Balancing the Light - a Guide for Realist Artists

How to balance the light across your painting surface and your subject to ensure that you can reach the value range that you see - or at least, as close as you can come to it with paint :)
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[@msultan5194]

Interesting! I think this is why when take pictures of landscapes by my phone it is always darker! I can't get vibrant sky color & land colors in the same time. One has to be darker !!!

[@stevenallan6515]

use a hand held spot light meter and match the easel plane to the subject plane. Your camera also has a spot meter in it most times.

[@clownpocket]

Had to watch it twice to absorb the concept, which I think can be summed up:
With titanium white as the brightest white in your palette;
if it shows up as darker on your canvas than the brightest white on your still life, get more light on your canvas.

[@PaulFoxton]

Pretty much :)

[@clownpocket]

@@PaulFoxton
Thanks, I’d been struggling to understand balancing the whites.
This helped.

[@johnmarble3177]

I’m not sure I agree with your presentation. I believe if you turn your easel towards the light source you will actually have to darken the paint color to match the subject because the light is now playing on the canvas. I choose a little less light on my canvas than my subject if I want the color lighter and a little more light on the canvas if I want the colors darker. The colors will pop out more.

[@PaulFoxton]

Yes of course, but it's a question of degree. If you have your easel angled away from the light, you won't be able to match the lights. You can match one or the other, lights or darks, but usually not both!

[@stevenallan6515]

😎👏

[@clownpocket]

Thanks for making this video.
It helped me to understand the hows and whys of balancing the whites a little better.

[@re1]

This is an excellent video, thanks for sharing.

[@barbarakemp8630]

Fabulous explanation. Thank you. 👏

[@williamjefferson3158]

One of your goals is realism, John. Do you ever go so far as to use a photographic light meter to compare the light on your subject and painting surface ?

[@PaulFoxton]

Not yet, although I have been tempted to get hold of a photospectrometer!

[@hugger1ify]

very detail , good job.