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Old 07-17-2007, 11:56 AM   #1
Enzie Shahmiri Enzie Shahmiri is offline
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I have to apologize to those following the progress of how to paint chains/jewelery. On a recent visit to my daughter's in San Fransisco, I had another encounter with a very stubborn kidney stone that landed me in the hospital. Needless to say, the "Blue Tribe" painting did not get touched and therefore there has been this laps in postings.

This is as far as I got....
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Old 07-20-2007, 08:03 PM   #2
Enzie Shahmiri Enzie Shahmiri is offline
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I have been working on the bottle today, but I won't post it here since it is not about jewerlery. I do have some notes written about how to paint glass and what to watch for. Of course all these things are sooo much easier said then done, but for what it's worth, you can read all about it on my blog.

By the way I am starting to run out of ideas what to do with the jewelery. This post was meant to be a joint effort about "How do you paint chains?" and somehow has evolved into me doing all the commenting from chains to jewelery, etc. . With over 900 views, there must be others out there who have an opinion and can contribute.
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Old 07-21-2007, 09:48 AM   #3
Allan Rahbek Allan Rahbek is offline
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Enzie,
I think that you have to observe the jewelery / chains just like blond curly hair and think of the value masses and how the hair would catch the light. In some places you will have shadow that might be colored by reflection from other colors, warmer or colder, and where you will see no details. Think of lost and found edges and variations of detailing.
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Old 07-21-2007, 01:38 PM   #4
Enzie Shahmiri Enzie Shahmiri is offline
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Yes, Allan, you are so right!

There are no rules to painting, but I have found that there is a certain rhythm of things that occur in nature. To learn what to look for and to evaluate how this knowledge applies to each lighting situation, can help make sense of things.

Here is a photo I have taken of a chain. On the left I turned it into black and white so you can see the values better. On the right you can see the colors and intensity of each hue.

Links are the same size, but as they recede in space their appearance has to get smaller and less defined. This can be achieved by blurring edges and less saturated colors (greyed down your colors).


If one were to magnify a chain link, it is very similar to a donut shape, it is a round object that has dimension.Therefore each of
these links will have to have value transitions that make it appear round. In other words there will be shadow, mid-tone, highlight, reflected light, cast shadow, etc.

When links join this will happen:

1 - Shadows
One link will cast a shadow on the other one. The thing to watch out for is how intense this cast shadow is, which in turn will depend on how the light hits that particular area of the link.

2 - Reflected Light
One link catches the light and reflects it onto the other link.
Note how some of the reflected light is a very intense warm yellow compared to the cool whitish highlight. Pay attention to the slight value difference these two hues have when they are turned into black and white.

This won't apply as much to the chain link as it does to larger jewelery. But look how adjacent areas of skin/hair/clothing will reflect their colors into your reflective object/jewelery. Lets say you have used ochres to get the gold parts of your jewelery. If your values are correct you can pretty much introduce any other reflective color as long as it remains the same value. When painting the ring band I had a value 4 or 3 dark ochre and it looked rather dull. When I added the same value Venetian Red (skin color reflected onto the ring) the whole thing just came to life.

Remember that reflective objects can have several reflections vs. non-reflective objects which have a light and dark side.

3 - Highlights

Depending on painting technique, highlights seem to be added differently.

I tend to work with my lightest color mixed with white (value 9) and only
add the pure white (value 10) at the very end, sort of as the cherry on the top. Some say highlights should be crisp and sharp, others blend them in. Then there are those artist who use thick paint to make the elevated paint catch the light.

I think the reader could benefit from more input by others on this subject.

-Lost and Found Edges
Ok, so what does that mean. When an edge is lost it means that the value of lets say the particular area of that link is the same value as its background. See where I marked "Value" , by squinting and looking at the blk/wht that area ideally needs to disappear into the background. There are no sharp edges either and therefore it gives the illusion as if that part of that particular link seems to recede in space.

Now lets look at the opposite case. Anywhere you can see a link coming forward, there is a difference in value between adjoining areas. If you really want to emphasize it coming forward add a sharp/thin line.

-Cast shadows

The links/chain will cast a shadow, so observe how intense this shadow is and how it moves across the planes.

Of course most chains are tiny in comparison to this sample, but now you know what to look out for. Of course I always say this is all so much easier said than done , but that's the charm of painting. There is always a new challenge!

For now this are all the pointers I can think of. Please feel free to add to these observations and give visual samples, so we can learn from each other.
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Old 07-27-2007, 11:50 AM   #5
Enzie Shahmiri Enzie Shahmiri is offline
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I have posted the finished painting
here

There is still a lot of glare, but once the painting is dryer I will post close-ups of the jewelery.
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Old 08-09-2007, 11:13 PM   #6
Virgil Elliott Virgil Elliott is offline
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Painting Shiny Metal

Enzie,

What works for me is to lay in the whole shape with the darkest value and color, semitransparently, and then add opaque middletones into that while it's wet, and then the highlights with a more heavily-laden brush for some opaque impasto.

Then there is Rembrandt's trick of applying a textured underpainting of pale yellow impasto, letting it dry, and then glazing over it with transparent brown, then wiping it off the high spots with a rag. The most extreme example of this is the man's sleeve in the painting now called "The Jewish Bride," in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. Rembrandt did this on quite a few other paintings as well, but with less drastic impasto in the underpainting.

Suggestion is more effective in creating a three-dimensional illusion of reality than too much detail. Apply details selectively, and simplify areas of less than primary importance, for the utmost in realistic appearance.

I remember you from my workshop in San Francisco a few years ago. Hello again.

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Old 08-10-2007, 02:50 PM   #7
Enzie Shahmiri Enzie Shahmiri is offline
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Hi Virgil, I remember you too! It is very nice of you to take the time to share your technique here and it is greatly appreciated! It would be great if you could post an example of your work, so we can see how different techniques produce equally interesting results.

I found a wonderful detailed image of Rembrandt's "Jewish Bride" here
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