Pastel tips lighting in the landscape

 Rendering light in pastel

Continuing my discussion on how to paint the light in landscapes. As we develop our interests it's important to learn how to paint our subject. What are the techniques to accomplish this? This is key to learning. I turn to the masters to see how they did it. I also look at todays artists that inspire me. 

Light in water

How do you add weight to objects? Use lighting as a tool to create solidity. Back lighting or side lighting creates a dramatic look to everyday landscapes. I have a set of photos I have taken of the Stanislaus river that are full of rocks, deep mysterious water areas and places of rapid water flow. This is all back in the area next to Knights Ferry Ca. 

This painting was one result of some of my photo's

 18x24 mixed media 

This is a tree that has grown out of the rock. It was really fun to paint. My son has this hanging in his home. I did this as an acrylic painting for color and followed that with pastel on hot pressed watercolor paper. There may be some ink in this too. It probably is the most abstract painting I've done yet. But I do want to explore this more. 

The values are close but you can feel where the light is coming from (right to left). By using this side lighting effect it created dramatic line movement in the root portion of the tree. Solidity was achieved with the dramatic side shadow on the left of the tree. You don't see much detail in the shade but you can feel the heaviness of the rock. 

Thanks for looking, more on this with the next post. Happy painting. 

Lux paper review and planning the painting

 Lux paper review

Lux paper is white. It can take water, ink, acrylic under paintings. It is a sanded paper that feels very much like a 600 grit Uart paper. It can take dry application of pastel medium and the abuses with rubbing in the underpainting. It did not buckle on me at all. However, I did not soak the paper and only wet it with acrylic inks as much as necessary.

initial ink wash

I used Dewent intense sticks for this under painting. As you can see I used darker colors then I intended to finish with. My drawing is there, but not detailed. I tried to think of the darks that I wanted to make the finial painting sing on top of the darks. 

planning stage

Here you can see I worked out a lightly detailed drawing with value placement. To the right of this thumbnail I have written notes about my ideas for this piece. You will see in the end I did not add the cloud, although that can be done in another painting of this scene. I wrote the main color plan and other things like water conditions, warm and cool areas for possible color choices.  All these notations will give me some direction. As I initially draw in the big shapes I use my reference photo for the plan. I set it down at this point when I'm done and use the value study mostly during the painting process. I have the reference near by to refer to, but do not look at it much except to check cool colors against warms and small shape study. I also blurred my eyes to see the simple shapes in this initial blocking in of color. 

I started with my darks, but do make a small area of my lightest light. All color value use will always be affected by the color next to it. This dictates what color to use next to the sky, the trees and house. Initially I wanted to have the shadows in the house purple, but it wasn't working. I had to change it to a blue to get the effect I wanted. 

Also, note the soft and hard edges. I tried to use those lines to help direct the eye to the focal point. The porch next to the telephone pole. I also allow other areas of interest to the viewer in the house. The windows have on some harder edges but not really detailed. The trees are darker but take you through the color changes and edge treatment for the viewer to linger on. There can be more than one focal point in a painting. The other ones are supporting the main place that I want the viewer to see. 

11x11 "Summer Ranch"
See pastel page for sale price

I think I could of lighten up the picture better before posting. I'm finding that is necessary to get an accurate photo of the painting and it color. I will add that to this post later. I also should mention that the foreground is inviting the viewer into the picture with low value flowers and color notes. They're purpose is to invite you in to wonder around the house. Enjoy

Textures in painting

Textures

Surfaces do make a difference to the end result of your painting. As you discover your preferences and style, you'll find that certain surfaces are easier to make those expressions than others. Light bounces to a certain degree with pastels applied to a heavier textured surface. The pastel sticks to the ridges and the colors in the valleys typically don't receive the pastel. This causes a unique blending of colors and luminosity that pastels are known for. This affect can also be accomplished with dry brushing on an oil or acrylic textured surface. 

Ariel Perspective 

Ariel Perspective in distant landscapes are usually hazy, muted or weak colors with soft edges. Blue or purple are largely dominant. In the cascades this is very apparent. The distant mountains take on a lighter blue-green color and the feeling is misty with soft edges. Many artist explain this atmospheric phenomenon as Ariel perspective. Depending where you live, your atmosphere can be heavy with moisture or dry like the desert. 

Using a light surface which may have a moderate amount of texture can help with the feeling of Ariel perspective. Some rubbing in of color and creating soft edges with a small amount of scumbling on those edges can cause the light of the colors to shimmer and recede further back in the painting. There is no formula for this, but experience will help to portray your vision. 

