Planes in light reflect their light into the shadow planes of adjacent objects. The reflected light is brightest on planes at right angles to the source of the reflected light. The hue of the reflected light depends on hue of the surface from which it is reflecting. In the still life painting below, look at the core shadow of the front orange, and notice the influence of the reflected light from the second orange.

In this course unit

This unit shows you how to further describe a form and make it a convincing three dimensional object by representing the different planes of the light and shade. You will learn:

• reflected lights
• core shadows
• center lights
• highlights, and
• edge planes

You need this knowledge for any painting in which there are one or more dominant subjects in the painting, or where form is the key element of the painting such as in most still lifes or landscapes featuring a main tree or group or trees. Figures and portrait nearly always require this level of detail in their forms.

Total number of assignments: 6

Total number of pages: 21