The Hay Bales Part III

It is quite astonishing how the light and colour change throughout the day.  Morning light changes quickly until mid morning.  The prevailing colour tends to be yellowish.  From then through mid afternoon the rate of change slows, the shadows are close to under the object, the hilites are on the top of objects somewhat bleached out by the sun.  As the day progresses, the rate of change increases, the prevailing colour goes towards orange, the shadows elongate, the hilites are on the sides of objects perpendicular to the light source.

Late Day Hayfield

This version shows some of what I would expect on a sunny day in the evening.  The arrow shows the light direction.  The shadows would be quite long this late in the day and they would be consistently in the same direction.  The shadows would be cool.  The area at 7 would have some warm areas affected by the orange late day sun.  Sometimes this is red depending on the atmosphere.  That area would still be dark on average with cool shadows cast (to emphasize this you could indicate some trees to provide structure). The yellow would disappear from the depth but the depth would be lighter.  The tree line in the rear would be lighter, greyer, with some warmth (cooler than the foreground) from the sun.  The green shadow (balancing the image) in the right foreground will remain cool and get lighter as it recedes.  The sky often displays a gradation in value and colour.  Lighter and warmer towards the source of light.


"I have worked on my painting and now it looks like this.  It is so hard to remember all these things.  Thanks for the help.  I know I have more to do, but even my husband likes it!"

Monica's Backyard

I showed it to Karen.  "I like it!"  "Do you like it better than the original you said you liked?"  "OK, I get it, I see why I like the new version.  I understand why getting better means that people will see and appreciate the quality.  Still, I see why Harold is right.  People will still buy anything if there is nothing to compare to."