Mark Making

The suggestion of movement is made by the marks or strokes you place on your canvas or paper. This mark making is your unique style. As you learn more about the business of painting your marks become a reflection of expression of your feelings on the subject at hand. Copying other artists has always been how one learns to make art. You tend to gravitate to artist works that you love. As you are learning how to make the effects of light on the subject you develop your own style. This is based on how you learn. Every one of us learns at different speeds and how we interpret what we see. We also learn in different styles. Most of us learn by watching, reading and doing. During this learning process we eventually start making marks that are distinctive to us. Ask yourself as you are learning; How did that artist do that? Copying the artists is how we figure these things out. Guidelines are what the masters are teaching us. Take the lesson and experiment on your own subjects daily. Little by little you will take something new away from the study to apply to your work. 

Lines that are thin suggest softness, while thicker lines in a drawing suggest movement and energy. Your brushstrokes will suggest the same thing. Just like thin and thick paint direct the eye through the painting you will learn to do the same. Your visions are unique to you. We all see things different. We can call it an orange but to each of us it is slightly different. Some will see this in light with blues on the surface and some with yellows and even some will see it with the textures as dominant. 

If you have a subject you want to explore, paint it multiple ways. Use different color schemes, different textures, different strokes of painting. Emphasize different parts of the painting, ask yourself where are my main lines of this design leading the eye? Are my values reading right? Am I excited about this subject? There will be times when a failed painting is revisited and letting loose to paint with your arm and not draw the subject help you with expression.  Don't be afraid to ask yourself "What if?

Del Puerto Canyon #1 Private Collection

This painting was exactly that. I had tried several time to get this painting to work. I was so frustrated that I reverted to pointillism. I don't know why, I just wanted to fix it. This painting won a second place at the Gallo Spring Show in my home town. As I worked on this piece it became more interesting to place the marks. Perseverance is key to success, keep trying.

Drawing the Light

 Keep light lines to define the light areas and heavier lines for the darker shadows. This helps the overall effect of the drawing. Simplify your shapes and the light vs dark patterns in you subject. Use hot pressed paper or Bristol board for best results with charcoal. A kneaded eraser is desirable to create soft areas and lost edges. It also is gentle to the paper. They make a white charcoal stick or pencil to help with highlighted areas on a toned surface. 

Portraits are often drawn in charcoal by the artist first, in preparation for the painting. This is called a grisaille, a drawing rendered in gray or neutral tones. Texture is achieved with mark making, scumbling, lost edges, line direction, curves and straight lines for energy. 

Surfaces

Today's artists have many surfaces to choose from. Although, some can be expensive don't save your best work for those papers. You should treat yourself to good paper, it frees up your expression to have a paper that can except multiple layers for drawing. 

 Canson Mi-Teintes paper to practice on, and this paper comes in multiple toned surfaces. Both sides can be used, there is the back side that is considered softer and the front side has more of a mechanical stamped pattern on it. This is great paper to practice your values, composition and color notes for a painting in an affordable manner. It is acid free so it can be used for finished work also. It's disadvantage is its inability to hold multiple layers of pastel. 

U-art, Pastel Premier, Pastel Mat, Lux and Art spectrum have more grit to them and are able to hold multiple thin layers of pastel which creates a luminous effect on your painting. These papers also have the ability to take an underpainting. This is any water based media, alcohol washes as long as the application is not thick (thick applications of paint clog up the rough surfaces). 

MDR & Watercolor paper & Archival mat board can be used if it is first primed with Gesso. The gesso helps to put a barrier between the wood and the paint helping it to last for years. Water color paper & Mat board should be coated as well, but a clear gesso applied to the paper produces a sanded like surface. Applications of this type would best be done with thin layers and finer brush strokes. To much texture will eat your pastels up, unless there is a specific affect you are wanting. Gesso ridges can also be sanded down some between applications to your desired finish product. This is especially important when using MDR board. This type of approach can help the artist save on expenses. 

There are still many types of paper that I have not mentioned. It's always worth mentioning to try out different papers and colors. Exploration is key to making better paintings. Always ask yourself "What if?" Never hold yourself back or feel like you need to ask permission. 

