Variations of Lightings in Still Life

There are different lighting options available. You can play around with lighting angles and where possible, use a lamp in a still life’s set up, and settle on the direction of the shadows and light.

Put the lamp in different positions and place a sheet of paper over it to diffuse the light, and then sketch the various scenes while noting particularly where you would like the shadows and highlights to be.

Consider how the various colors and directions of light affect the objects’ appearance.

• Low or side lighting: Low or side lighting is where the light strikes an object from one side. Naturally, low lighting occurs early in the morning and at sunset, which produces long shadows. In still life paintings, you can get the light to come from either the right or the left of the objects.

• Back lighting: This light directly hits the object and tends to create a dark silhouette of the element. When you change the arrangement relative to the object, this is possible to alter the lighting from back to the side.

• Top lighting: Just as the name indicates, top lighting happens when the light strikes the object from up. Naturally, top lighting happens at noon and the shadows are minimal falling directly beneath the elements.

• Front lighting: When the light shines directly in front of an object, this causes the occurrence of front lighting and eliminates the final details flattening the objects while creating contrasts between the shade and light areas. You can alter this by changing the position related to the object making it possible to change from one side to the other.

• Diffused lighting: Filtering light results in diffused lighting and the softening of shadows and colors. Naturally, this occurs when the clouds filter the sunlight or when there is thick smoke or pollution in the air.

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