The Form Principle Part II
August 29, 2009
John Singer Sargent Self Portrait - from Art Renewal Center
Last week, with the help of the late 19th century still life painters William Mason Brown, William Merritt Chase and John Singer Sargent, I began to explain the Form Principle. You may recall that I quoted Andrew Loomis’ definition of the Form Principle from his book Creative Illustration. Here it is again:
The Form Principle is the rendering of form as to its aspect at any given moment with regard to its lighting, its structure and texture, together with it’s true relationship to it’s environment.
I also introduced a set of abstractions called the Five Types of Light to help with the discussion. Here those are again:
- Light
- Shadow
- Midtone
- Accents
- Reflected Light
Last week I also promised a rare figure drawing. It’s rare only because I don’t do a lot of them. Even though it was never finished I think it will help me explain the Five Types of Light.
Thinking Figure
You will notice a strip of dark value which meanders down the right side of the model’s torso. Everything to the left of this line is in the light. Everything to the right of this line, including the line, is in the shadow. Some call this line the “terminator” (not in reference to AHHrnold) because it marks the point on the form where the light “terminates” and the shadow begins. Another way to think of it is as the point where the form finally turns away from the light. The terminator is always, the darkest part of the shadow for two reasons. One, it receives no illumination from the main source of light (in this case, upper left). And two, it also receives the least amount of reflected light (more on that in a moment). The division of the form into light and shadow seems a little obvious but it is often overlooked, especially by student artists. I emphasize light and shadow, as well as the other three types of light, because it is important that we develop the conscious habit of working in terms of these abstractions. The Five Types of Light are a kind of visual language that can be used to describe all subjects. As soon as the student learns to paint lights, shadows, midtones, accents and reflected lights instead of peaches, heads, trees, etc. their confidence in handling all types of subject matter will increase.
Notice that within the “light” side of our model’s torso, as the eye moves left to right, there is a gradual darkening of value such that; the darkest part of the light is next to the terminator line. This darkest part of the light is called the midtone. Midtone is considered part of the “light” because it is illuminated by our main light source. It is the part of the form that is starting to turn away from the light. It is the darkest part of the “light” because it no longer receives the light directly. It receives the light obliquely. I always think of midtone as part of the light especially with regard to still life, portrait or figurative work. There are times in landscape painting outdoors when I think it makes sense to think of midtone in shadow, too. But that is a subject for another post.
Thinking Figure
(I am posting the drawing again so you won’t have to page up and down to refer to it.)
That brings me to accents, which are fourth on the list of The Five Types of Light. Accents are divided into two subcategories. There are light accents and dark accents. The light accents are easily recognizable and always exist in the light. They are the highlights on the form. Because they are the lightest lights they would have no place in the shadow. Indeed nothing on the shadow side of your form should be as light as anything on the light side. In this drawing you will find the highlights mainly on the model’s pectoral muscles, near the areola. Dark accents are a little more widely dispersed in our subject. They are often completely surrounded by shadow the way light accents are surrounded by light, but not always. The dark accents are the little darkest darks that we can easily find by squinting at our subject. In the drawing above I would think of the navel as a dark accent. There is also one in between the shadow of his right arm and the light of his torso. There is another in the arm pit area of his left arm. I think the hair, for the most part, could be considered a dark accent. When the discussion comes around to landscape painting we will see how significant dark accents can be.
Last, but not least, we have reflected light. For the sake of discussion I feel it necessary to make the distinction between reflected light and reflections of objects. Reflections of objects are a type of reflected light and they can occur in the light or the shadow. Reflections are not integral to the transmission of form but are helpful in the painting of certain textures. For instance, painting of reflections is usually essential to the painting of metallic objects. Reflected light, on the other hand, is essential to the transmission of form. It is a secondary light source that is evident in the shadow. It is caused by light from the main source reflecting off of something and back into the shadow. Whatever reflects the light back into the shadow can be outside of the picture frame or not. It is the reason that a shadow gets lighter in value away from the “terminator” line. Reflected light is always lower in value than light, midtone or light accents. Student artists, not yet accustomed to judging values with “squinted eyes”, always tend to overstate the value of reflected light. Overstating the value of reflected light will cause the form to flatten out. In my unfinished figure drawing the sense of volume in the form could be helped by reducing the value of the reflected light. If I were to work on the drawing again I would start there.
That concludes the explanation of the Five Types of Light, but only in regard to value. That is to say, how light and dark they are relative to each other. In the next post I will begin to discuss how color behaves in the context of the Five Types of Light. All this is leading up to their application in landscape painting. Here again is Sargent’s self – portrait, so you can look at the Five Types of Light especially in the form across his forehead. I offer intensive study of the Five Types of Light in my class at Suntan Art Center on St. Pete Beach.
John Singer Sargent Self Portrait - from Art Renewal Center
Comments
6 Responses to “The Form Principle Part II”
Got something to say?
[...] Simone: Great lessons on Figure Drawing. [...]
Thank you for this form principle,the 5 types of light.
I was through looking at Sargent’s figure paintings that I understood
the midtone. A wonderful article. I’m going to go and read the other
articles you have posted.
Thank you. Joy
This is a excellent example of what I intend to accomplish and I will print and keep it as a reminder as I begin my paintings.
[...] as a basis of approach. I convey the Form Principle using a sort of visual language called the Five Types of Light. Each of the five types of light must be evaluated with regard to its shape, value, color and [...]
[...] last week’s post. It’s meant to illustrate the development of form using the “Five Types of Light“. The subject matter is a martini glass, a Spanish olive and a ca. 1936 penguin shaped [...]
[...] post, are so called because our paintings will not work without them. The Four Value Planes and the Five Types of Light are the pieces of information that we need to look for as we paint. We need to state them [...]