Tones

Your surface can be any color you want it to be. The color you choose may affect the mood and light of your work. It helps you to achieve contrast immediately, mostly used as a mid-tone value in a painting, allowing the artist to see the lights and dark patterns early. You will also create a consistent color harmony through out the piece if you allow the tone to show in places. The darker the paper, the more contrast in the light areas will be produced. On black paper all colors you put down appear lighter. This has a definite influence in the mood or light of the piece. Work with opaque and transparent applications in the media of your choice. Try out different warm or cooler colors on top of the underpainting to evaluate how the light and shadows effect the work. 

I have found for me, to identify the dark notes first and follow with at least a note on the lights. I define these areas first so I am careful not to overshoot these values as I paint. This helps me to stay true to my plan. I don't necessarily have to finish these areas, just stating where on the value scale I want to key the painting. Sometimes, I have a goal or look I want to experiment with, sometimes it's about the color relationships. What ever I think I want to do, I want to give myself a head start to get it right. 

Below, is a partial example using darker paper color allowed me to keep my lightest values in the midrange section of my pastel tray. The lightest values are not white but filled with color. The full painting of this little cowboy is framed without mats and is much brighter than this picture. He was practicing with his brothers and friends (dad was in the bleachers) at the Hollister rodeo grounds. One of my first portraits,  it currently sits on top of my mantle in the living room. 

Full sheet Canson dark blue

Expressing light tips

 Tips on painting light

8x12 pastel "Tuolumne Barn"

spring reference for sky painting

Painting light with different media requires the artist to know the limitations of each media. Prepping surfaces ahead of time with middle values is very helpful, especially if you paint plein air. All prep work can be done opaque or transparent. This tone will be helpful with keying a painting and keeping it harmonious through out the piece. The white d of the canvas or paper helps to keep paintings in high key. Review the lights of Sargent and sorolla's paintings. How did they handle the light? Was the painting in high key? How dark are the darkest areas of the painting? What is the balance of the painting as a whole? Was it a 70-20-10, or some other combination of lights, mid or dark values?

Toned surfaces determine the degree of luminosity. A dark surface will absorb more light while a light surface reflects it. 

A trick I have found to make the light shimmer in any media. Paint the surrounding darker colors, then add the first color in a lighter tone but not white. You can glaze this lighter tone on the surface. Keep the edges soft. Then add a mark of a very light tone of your light. This can even be a spot of white in the middle of your color mark. Be careful not to add to much spotty whites, these can be strokes too. Stand back and you will see the light shimmer.

Be aware there are groups of people in all media that are purists. This can mean they paint with transparent paints only. The lights of your painting are acquired by technique and not mixing other media in your painting. Just beware if you do paint in mixed media and want to show your work you will have to meet certain criteria for acceptance into some shows. There is no wrong way to paint. Feel free to express yourself.

Pastels

Remember that you can use different paint strokes to increase effects. Start with light and dark areas in the composition. The middle toned paper should compliment your palette. Early in the painting process I would choose a color gamut James Gurney Color gamut to help with those types of decisions. Although, it is not an absolute rule to follow. Your strokes can be feathering (lay the light and then the shadow side of an object and feather in the transition of the light to shadow). This technique can also help with making an object recede. Broken color was very popular among the impressionist. You can express the light by placing a cooler color over a warmer color to gray it down with its compliment. Albert Handle refers to a bloom; application of a light color over a dark background color. Vary the pressure on the pastel stick and you can create different tones and blends that will be luminous. Always stay as light with pressure as you can, for as long as you can - Marla Baggetta 

Oils & Acrylics

Start your painting with thin washes of color at the beginning of the painting on a white canvas. The light will go through the thin wash and bounce back and reflect some of the canvas. You can follow this technique with opaque colors with similar values of the washes. This is a little like a watercolor approach to painting. Also, thin washes dry quicker in oil painting, so it may be possible to glaze easier. 

Opaque whites will contrast well with transparent darks. This can be built with a brush or palette knife. Along with direct painting techniques like scumbling (remember to use semi opaques over a darker value color to achieve this), scraping and glazing works well to show the colors underneath each other and the luminosity will show through. 

In oils you can use the thick and thin application of paint to bring out the lightest lights. 

Watermedia

Watercolors are painted with awareness of where the light is on the subject. It is important to save those areas for the lighter color nuances that will sing with light as you progress in the painting process in the shadows. This is key to understanding this media. Acrylics can also be thinned down enough to respond to the light the same way watercolor paints do. 

Acrylics can be painted thinly as watercolor but do have the advantage to take applications of this paint. With all water media it is highly suggested that you have a plan on your approach to the subject matter. It is easy to become lost or loose your whites and luminosity. Planning with color, drawing and composition is the foremost way to maintain success. Some artists are known to recapture the white of the paper with an application of opaque white gouache. 

