Art Is Easy to Make!

Art Lesson 8 ---Reflections

Reflections in smooth water. Begin wih a miror face up on a table. Place objects on this mirror. Move your eye nearly level with the table. What do you see? You see a mirror image but reversed. Hold your pencil on your mirror and tilt i side to side. When you tilt it to the right the angle of the reflected tilt is counter to this angle. The reflection bounces off the surface in a straight line from your eye to the object, any given point on an object will reflect directly below that point.

Water usually has local color. A very clear water is greenish but it may also conain varicolored mud and other material. This local color will affect the color of the reflections

A good rule of thumb: light objects invariably reflect darker, and dark objects reflect lighter. This is because the reflections take on some of the value of the water and some of the local color.

Rippled water is subject to the laws of perspective and will apear smaller and closer together the more distant they are from your eye. If the reflected object is on or in the water, its closeness to the surface will cause it to reflect for a short way in the near side of the ripples. The reflection will continue to be visible in the far side of the rippes as they extend into the foreground, longer than you expect.

It's best to go on location and study the reflections. For instance a boat reflection. Notice the rippes are larger in front and become smaller as you receed back to the boat.

A pole can reflect in the water even if it is several feet behind the boat. Observe, observe. It will be lighter than the pole and fade out smaller and smaller as it comes to the foreground of the painting.

Be consistant on the painting. If you have reflectons in the front then you will have reflections everywhere. They don't just stop. Think of this with shadows too. Be consistant.

Poochie would like to start a dialogue with new students to art as well as professionals who might want to include segments into these art lessons, or field questions from participants. Please post your comments to Poochie:mailto:poochie.art@gmail.com.

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