Value - Interior and Exterior light or View from my window...

This week, the brief was to observe the difference between outdoor lighting, which is strong and direct and creates strong contrasts between highlights and shadows on sunny days, and indoor lighting which is softer and more diffused. Because of the difference in light between these two spaces, value contrasts are emphasised to create the desired effect.

The project then, was to explore these value contrasts of interior and exterior light. I needed to find an area in my house where light from a window creates an interesting visual effect. I took inspiration from Odilon Redon's "The Day" lithograph (1891), as seen below right,  where he leads the viewer out the window to focus on the outdoor scene. The light of the interior window pane is dark and diffused, whereas outdoor, it is bright with shadows on the trees. I've drawn the large gum tree outside my sunroom window. I used graphic pencils on paper. I'm quite happy with the drawing. I wanted to keep the background shrubbery out of the drawing to give it a more sparse feel similar to Redon's picture to emphasise the contrast very clearly.