Light concepts to follow

 Concepts in light to remember

Mirrored lighting

Reflections in water are constantly changes. Try to keep the reflection itself to a minimum. Use softer edges and lighter shadow colors. Keep edge details soft. Colors will be muted in the reflection. Richer color can be found on the object that is casting the reflection. Movement in water can vary the reflection from crisp to identifying only a vague resemblance of the subject. 

5x7 study of light

Shadows

In strong sunlight, the shadow will have clear dark edges that follow the form its cast upon as it is closer to the object. Colors will be richer within the value of this shadow. As the shadow recedes into the distance it will soften its edges and value lighter. 

Lost edges in shadow help to anchor figures in a painting.  Remember to keep the shadows simple masses.  Establish strong shadow patterns first. Squint the eye to loose the detail and see these shadows easily. In dense shadow landscapes keep the light patterns simple, with soft edges and even abstract. This helps to create depth in the scene. 

Compare the light and dark of a shadow and where is the lightest light.  Do this again for the richest color and the lightest color. This will help to pull the painting together. Color is relative to itself. This concept is important to understand. If you start with your darkest dark & lightest light all the colors that come after are decisions made that directly relate to the original colors you chose. 

Terms to keep in mind

Front lighting; the direction of the sun is behind you the artist and illuminating directly onto the subject. You should not see any or at least very little shadow. Light is duller as it steps back from the subject. Rich color is apparent in the foreground or on the subject itself. 

Side lighting; The sun is to the right or left of the artist. Long shadows appear in this side lighting condition. This is a favorite lighting condition for paintings. This is where it is important to compare the darkest dark to the lightest light and make color notes. These first marks key your painting for you in this light. Edges will be crisp on subjects that have hard edges like urban scenes or man made structures. Rocks could also fall to hard edges in this lighting condition. 

Back lighting; The sun is behind the subject. but in front of the artist.  It causes a rim lighting affect on the subject. This forms a silhouette of the the subject. Local color will be muted, but the rim color effect will  show some rich local color like a halo. This is a great way to study shapes. 

Overhead lighting; The light source here is above the artist. Look for light on the top planes of your subject. Squint your eyes to see the top planes clearly. Are the upright planes dark? Edges soft? This light can be dramatic to the urban scene. Is the light influenced by other planes reflecting color? Observe this lighting condition closely, there can be many nuances. 

Tips on the Color of Light and mood

 The Color of Light and Mood

All paintings are made up of light. How we describe the light directly affects the mood. A good value map will help you decide what colors to use to help tell your story. After much practice color choices will become intuitive for you.  A challenge for you, would be to identify the color and light affects on your subject at different times of the day. Wherever you go through out your day be very observant to the subtle effects that happen in shadow; is it blue, purple? What color is the surrounding light compared to  the shadow? Really open your eyes to this in nature. It will open a whole new world to you. This type of observation could be explored your whole life. Monet did this when he painted the different lighting conditions with his haystacks. 

With your observations of light, mood and feeling will automatically interact together and show in your paintings. They are apart of light, so therefore you will become intuitive to mood and feelings of a painting. It also is why people are attracted to certain art works. Some paintings inspire us to remember favorite past memories.  The painting will  tell us a story that connects us to a favorite place, mood or even in the color palette. It makes the painting magical to us. 

Bright sunny days may inspire a cheerful mood; overcast days may describe a somber reflective mood, and misty fog may invite feelings of mystery. 

5x7 study of overcast day, Moody

This is a little study to express mood. The lighting was overcast with threatening clouds overhead in the golden hills of California. My objective here was to study the light. Other than the barn structure (or upright planes) everything is in a similar value. The sky is gray and all the colors are muted. It's not just a copy of a photo, but a feeling of the day. The clouds are heavy and close to the ground to help support the feeling I had on this day. 

So how does light effect the different seasons? When starting to paint, the planning stages require us to ask these kinds of questions. Put it down on paper so you can be reminded of the story you want to say to the viewer. This is your vision, express it in your own personal way.

Light effects with the seasons

Spend time studying light, reflections or refractions. Really feel the light on your subject, sense the presence of it. Study the edges of the light closely. Study the form of the light; how does it wrap around your subject? Does the shadow have sharp edges or soft? Understanding the patterns of light and shadow and how to accurately to express the shapes of light in your painting are very important. In fact it is a fundamental concept for success. The sky in any season directly relates to the earth and directly influences the color you see in the earth. 

