Self Portrait Week 8

The light

If the picture's theme is the pear, the light should come from the right, but mainly from the background because my face is so shiny that it is devoid of any shade, shadows and sharp contrast. However, the light doesn't come entirely from the right as the far right side has no definition─it is plain, and has no shadows or shading.  Because the light is too bright and more than likely not artificial, it has to be natural light and therefore, not diffused. This is because if the light was diffused, there would been the same canto, but instead there are  smaller shadows and shades. Similarly, when we are back up close, it is plain, bland, and with no shadows or bright spots. It would be difficult looking at this drawing for somebody to realize that this a self portrait done using a mirror─a difficult task to accomplish. The other alternative is for the artist to have draw himself from imagination, but in that imagined portrait, one would automatically assume that the light is coming from in front of the depicted person because there are not enough shadows and shades to indicate otherwise.

The human body must be treated in animation in the same way as you would with any object; to accentuate the different lines, you have to use light and shading.

Light is an important element; it defines the shapes of the human body just as it would in an inanimate object. We know that there are different kinds of light: it can be natural or artificial, meaning daylight or nightlight, and to complicate matters further, it can be diffused or direct.

In order to give the feeling of three dimensions, the source of light has to be represented cardinally by using different types of shading, be they diagonals, straight or simply shaded and therefore increasing the intensity.

A good artist therefore good objects, the accuracy and authenticity of an object that has been drown, dependent upon the manipulation of light in such a way that will determine the shap and the size, and the contours of that object.

In conclusion, clearly the essence of a good animator is his or her ability to manipulate all the objects and tools at his disposal including his flair for special effects in order to achieve a final result that will distinguish him from others.

(Giovanni, 2007)

Reference:

Civardi Giovanni The Nude. Understanding The Elements of Life Drawing, 2007, Search Press, Great Britain.