Creating Depth in Oil Painting
There are two major ways of creating the
illusion of depth in oil painting. One is linear perspective or
the use of vanishing points. The other is atmospheric
perspective or the progressive cooling of a color as it recedes
into the distance.
Colors become less intense as they recede.
For example, green changes from a
- warm yellow-green in the foreground to
- cooler orange-greens and
- red-greens in the middle ground, and then to
- blue-greens and eventually
- cool grays in the background.
Just as the colors of light cool
from yellow to red and onto blue as day progresses to
night, so does any color when you want to move from
foreground to background.
You can create depth in oil painting by
gradually making your colors cooler and duller as they recede
into the distance.
- Add yellow to your foreground because yellow is
warm and vibrant.
- Add blue to your background because blue is a cool
color and adding it will help shapes recede into the
distance.
- Modify your colors in the middle ground with
tints of oranges, reds, and violets.
When painting depth
- Make colors more intense in the foreground and less
intense in the background.
- Cool your colors as they recede into the distance
(using Blue).
- In the distance, make your value changes less distinct
(light colors become darker, dark colors become lighter).
In another word, blend the colors in more when painting in
the distance.
- Avoid similar values that create flatness. Diverse
values create space.
- Make objects progressively smaller as they recede
into the distance.
- Make objects less distinctive in the background by
simplifying details and softening edges.
- Overlap objects to step into the distance.
- Use linear perspective (converging lines) to imply
depth.
- Use division of planes (foreground, middle ground and
background).
- Use thick paint in the foreground.
Note: Rule of thumb -
from near to far: add yellows-> oranges ->
reds ->
violets
-> blue.
The color of light, adjusted for depth
The following lists color of light adjusted for depth from
foreground (Lemon Yellow) to background into the distance
(gray)
- Gray
- Ultramarine Blue
- Quinacridone Red + Ultramarine Blue
- Quinacridone Red
- Grumbacher Red
- Cadmium Yellow Medium + Grumbacher Red
- Cadmium Yellow Deep
- Cadmium Yellow Medium
- Lemon Yellow
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