Of course we can't really forget we are painting cloth, but if we strive to ignore common thoughts such as, "I think folds should do this and folds ought to do that," we can instead focus on recording only what is there before us, and before long, it starts to resemble cloth!
Here are a few photos of a recent painting session with the various stages of painting a green scarf/shawl/cloth.
Stage One
Rough in the general folds with assorted temperatures of green. The cool light from the window (left) creates cool/bluish greens. The warm overhead light creates warmer ,and more vivid, yellow greens.
Stage Two
The cloth is filled in to create basic folds - hills, valleys, turns, reflections. Sharp and soft edges are formed. A light burnt sienna is laid in to represent the table (just for now).
Stage Three
Lots of light is added - trying now to separate the cloth into only two sections, an area in shadow and an area in light. Also added "reflected light" on folds and deepest shadow.
Also making sure the full area in the light has three parts/areas: a "lightest-light, a moderate light, and a darkest-light." Making sure the shadows have a "lightest-shadow area, a moderate shadow area, and a darkest shadow area."
Stage Four
Backing up to see the painting as a whole - asking myself some questions:
"Does it read as true?"
"Do I believe its dimentionality, its color, its texture, its shadows?"
Suggestions:
If you squint, most of the shadow area is similar in value and entirely green, so how can we depict form within our shadow area? In a word, by using temperature! Notice the use of warm and cool greens (rather than value changes) to depict the mountains and valleys of the folds.
PS See you all in January! Please feel free to comment - it's a competition! Whoever figures out first how to comment to a blog post wins a prize to be awarded in class in January!
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