Mastering Reflections
from Laura Robb
Today, we are discussing things to watch out for and be aware of when painting reflections.These principles apply to any subject matter i.e. landscape where you have mountains, trees, clouds, reflecting in the water. Or, it can be any various situations we run into with still life. You may have one object that is bouncing off into another one. Or, having a floor bouncing back up into the undercling of an object. Reflections are on of the most common places Laura sees people going on auto-pilot. Often, she sees students taking some of the same mixtures they used for the principle object and thinking they can brush that into the reflection. But, if you really want those reflections to have the ring of truth, this is a great place to slow down and observe what those differences are.
“ When you do not prioritize where you put your strongest values and colors, this creates a very confusing visual statement”
Laura creates reflections by picking up some of the same colors and shapes and repeating a little it of that in the foreground. The thing Laura noticed while she pants, and is typical of reflections, the reflections are all somewhat muted compared to what you see in the set up. The darkest darks are not repeated in the reflection, and the lightest lights are also not repeated. It is all taken a step lower. The chroma is not quite as bright as you would see in the actual element. In the top photo on the example below, Laura has a slight reflection below the onion and you can tell there is only one onion. In the bottom photo, she added the darkest darks and the lightest lights under her onion. Rather than looking like a reflection, it looks like there are two onions. It looks like two separate objects rather than one object and a muted reflection. When you do not prioritize where you put your strongest values and colors, this creates a very confusing visual statement, You need to keep in mind where those will be the most effective.
The last example below is by William Merritt Chase. You can see how some of the values have been subdued in the reflection. Her hair and kimono aren’t as dark, and the light on her skin is not as light in the mirror image. He has pulled off an interesting composition here. The reflection is still where your eye goes first. This is because, one, the face is compelling! But also, the figure itself has been kept simple and it’s essentially a silhoutte. There is not a lot of attention in that area that is competing with that image in the mirror.
Keep in mind what your priorities are and what you want to use the power of your palette on. This will help you convey the feeling of these reflections in a more believable way to the viewer. By carefully considering these details and incorporating them into your painting, you can create stunning and lifelike reflections that enhance the overall composition.
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