Light - ACE353.2

Sun in clouds, light behind trees, etc. "For centuries, artists have grappled with the challenge of capturing the effects of light in paint. This is difficult because every second light changes the look of things dramatically." Landscape painter, Len Tabner, painting at the prow of a boat; his VO talking about the effects of light changing, and how the artist must respond to the changes. A studio, where the artist has much more control over what the light will do. John Greenwood, still life painter, but whose subjects are imaginary. His VO explaining them. Commentary says that he must rely on meticulous observation of light and shade in the real world. Greenwood setting up objects in a model of his composition to see how the light will work. Greenwood’s VO as he works, finally deciding on what he wants, and using this as a "lighting plan" which he follows as he begins to paint. He says that it is light and shade that gives texture and weight to the objects in his painting. Reproductions of still life paintings, which required "modelling" in order to make a flat surface appear three-dimensional. Greenwood employing one such technique, using three different tones to suggest the same colour in different lights. One of Greenwood’s 3-D models, compared with mediaeval paintings in which figures cast no shadows. Reconstruction of artists at work during the Renaissance, copying Greek sculptures. Masaccio’s La cacciata di Adamo ed Eva dal Paradiso terrestre (The Expulsion from Paradise, 1427) and other frescoes in the Cappella Brancacci in Santa Marina del Carmine, Florence; the light in the paintings all comes from one direction, "the same direction as the light coming through the window of the chapel". Reconstruction of fresco painters at work, their water-based paints being immediately absorbed into the plaster. Mixing oil paints, which, in the early days, took too long to dry to be fully practical, but which were perfected in the early 15th century. Oil paint brought considerable advantages to modelling, enabling one paint to be blended into another, and for layers of paint to be built up to produce subtle variations. Reconstruction of painter at work in studio.