Local color under light and shadow

Maintain an object's local color as light and shadow change its hue, value, and saturation.

What it is

Local color is an object's base color, such as the red of an apple or the yellow of a raincoat. Light and shadow modify it, but the object should retain its color identity.

Paint these shifts by considering the local color, light color, and shadow color. Light may move toward the light source's hue. Shadow may shift warmer or cooler and lose saturation. Each object should have related light-side and shadow-side color ranges.

Why it matters

Stable local color helps objects remain solid and consistent through changing light. Weak control can make separate areas look like different objects, or cause skin, clothing, and props to shift unpredictably.

You can check it when

• ✓Paint a simple object under different lighting directions. Check that it still reads as the same color each time.
• ✓Compare light and shadow areas on each object. Verify that they belong to one base color family, with related changes in hue or saturation.
• ✓Study a photo and identify the local color, then describe and match how the light and shadow modify it in a paintover.
• ✓Review your work for unexplained color changes across clothing, skin, and props as they move through light and shadow.

Related skills

• An object's own lightness vs. the light falling on it (a white shirt in shadow is still white)
• Convincing skin tones across lighting conditions
• Painting believable colored light
• Color relativity and simultaneous contrast
• Separating the light family from the shadow family
• Bounce/reflected light and ambient occlusion