Light in Art

One of the beauties of light as a tool in painting is the way it can be used to build up symbolism.
Shimmering gold paint and gold leaf was a popular method for highlighting holy symbols.
==Gold intensively reflected light, and by layering different light effects, early artists were able to create works that were thick with symbolic meaning.==

==Light is essential when artists wish to build a sense of perspective.==
==Light and shadow lend a painting depth and without this, work would feel incomplete.==
Leonardo Da Vinci was one of the first artists who scientifically study the properties of light during the Renaissance.
- He observed and recorded the effect of different light levels on objects and the effect that distance has on how light and shadow is perceived in landscapes.
- He used his findings to create perspective and space in his art.
- “Sfumato” is a particular technique that has been attributed to Da Vinci and features in some of his most famous works.
- The word roughly translates to ‘to evaporate like smoke’ and was an effect that involved smudging the borders between objects to create a feeling of focus and lack of focus.

In addition to making objects visible, light has an amazing ability to provoke certain emotions in humans.
==Light levels can directly influence our mood and the sense of atmosphere in a space.==
Caravaggio was one of the most famous artists to use light in an extreme way.
- He is known for including one light source in his paintings.
- He used it to create a sense of volume and mass, to give the characters in his work a solid and often unsettling presence.
Georges de La Tour was another master of light to create emotions and drama.

==The first painting tradition that began to use light as a subject in its own right was during the 17th century, the Age of Enlightenment.==
==At this time, new scientific explorations into colors and light changed the way that artists used light in their art.==
Artist like Johannes Vermeer began to give light a key role in their paintings. In many works of this time, the light speaks.
In his still life works Heda is famous for, the light gives the objects their form and purpose.
- Our eye is almost completely led by the direction of the light.
==For the Impressionists in the 19th century, light took on a different but similarly central role.==
- ==This was the period in which many painters went outdoors and into nature to find inspiration.==
- ==As a result, we see a rise in diffuse light sources that mimic natural light.==
- ==Painters begin to focus more on the way in which sunlight affects a scene or a landscape.==
Claude Monet is perhaps the best-known Impressionist in his use of light and color.
- In many of his works, he uses water to make light a key feature in his paintings.
- He explores reflections in the water, showing shapes to the viewer through

their reflected image