Portraying a bright sunny day

Each artist and art teacher has his own pet method for getting any student to start painting in watercolour which seems best for him.

There is no single way to get going. Teachers have to try several ways and go with the methods that seem to accomplish their purposes during the get acquainted periods. When composing a summer remember that either the bright warm areas or the cool dark shadow areas should dominate. If there is an evenly spread of light and dark, the effect of the bright sunshine will be lost.

Shadows and colours

On a sunny day there is a lot of ultraviolet light around and blue-violet light rays are often reflected in the shadows.

If you really look hard at the branches of a tree, for example, you may be surprised to see that they have a reddish-mauve tinge. It may sound like a contradiction, but shadows play an important role in conveying an impression of bright sunlight.

Everything the sun hits becomes warmer and more intense in colour, where objects to shadow are correspondingly cool. Adjacent warm and cool colours have the effect of intensifying each other and this creates a luminous glow that spells sunshine.

Selection of colours in a painting is dictated by the method of colour which can be realistic, adhering to nature as closely as possible; or it can be subjective, with the artist using colour he feels is right at that time. Between these two extremes exists a wide range of possibilities, depending on the purpose of the artist.

Contrasts

When painting a scene bathed in bright sunshine, many beginners complain often very strong contrasts of light and shadow that occur. Working outdoors, one is easily 'blinded’ by the bright sunlight which makes it difficult to judge colours and tones accurately.

As to the problem of a sunny day, whenever possible try not to paint with the sun directly on your paper. I have done many a demonstration in the direct sun when I'd rather be in the shade.

When painting watercolours, outdoor in midsummer there are obvious difficulties. I learnt to avoid working in the middle of the day with the hot sun directly overhead it was not only much cooler before ten or after five but the lighting and shadows were more interesting.

Shadows

Talking of shadows, with a clouded sky the sun is alternately going in and coming out, so wait for a period of sunlight, leave the rest of the painting unhurried. The big difficulty with watercolour in a hot country such as Sri Lanka is the speed of drying even in the shade. Observe the painting I have done titled 'Sunny day!’ It is a village scene using more open land. The composition of the painting is basically good with the hut on the left forming a 'frame’ for the scene beyond. The huge tree behind the hut with dark tones make the sunlit areas sparkle through contrast.

Points to remember

* The value relationship of light can be altered to create desired effects.

* Shapes can be unified by a dominance of intensity, temperature or hue.

* Of all the principles of design, unity is the most essential.

* Unity is achieved through dominance.

At times the composition presented by nature is not always ideal. You must choose your viewpoint carefully and be prepared to alter the arrangement of things if necessary in the interests of making a more balanced and a coherent image. Even the clouds are designed to lead the eye down to the mountains. The clouds are grouped and massed to form a strong, coherent shape. I have introduced a bullock cart on to bring depth making it more a balanced picture.

Three main families

There are three main families of clouds, namely a thin whispy high cloud, a white woolly type which has a light top where the sun catches it with a shadow underneath and the rain cloud.

Of course, in reality things are more complex and you get various types of overlapping. Note in the painting done here I have created a sense of atmospheric perspective in the sky.

Think of it as a vast dome stretched over the landscape rather than a mere backdrop to it.

The sky is not a uniform blue all over. Due to the effects of atmosphere perspective it appears, brighter and warmer directly overhead, becoming increasingly cooler and paler as it nears the horizon.

The picture is composed with a very low horizon line which makes us feel involved in the scene as if we were actually standing and looking up at the clouds advancing towards us.

Note how the clouds overlap each other, creating an interesting diversity of shape and design. Here it had captured the glare of the warm sunshine in a village.