I greatly admire those artists who skillfully paint the effects of light. I am not one of those artists and I must admit that I seldom try. But recently I did try twice - to not very good results. But I suppose trying is the first step towards succeeding.
This is one of my illustrations for a book I'm working on, A Milkweed Christmas 2020, and here are Audrey the badger and Gwen her daughter, making Audrey's renowned herbed potato rolls for the community's Christmas pot luck. It will accompany the recipe for the rolls.
When I thought I was finished I took another look and realized there was no indication that the inside of the sett (badger burrow) would be in shadow. So I added the blue-gray transparent wash on the right side. It could have been better done. I think it should be less blue. Also, the near side of the trees should be darker. Well, at least I tried!
When I'm done with all the illustrations I'll probably go back and work more on those I'm not very happy with, and this one will be on the list. It's a shame really because I liked the drawing a lot.
And here's the other example - last weekend's just-for-fun 8"x10" painting (acrylic on board). This little jumping goat made me think of the cow that jumped over the moon. The near side of the goat and the tail should be a lot darker. I don't think I'll change this one, though. The point of these paintings is to work quickly, not obsess, and have fun!
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