Shadow Color & Certification

I wanted to share something that was recently shared with me by Ken O'Connell, the president of Imagination International, Inc. (Copic USA) and one of my former art professors.
He was recently in a bookstore, saw this book, and wanted to share this tidbit on lighting and shadows and snowmen, as we have been spending so much time on this blog discussing light and shadows, and many of you have seen my snowman coloring tutorial at the end of a Certification class. Sometimes it helps to hear a concept a couple different ways, from different people, so, from Ken...

Color in light and dark
The first mistake most people make in shading light and dark areas of an image is to think the light areas are white or whiter and the dark areas are black or blacker. This is rarely the case. Both Light and Shadows have color. Look closely. It is easier to see it in the light as it allows us to see the color better than dark shadows, but if you lighten the shadows you can see it clearly.

Basically Sunlight is yellowish and shadows are bluish. Why? Because the sun lightens ares that it shines on and the blue sky illuminates the shaded areas that block the sun. Sometimes the surface for a shadow has color and that combines with the shadow color to mix another color. Grass in the sun will be yellow green and grass in the shade will be blue green. The deeper the shade the deeper the blue color.

So light sources are often warm and shaded areas often cool but, the opposite is also true. In snow at night the moon light is quite blue and often the shadows are warm, especially if there are street lights to lighten up the shadows.

If you go to a bookstore this season, look a the children's book SNOWMEN AT NIGHT by Caralyn Buehner. It features lots of illustrations of snow people in moonlight with shadows of warm orange. It shows the light source of the moon (bluish) as well as the street lamps (yellowish). These two sources of light play a role in the light and shadow on the color of the snow, which we always think of as just white....

We will try to post more of Ken's discussion on light and shadow on the official Copic website blog sometime in the future.

Upcoming Papercrafting Certifications
2010 is winding to a close, and I want to thank everyone who attended a certification this year. We had a total of 52 classes in North America! Wow! Which means, that we are gearing up for a busy 2011, with more Intermediate classes and we are trying to hold Certifications in cities that have not had classes yet. Keep looking for more classes opening in the next month in your area. Remember, if you want to take the Intermediate class you need to take the standard certification first.

Standard Certification Classes 2011
Jan. 16 Phoenix AZ taught by Jennie Black Open to Stores & Designers
Jan. 28 Los Angeles, CA (CHA) taught by Jennie Black Open to Stores & Designers


Intermediate Certification Classes 2011
Jan. 27 Los Angeles, CA (CHA) taught by Debbie Olson & Sherrie Siemens subject to approved application

Click here for applications and class details (time/location/fees) for each session.

Upcoming Events
I will be teaching workshops this Saturday, Dec. 4th at Art Supply Warehouse in Westminster, CA. For teenagers, I will be offering a How to Draw Manga class, then for anyone who wants to attend I will be teaching a coloring class. Both classes require preregistration through the store, as space is limited. As this class is being held at an art store I will be focusing the discussion on art papers and inking supplies, though papercrafters are welcome to attend. Friday afternoon, Dec. 3rd, I may also be doing in-store demos, if time permits.

I hope to see you there!