Summer

What does summer say to you? I feel warm bright sun, water and fun at the beach. This study was to see not only color relationships but how to really get the light and shadow areas to read as a hot day. In this season the intensity of the light is absorbed into the greens of summer. What do the colors of green look like? Are they warm on one side and have reflected or bounced light from an object behind them? Remember that objects behind each other often have reflected color in the shadow with bright light. Ask yourself what is the influence the greens may have that is different between this season and winter greens? Are they bluer, yellower and brighter or duller?

9x12 watercolor study girls at the Bach

Morning summer light is clean and crisp. During the early light the sun is lower in the sky and the light is filtered through a moist atmosphere as it comes up over the horizon. You will see more pinks, oranges and purples in this lighting condition. It only last a short time from sunrise to mid morning before it changes to the midday light. Cast shadows are longer, the lighted areas are richer in color. Watch for value changes as the light is further from the sunrise. Colors are brighter the closer they are to you and become duller as they recede. My camera distorts the oranges in this type of light. I must make allowances for this when using a photograph as a reference.

Midday summer light is very predominant in this season. Light is at it's whitest, strongest and has a bluish tint to it in midday. The upright planes Carlson's Guide to Landscape Painting (trees) are dark, the underlying shapes in the shadows have warmer reflections from the ground underneath them. Observe the value of the shadow directly under your subject on the ground plane and compare it to the  value of the subject in that shadow. Is there a difference in warm or cool; lighter or darker? Light from this time of produces very few cast shadows. 

Evening summer light is again lower in the sky, but the quality of the light is crisper and warmer. The sky is bluer and the shadows are again longer and cooler and bluer. Look for complimentary colors in the shadows of the foliage. Is the brighter color on the foliage green? Does this shadow have hints of green's compliment, red? Typically, during this time of day the local color doesn't influence the painting. Observe this closely. When the sun is just about to set what is the color of the upright planes? 

Fall

Autumn is full of color changes in the landscape. Greens move to duller colors replaced with deep reds and yellows as the foliage prepares for winter. The density of the foliage changes too as nature prepares for this season. Light gradually gets softer and lower in the sky during this transition. 

Del Puerto Canyon Fall

Mustards, orches and reds that are dull dominate the foreground as soft grays edging on purple show the receding fall landscape.   

Winter

What does the winter light look like? Is it cooler and grayed? Diffuse lighting probably is present during this time of year. In my area (the Cascades) the clouds seem to float in and out of the mountain tops. The background trees are a deeper blue-green. All colors are grayed down. This is very similar to California's winter landscapes. 

winter study 9x12 

 The sky is usually the lightest in the cloudy winter or overcast day. Colors get grayer and duller as you recede back into the landscape. Clouds that are big and fluffy are very luminous in this sky. Ground colors are usually not influenced by other sky colors in this condition and remain true to their local colors. You will see softer edges and soft contrasts in a winter scene. The muted colors and low key values are usually typical. Ask yourself do the dark colors get lighter in the distance and do the light colors get darker? What does a gray sky look like? Is it purples and muted colors? As long as the values are right this is where hidden mood lies. Reach into the landscape and see if you can pull these colors out. Shadows will also be muted, and upright planes can be more vibrant. 

Spring

The sky is warming up and a tourquise effect starts to take place in the midday sky. New foliage growth starts to appear in the landscape. Mornings are crisp with cooler and softer hues until the sun is higher in the sky. As buds appear on the edges of trees it takes on a soft reddish hue. In early spring you can still decipher the skeletons of the trees and the silhouettes are still very prominent.  

5x7 study of spring early light

The early morning light is influenced by pinks and oranges in this study. Almond trees are in full bloom and it is the most gorgeous sight to see. In this study I made the sky a purplish blue which compliments the shadow colors nicely. I wanted to feel the crispness of the morning. The shadows are long and the tree still shows itself as a winter tree with hints of buds. 

As a recap, light influences our paintings and ideas. Without it we would see nothing. It dances along the edges foliage. Daily, the beauty of the landscape changes on our planet. We are fortunate to see the cycles of rebirth. If we as artist can show the beauty of our world to others who cannot see this wonder, perhaps others will be able to view our world with new vision. Isn't this in the end what we as artist want to say?

