umber string to create absolute neutrals. You might consider contacting Gamblin and encourage them to expand the line of Portland Grays to include all nine values. 

Local Colors

Place store-bought colors adjacent to the Neutrals at their appropriate value. Paints that will help make local colors, e.g. blonde hair, blue scarf, green drapery. Many of the dark paints accumulate around the first or second value, and for convenience I move them to the far edge of the palette.

Convenience Colors
The next mixtures on the flesh palette are part of what Reilly called a "Palette of Convenience". First create a string of yellow-red (orange) values, and a string of red values. These additional strings of paint will correspond in value to the Neutrals.

A schematic for the palette, most likely done by a student. It shows Cadmium Orange

 at value 6, and employs manufactured paints for the red values of 5,4,3,2 and 1.

Yellow-Reds

To create the yellow-red string begin by mixing Cadmium Orange which, depending on the brand, comes from the tube at about value 6 or 7. Add white for lighter values and mix with Burnt Umber for darker values.

Reds
The red string begins with Cadmium Red Light, which, again depending on the brand, comes from the tube around value 5. Add Titanium White to get the lighter values. Create an admixture of Alizarin Crimson (a cool red) and a little Burnt Umber to achieve a true red at first value, and mix this with Cadmium Red Light to make the red values 2 through 4.

Complexion
Finally, to create the string of complexion values, cross mix each neutral value with it's corresponding value of red and yellow-red to arrive at the average complexion at that value. That mixture will depend on the models complexion average, i.e. pale and cool, warm and ruddy. Try to keep the hue and chroma consistent. Remember this is the complexion average, as you might see it from across the room. The local changes (red nose, gray chin) will be addressed as you paint. 


In general the human complexion ranges from red to yellow-red, from pale to colorful, from dark to light. Reilly's palette facilitates mixing the subject's complexion while allowing for these local changes that occur in the flesh. Mixing this palette is time consuming, but it becomes a time saver when it really matters, during a live sitting. A palette of convenience.


In class we mixed a drop of oil of cloves into each pile of paint to extend the drying time. The palette would remain wet all week this way and so would the paint on the canvas. Be forewarned that this may also extend the drying time of the painting. There are other ways to keep your palette wet; by submerging the palette under water, or freezing it. I prefer to mix and tube the colors, so that they are always at the ready. Empty tubes are available at some art suppliers.


© John Ennis 2010


Next Topic: The Color Note

The Reilly Palette: The Reilly Neutrals

At the core of Reilly's Universal Palette is a scale of equidistant value steps called the "Neutral Control" values. The main purpose for using a scale of values is to help control the values in your picture, enabling you to create form, the illusion of three-dimensions on a two-dimensional surface. Getting your values correct can be the largest factor in accomplishing this. Reilly attributes 80% of our success in getting the form to correct values, 20% to chroma, and 0% to hue.


A scale of nine value steps made by mixing Titanium White with Ivory Black produces cool grays with a slight blue bias. A scale of nine value steps made by mixing Titanium White with Raw Umber produces warm grays with a yellow bias. "Neutral Gray" can be arrived at by  mixing the cool gray with the warm gray at each of their nine value steps. The full range of neutral values includes both extremes white and black. White is designated value #10,  black is value #0 and between them are values #9 through #1, comprising the eleven-step scale of Neutrals.  Your judgement of true "Neutral" (with minimal spectrum bias) might best be determined under a north-light source.


The Neutrals can also be used to control the chroma of any color without altering its hue. (Mr. Reilly preferred the specific term Neutral to mean a pigment that has no hue bias, while the casual term "gray" can imply very weak chroma of any hue). Oil paint comes out of the tube often at it's most chromatic. These neutrals can be used to reduce the chroma without changing the hue. For example, if your goal is to make a middle value muted purple (P5/6), you might take Dioxazine purple (P1/12), add white to bring it to value 5, then add Neutral 5 until it's chroma is weakened sufficiently. 


In the late '40s, Reilly contracted Grumbacher to mix and tube boxed-sets of all nine Reilly Neutral values. Sadly they are no longer available. Tubing your own Neutrals saves time and promotes palette consistency. Empty tubes are available at art material suppliers like Pearl Paint and Utrecht. 

Photo courtesy of Jerry Allison

Mixing the neutrals. 
Using Ivory Black and Titanium White, mix nine intermediate piles of paint from dark to light. Black representing the value #0 and white representing value #10, the neutral colors will be values 1 through 9. Including black and white you will have eleven equidistant values.  Next create a separate string of nine corresponding values mixing Raw Umber with Titanium White. Now, relying on your own judgement, blend these two strings together visually until they appear to be completely neutral in hue.


Jack Faragasso's 1979 book is a good reference for paint mixing.


For your bookshelp:  The Student's Guide to PAINTING by Jack Faragasso 
ISBN 0-891-34025-4 


Next Topic: The Reilly Palette: A Palette of Convenience


© John Ennis 2010