Painting The Light

The light itself is the subject of many paintings. In this lesson, we’ll be painting a simple landscape scene while trying to capture the look of the gentle light of late fall.

We’ll be using a value sketch to guide us. Getting the look of soft light means using a narrower-than-usual value range to capture the subtle effect.

Like all of our lessons, we’ll use very easy, basic techniques through the whole painting – but using them for good effect.

Drawing Layout For Any Painting

One note on the drawing layout. The downloadable layouts are done with heavy lines to make it easy to see and copy onto your watercolor paper. It is best not to draw the lines too heavy on your paper, especially in the sky, since there is a good chance the lines will show through the paint. It’s not a deal-breaker, but those heavy pencil lines are sometimes a distraction.

What you’ll need

• Brushes – 1 1/2″ Flat,  Medium Round, Small Round, and Rigger .
• Colors – Daniel Smith Quinacridone Burnt Scarlet, Daniel Smith Quinacridone Deep Gold, DaVinci Aureolin Mix, Cobalt Blue, Burnt Sienna, Raw Sienna
• Watercolor paper – preferably Arches 140lb Cold Press cut to about 7″ x 10″ or so

 Get ready, turn on the video and let’s jump in!