Light for the Artist

234 Pages·2014·21.33 MB·English

by  Ted Seth Jacobs

LIGHT FOR
THE ARTIST
TED SETH JACOBS
DOVER PUBLICATIONS, INC.
MINEOLA, NEW YORK
MINORI WITH ROSES, black and sanguine conte on prepared paper, 16″ × 24″ (40.6 × 61.0 cm), 1976
CHANTAL, black conte on prepared paper, 17″ × 15″ (43.2 × 38.1 cm), 1986
Copyright
Copyright © 1988 by Ted Seth Jacobs
All rights reserved.
Bibliographical Note
This Dover edition, first published in 2014, is an unabridged republication of the work originally
published by Watson-Guptill Publications, New York, in 1988.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Jacobs, Ted Seth.
Light for the artist / Ted Seth Jacobs.
pages cm
Includes index.
Summary: “Intermediate and advanced art students receive a broad vocabulary of effects with this in-
depth study of light. Topics include basics, use of light to define form and space, field effects, colored
light, and many other subjects. Diagrams and paintings illustrate applications of principles to figure, still
life, and landscape paintings”—Provided by publisher.
eISBN-13: 978-0-486-77998-0
1. Art—Technique. 2. Visual perception. 3. Light in art. 4. Light. I. Title.
N7430.5.J33 2014
750.1'8—dc23
2013032900
Manufactured in the United States by Courier Corporation
49304001 2014
www.doverpublications.com
M
y fellow students are encouraged to develop and improve upon
what I have presented here, and so this short study is dedicated to all
those artists of the future who will become members of a very ancient
fraternity, by carrying forward the search for an understanding of
light.
RUTH DEVICO, pencil, 14″ × 10″ (35.6 × 25.4 cm), 1980
CONTENTS
PREFACE
SYMBOLISM AND PERCEPTION: WORD VERSUS LIGHT
LIGHT AND OUR EXPERIENCE
THE CREATION OF SYMBOLS
STRIPPING AWAY PRECONCEPTIONS
THE NATURE OF LIGHT: ITS STRUCTURE, ACTION, AND EFFECTS
THE DIRECTIONAL QUALITY OF LIGHT
REFLECTION: LIGHT BOUNCING OFF A SURFACE
SHADOW: THE ABSENCE OF LIGHT
LIGHT MOVING THROUGH SPACE
ORCHESTRATING LIGHT EFFECTS
SCALES OF LIGHT AND COLOR
SHADOW AND FORM
UNIFYING WASHES OF LIGHT
CAST SHADOWS
SHADOWS AND REFLECTED LIGHT
DEFINING FORM WITH SHADOWS
CURVES OF LIGHT
LIGHT AND THE FIGURE
LOCAL COLOR
ORCHESTRATING CONTRASTS
HIGHLIGHTS
THE FORESHORTENING OF LIGHT
SHAPING THE LIGHT
THE SENSE OF FORM
THE MAGNITUDE OF LIGHT
LIGHT AND COLOR
FIELD EFFECTS
THE NATURE OF EDGES
MULTIPLE LIGHT SOURCES
COLORED LIGHT
PAINTING THE LIGHT SOURCE
THE RANGE OF VALUES
UNUSUAL LIGHT DIRECTIONS
LIGHT ON SHINY SURFACES
TOWARD A PHILOSOPHY OF PERCEPTION
LIGHT AS A PARADIGM OF CONSCIOUSNESS
LIGHT AS THE TEACHER
MANY FORMS, ONE LIGHT
THE INTERCHANGEABILITY OF LIGHT AND FORM
THE GENERAL AND THE PARTICULAR
AN ART WITHOUT PREJUDICE
LISTEN TO THE VOICE OF LIGHT!
INDEX

OFFERING, oil on canvas applied to panel, 27″ × 23″ (68.6 × 58.4 cm), 1988 (work in progress)
PREFACE
ALTHOUGH I AM NOT a research scholar I and do not pretend to have an
exhaustive knowledge of the field, I have not yet seen a book designed for the
artist that treats the subject of light in great depth and detail. In the books I have
found, light generally occupies only a relatively brief chapter. This lack is
curious and unfortunate, since the artist who wishes to suggest what is seen is
necessarily involved with the actions and effects of light. Also, in many of the
chapters on light effects that I have read, the principles given did not seem to
agree with what I saw in nature. Too often, writers and teachers put together an
artificial system, which produces an artificial look. These systems are usually
coherent within themselves but are not based upon what we see. I have tried, to
the best of my abilities, to base my conclusions on long and careful observation.
This book is a greatly expanded and detailed development of the brief section on
light in my previous work, Drawing with an Open Mind.
This is not a book about how to paint or draw in the strict sense of the words.
Although there are some indications about method, the real purpose here is to
give you an understanding of what you see. If you know how to look, you can
work out how to get that vision down on canvas. It is much more important to
understand the underlying principles and philosophy. As your deep
understanding develops, you will naturally learn which methods and materials
are best for you.
This is not a book about expressing your ideas or creating art. I would prefer
to give you the means, the intellectual tools, so that you will be freer to express
your nature. Learning the actions of light is as important to the artist as
mastering the scales is to a musician. Without that mastery, expression is
blocked; with it, the musician can sing freely and play out the subtlest nuances
of feeling. I want to give you a vocabulary of light effects. Without it, how can
you express yourself?
After forty years of varied teaching experience, it is apparent to me that many
weaknesses and erroneous tendencies are virtually universal. I hope that the
information in this book will help guide the artist to a clearer understanding of
light and form.