Subtractive Theory of Color, Continued
Luster
Luster is soft, reflected light that appears radiant or brilliant. To create a
lustrous effect, use slightly shaded hues suppressed uniformly in value with
black. Use pure hues for smaller areas of a painting. The suppressed colors
appear natural enough; although slightly dark, the pure colors will appear
exceptionally brilliant in comparison. Another technique for creating luster
is to paint all colors normally, then airbrush a thin layer of translucent black
over the entire painting.
Repaint highlights with pure color.
A third
technique for creating luster in paintings is more direct. Prepare a three- or
four-step low-key value range from purity to near black for each basic hue.
Paint the image directly on a dark background. In the figure 2-25, a low-key
value range in blues and violet accentuates a brilliant, warm, yellow
highlight.
Figure 2-25 shows a lustrous view of a submarine and ships.
Figure 2-25.—Luster created through shades of violet and highlights of
intense tints of yellow.
Continued on next page
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