Painting at night brings about a whole new set of challenges. The painter needs to know instinctively where the paints are on the palette, and how the unusual light conditions affect vision. There is also the safety aspect to consider when painting at night especially in a city with all kinds of people, or rural areas where the cars cant really see you too well. With all of these things to consider, why would anyone paint at night? Van Gogh made some famous night paintings such as the Cafe Terrace at Night, and the Starry Night over the Rhone where he attached candles to his straw hat to illuminate the palette. His most famous painting, The Starry Night, was actually one that he did from memory, although it involved careful study of the night conditions. Van Gogh was known to be a little mad, so this might explain his affinity for painting at night. But what about my affinity for night painting?
Painting on location at night is part necessity. In the summer we get quite uncomfortable levels of heat, but usually in the evenings things cool off. Other times I return home from work a bit later and the sun has gone down, especially around winter time when the sun can go down as early as 5PM in eastern Canada. A few times I have been out painting for so long that the sun goes down and I squeeze in a few extra paintings. But in the last few years I came to enjoy the activity of night painting when the traffic dies down and the air cools off. The compositions also change a lot when the sky is dark and when the artificial lights turn on. A scene that may have been mundane in daylight is suddenly alive with angles and shadows. When composing night scenes, it is important to include as much of the sky as possible, it really helps the viewer understand the light conditions.
En pleine aire, au nocturne, why do we like to use little French phrases to make things sound fancy? Ne pas de quoi. Many of the night paintings one can find on the internet were either done from memory or from a photograph. Photographs have a way of deadening the subtle colour variations and blacking out the sky and shadows. The visual system can make tremendous adjustments at night leading to very sensitive eyesight that exceeds that of a typical camera lens. These visual adjustments involve the rods and cones in the retina at the back of the eye, as well as the area of the brain that interprets images. That same enhanced night vision can also play tricks on the artist. The colours that looked perfect at night can appear over saturated and imbalanced when they get home and see it under artificial light. One thing that helps a lot is a head lamp, which will illuminate the painting and allow for a much better representation of what you are painting compared to what you are seeing.
Pigments that an artist would use sparingly are in fact essential for night painting. Carbon black (PBk6) or any of the other black pigments are very useful in creating the jet-black shadows that can appear, and for darkening the peak of the sky that becomes an inky indigo colour. Peryelene green (PBk31), indothrene blue (PB60), and perylene maroon (PR179) provide a great range of dark green, blue and red, respectively. Isoindo yellow (PY110) is the near exact colour of an amber light that is common at night. And raw umber (PBr7) produces a dark yellow or orange. In the city, you can see almost any colour from illuminated signage and neon lights so the palette will need some high chroma options like magenta (PR122), red (PR254), green (PG36), yellow (PY154) and blue (PB15).
Lights at night can be fascinating and complex. The clear sky produces a dark blue or indigo aura while an overcast sky bathes the scene is dark grey. The moon will cast a metallic blueish white sheen on objects and can even create stark shadows when the moon is full. Street lights and park lights will illuminate objects from the side or underneath, and can be shining from any angle. It is common to have a scene with up to five different light sources all applied to one object. Painting instinctively and re-actively can help, but the artist must choose the spot wisely and account for the many light sources. A green shrub can be orange, red and grey with black shadows.
Is there any need for night painting aside from the satisfaction of overcoming the challenges? Making art is as much a personal journey as it is a mode of communication with an audience. Audiences clearly appreciate night paintings, the works by Van Gogh I referenced are considered to be some of the greatest paintings in art history. I am convinced that the night holds an esthetic and an energy that is best captured in paint. With a little bit of practice, courage and common sense, the seemingly impossible subject of painting at night can result in satisfying paintings. I can imagine one day painting at a provincial park, with a campfire and the kind of starry sky overhead that you can only see in the wilderness. What a scene!
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