Here we have a work of art by a student here at the studio focusing on a young girl practising ballet in an interesting lighting situation. The painting does a really great job of conveying a sense of bright sunlight bathing an interior space from the outside.
Notice how the leaves of the plant are “burned out” in the area of strongest sunlight. You can witness this phenomenon yourself the next time you are outside on a sunny day. The thinner or smaller an object that has bright rays of light shining on it, the more the edges of the object seem to disappear and become enveloped by the rays.
The other interesting aspect about this work is the quality of light within the interior space. There’s really an effect of light coming in and reflecting off various surfaces to create a sort of luminous glow. This appearance of light can be most noticeable during the early and late hours of the day when the sun’s position on the horizon allows for a more sideways illumination of interior spaces.
Our aim as representational artists is to capture the beauty of light in all it’s guises. Be sure to take a moment each day to stop and experience the light (hopefully natural) of your environment, be it indoor out outside. There’s an amazing variation that is present throughout the day. See if you can come up with some descriptions which can help you to better sensitise yourself as an artist when you have the task of creating the illusion of light within your own pictures.
