PATCHES OF LIGHT

As the brighter weather returns, the sunshine creates beautiful plays of light in the home. SIAN DUDLEY shows you how to capture this by controlling hard and soft edges

- SIAN DUDLEY

Siân's materials

•Paints Lemon Yellow, Sap Green, Cobalt Blue, French Ultramarine and Raw Sienna, all Daler-Rowney Artists’ Watercolour; Ultramarine Violet, Schmincke Horadam

•Paper Bockingford 300gsm NOT paper, stretched

•Brushes Da Vinci Series 35 round, sizes 2 and 4; Rosemary & Co. Series 33 round, size 10; ProArte Series 008 flat, 3/8”

•2B pencil •Kitchen roll

1 Apply soft washes

As this patch of sunlight hit the wall, I was struck by the qualities of the shadows. Crisp ceramics and architectural plants were complemented by the shadow's hard and soft edges, caused by multiple light sources.

I used the size 10 round brush to wet the entire surface. This afforded enough time and fluidity to push paint around and achieve very soft blends. I applied neat Raw Sienna, Lemon Yellow and Cobalt Blue where I saw reflected colour in the shadows.

2 Choose your edges

Once the first wash was thoroughly dry, I wet the surface again. Using the size 10 brush, I applied a wash of a “shadow mix” of Ultramarine Violet, Raw Sienna and Cobalt Blue, working from wet areas towards dry areas.