Claudia Herbst
Associate Professor
Pratt Institute
Department of Digital Arts


Observing Your Surroundings: Studying Light and Surfaces


We want to carefully look also at the mood the lighting scenario creates. A high contrast lighting setup tends to
create a more serious mood. In images in which everything is revealed equally, the mood tends to be lighter, less severe.


Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres (1780-1867) is most renowned for his portraits. He also painted the most exquisite fabrics;
in his painting, silk and velvet are complex and rich and utterly convincing. These examples of Ingres' work are wonderful
examples in the study of tonal values, color, and sheen. Look closely at the shadows in the folds -- how dark are they,
what color are they -- and the highlights -- how large is a reflective area, what color is it? Also, very dark colors such as
black are often very complex; look closely at what we at first tale for "black" and "white."

Can you get a sense of what the fabric in Ingres' paintings feels like? What they would might smell like? Or sound like
when ruffled? A good material or texture gives us more than a look but conveys something tactile, qualities that are not seen
but sensed.

Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn (1606-1669) is another artist whose work serves as a wonderful reference in the study of
surfaces and materials, including skin.


Look at these paintings by my friend Alex Schaefer; I think he's a genius:
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11-- there's more...