Artist are the storytellers of the earth and give her a voice to the human race - Debi Crow-Sousa

Understanding Light and Shadow

Light and Shadow 

How do we use it to make better paintings

There is a magic to light that can stop us in our tracks when it illuminates the landscape in such a way that can literally cause a stop and awe moment to happen. Understanding light and its effects on objects will help us to make better paintings. We all have learned about the light spectrum and separated color prisms that occur with rainbows. We can use this information to help us with our paintings to create mood, atmosphere and dynamic designs. 

Let's review, the sun is luminous and provides us with light. If there was no light we could not see. It's that simple. The rays from the sun travel in straight lines. Because, this happens shapes take on form. When light hits an opaque object it turns back on itself causing a reflection. This will occur in any weather condition. The earth's atmosphere can distort this reflection. On hazy days, light is soft and the sky will be gray. On sunny days you will find the edges of light to be harder and with limited particles in the air the sky can be an intense blue. Light cannot bend around corners, the direction of light can change however with water. Like a clear vase of flowers in water, the stems become distorted as they pass through the translucent properties of water. This is called a refraction. 

Light that bounces off an object creates the shadow. If the light is warm a shadow will be cool and vice a versa light that is cool will result with a warm shadow. 

Every person sees color differently. They respond to paintings that move them with atmosphere and color from past memories. Value is however, one can say the top three most important aspects of art. Line direction and heaviness produces composition, and division of spaces with no two intervals of spaces that are the same rounds out the top three things a good painting achieves. There are other concepts that are important, but remember it's not a formula but a guide to success. You don't have to be stringent with the rules. They can be broken or disregarded if need be. It's our job as painters to convince the viewer to explore our paintings.

Suggestions to start a painting 

When evaluating your subject, ask is the light warm or cool? Once a decision is made try keying your darks to this. What I mean is, if the shadows will be warm lay your first color notes with a warm color like a red-brown. Key your painting this way. Key is defined as how dark are your darkest colors and how light is your lightest. Some atmospheric conditions (gray days) the values between these two are close. On sunny days the values can be 5 step differences. Try other darks too, feel your way into the light. 

14x20 pastel "Ride to Summer Camp

 Often I think we as artist are moved by a scene. We forget to ask ourselves the most important of questions "What is it I want to say about this scene?" "How does this scene make me feel?" This scene is particularly moving to me. It brings back many memories that I have. We went camping for a week in the back country next to Yosemite. It was an adventure, lush scenery and always brought peace to me. I really miss those days. That was 25 years ago, but I am able to invoke in this painting that feeling of togetherness, serenity and warmth that I felt on that day. This is one of the main reason it is important to use your on reference material for your paintings. Some, may not be able to do this because of physical restraints, but art is anything that moves you. Even simple household objects can become art. Isn't our goal as artist to show others (who may not be able to see the beauty in everyday objects) where that beauty lies? There is such a rush in our everyday lives that most of us don't notice the beauty that is right in front of us. 

With this particular painting, the line concepts all point to the riders. Follow the background tree line, it merges with the riders or points to them if you will. The dark pine trees encircle them, the path then leads you in from the bottom of the painting. You are able to re-enter with any of the shadows in the foreground. The hardest edges are the riders and the dark tree trunks around them. Yellows and golds come forward in the painting, while the cooler and grayer colors recede and take you into the painting. There is division of space with the little tree in front of the tall pines and then the background trees. I wanted to express the magnificent majestic feeling it is to travel under trees that have lived for so long. 

This is the line concept I used to design the composition with. See the box off center & to the right? This is the representation of the riders. I felt I was going in a good direction with the composition after I quickly jotted this down. It doesn't have to be anything elaborate, just notes to yourself. Use this like a map. If you do this prep work consistently in your work you will have more paintings that are successful instead of just once in awhile. There will come a time with repetition that this becomes automatic and you might not need to actually record it. But, it will be in your mind. 

Always remember, shadows are usually 40% darker in value then the object in the light. They also, are shades darker from the original  color of the object. There can be color that bounces off the object onto another in a shadow. Example would be a red ball in light with a reflection on a blue wall will have a hint of the red on the wall too. Usually, in the landscape on sunny days the shadows will reflect some blue from the sky, and cool violets. Observe closely objects in nature and shadow. This will help you understand the concepts and re-produce them in your art.

Remember to feel your way through a painting. Invoke what moved you within your subject with value, line, color and intervals that are interesting. Watch you shapes, are they interesting? Do they all look the same? Do I have soft and hard edges, contrast next to the focal point? Be careful to identify tangents. Our brains just go there unfortunately and we have to make a conscious effort to review these important questions before we release a painting to the public.