Painting dappled light takes a keen eye and practice.
When sunlight breaks through foliage, it creates dappled areas of light in unexpected places. Artists create the illusion of dappled light through skillful use of irregular mottled areas of light tints juxtaposed with darker shades. The Encyclopedia of Irish and World Art hails Renoir as the master of dappled light effects. According to artist and illustrator James Gurney, the distance between the foliage and the subject determines the softness of the edges of mottled highlights. A variety of techniques can create dappled light effects.
Instructions
1. Lay a sheet of watercolor paper onto the ground in an area where dappled shade falls onto the paper. Trace the shapes and darken the surrounding areas with watercolor or acrylic pigments to capture the dappled pattern.
2. Use a non-staining dark pigment and paint a tree trunk shape. As the pigment begins to lose its shine, dip a clean small brush into water and let small individual droplets fall into randomized areas on the tree trunk. Blot with a paper towel to lift or pick up moistened paint, leaving light areas with soft edges.
3. Moisten a fresh sheet of paper and paint with burnt sienna, burnt umber and raw sienna, allowing the pigments to mix on the paper to suggest bricks. When dry, brush a dark mix over several areas of the bricks and wait a few minutes. Use a clean round brush with plain water and drop a few small random drops of water onto the newly applied paint. Watch the water push the pigment away, and lightly blot the edges of the drops to soften the effect of dappled light.
4. Use a technique called negative painting for the fourth experiment and paint darker tones around lighter areas where sunlight would strike the subject. Make the edges of the sunny spots irregular and vary the sizes. Soften the hard edges of the dappled spots by slightly blending the darker and lighter values.
5. Use masking fluid to protect the areas where dappled light will hit a subject such as a building facade. Paint the building and remove the masking. Leave the edges hard or soften them by lifting paint around the edges of the dappled shapes.
6. Create a dappled effect on a forest painting by dipping a sea sponge into a darker tint of pigment. Gently pat the sponge onto the the painting, and as the pigment begins to dry, soften the edges of the mottled shapes with a moistened brush.
