Skill Builders
Nighttime Sky
My best advice for painting nocturnes is to go outside, sit quietly and observe the
night sky. As your eyes adjust to the dark, you’ll notice that there are actually many
colors in the sky. I’ve been surprised by reds, greens, bright blues and violets in the
night sky. Pay attention to the color around the moon, the planets and the stars.
And, if there are artificial lights nearby, what colors are they?
Darkness removes hard edges from everything nearby unless an object is directly
lit by the moon or some other light source. Familiar objects become dark masses
with just subtle shifts in color and value to separate and define them. Dancin’ Under the Moon (16x16)18 Pastel Journal AUGUST 2019