Optical Red
 

Do anybody know what color the Optical Red is ?

Thanks, Allan.

Not sure but...
 

Hi Allen -

What are you referring to? A color mentioned in a book? A color on a computer screen?

The only thing that comes to mind immediately is an optical mix of magenta and yellow - 100% each, which looks like red when put together, one over the other. This is from my old days as a graphic artist in a printing company: for printing we had to mix our four colors of cyan, yellow, magenta and black to get any desired color.

I don't know if this is what you are looking for.

Hi Julie.

I know the printing colors, some very strong and clean ones.

But this Optical Red is used for portraits by Adrian Gottlieb who is also a member at SOG. He have a homepage with many interesting informations, besides some excellent portraits.

He explains that he sometimes use the Optical Red. I just wonder if it is some red neon mistake or what.

Allan

Optical red
 

Hello Allan
I'm not sure , but Adrian Gottlieb may be refering to a final thin transparent glaze of red in order to give flesh color a warm glow and make the figure stand out more. To give the image that outstanding quality that the old masters were able to do so well, but I could be wrong.

Henry, this is most likely the explanation.

By glazing with red you will damp down all other colors relatively more than the red, and thereby make it stand out as stronger in tone and lighter. Optical stronger.

I could not understand why he would need any stronger red than the cadmium he use.

Thanks, Allan

I have enquired of Adrian about his use of the term and would hope to have his response anon. Patience will likely be rewarded.

Adrian provided the following response:

Thanks, this was very informative.

If I have understood it right this will be the effect of blinding.

I believe this tool can be seen clearly in the picture "St. Peter Denying Christ" by Rembrandt.

Not only has he used the red in big parts of the shadows, which creates a glowing temperature to the whole painting and especially the lit parts, he also enforced the tonal contrast in shadow areas close to the light-source.

Allan

My use of optical red
 

I used optical red in this painting... note the "red glow" just on the outside of the profile of the forehead... It's a wonderful concept of giving "life" to any portrait or figure...

Remember, light is tangible believe it or not... so when bright warm light reflects of flesh, it can cast a "glow" or "halo" to produce an atmosphere in the painting.

Hope this helps!

Tony

So, if optical red creates the illusion of the brightness of the adjacent light area in the minds of the viewers, does that mean it's just a pigment of their imagination?

In a way you could say so.

When you look at a strong light, say from a car in the night, you would not be able to see anything close to the light source. The yellow light, from the car, will radiate and color the area around the light spot, and the light will look bigger than it is. This is real light behavior.

In a painting you can make the same "effect of blinding" by obscuring the area around the lit part. When done with red color, that is a condensed yellow light color, you will perceive your impression as if you were blinded by the strong light reflected from the object.

I think, Allan

Oooo....nice play with words.

I pushed the submit reply button before I was finished. I wanted to add that I find this subject very interesting.

Flame ON!
 

This is interesting. In the graphics business I would pinstripe around a flame job on a hot rod or a drum set (my last "flamer") and against a cool black field using a typical yellow to red blend in the flame we custom painters like to use blue as the pinstripe color. The blue would cause the flame to "vibrate" as well as framing it all in a tight hard but flowing shape.

The "glow" using the vibrating color spectrum is a very intriguing system indeed. Thank you for bringing it up, Henry.... and to you Tony for sharing that gorgeous example in your work!

Geary

This topic fascinates me. I keep coming back to it. I love the whole idea of painting a glow that surrounds a lit object against a dark background. I'm posting a head study I did almost a year ago, in which I used the optical red effect on the lit edge of his head and ear. As I was painting it I saw the color as the effect of looking through a foreshortened perspective of indirect, refracted light and seeing the resulting color as glowing in the air just at the edge.

I'm wondering what color red other people use for "optical red." What about you, Tony? (That's a beautifully painted head, by the way.) I was using Gamblin's perylene red.

Also, has anyone noticed other color variations of this halo effect? David Leffel often paints a whitish glow of light coming off the lit side of objects against a dark background. If I had his new book I woiuld try to find what he says about it, but I can't find the book--I think I lent it to someone. Does anyone have it? I think the color of the halo looks different under different conditions.

Thank goodness the Forum is up and running again! But I guess to resurrect this thread I'm going to have to write another post. I'd still like to know whether anyone else uses "optical red" or any other colored light halo at the edge of a lit form against a dark background. I would really like to see some more examples. I'm also curious about historical precedent, and which artists used it in the past. Does anyone know?

I'm providing the link to a sample by Steven Assael. Go to the second picture in the link and you'll see extreme optical red plus a lot of that white glow you've mentioned.

http://www.forumgallery.com/2005/e_assael.htm

Alex,
I found this painting by Repin. It shows how he painted a lighter area around the white coat. This is apparently not a transparent white, but it has the same effect, it makes the white clothe glow.

Allan

Very interesting, Allan! Thanks for posting this. An idea is forming in my head about the color of the object in relation to the color of the halo. I think maybe the halo is one step less bright or less direct because it is refracted off the object.

Halo Effect
 

Thank you for this comment, Alexandra. I have been mulling this over in my mind, too. I will be very interested in other responses.

I use paint to make that effect, but I've seen some painters using maroger with a little mixed white and others just mixing the edges. Well, the result is the same anyway.

Another example, by J. S. Sargent, from the great painting of Charles Stuart carrying the Great Sword at the Coronation of King Edward # 7.
By the firm handling of the effect it looks as this was a routine "trick" from Sargent.
Allan

According to Loomis . . . .
 

Here are some words from the

Richard, this is wonderful! Just the kind of information we were needing. As I was suspecting, "optical red" is one of a whole spectrum of light halos. The color of the halo, if I am digesting this correctly, is determined by the color of the object off of which light is refracting, and the color of what is behind it.

Does the color of the refracted light lean towards the red end of the spectrum in comparison with the color of the object itself in direct light? I have noticed that the atmospheric color, which shows up as an object turns away from the source of light, is usually slightly more towards the red end of the light spectrum than the color of the object in direct light.

Here's a sample by Kramskoy

http://www.artrenewal.org/asp/databa...ge.asp?id=6026

What I see if I look closely at his silhouette, is that the background is lighter where his head touches, and that the hair has a slightly redder tinge in places as it touches the background.

Alexandra:

If I'm not mistaken, it says that the color of the light source extends itself into surrounding space. This is actually a color influence rather than a repeated color. The color of light blends into the color of the background.

So, if the color of your light was warm, and the color of the head/flesh was was warm, you'd get a "warm halo," so to speak -- wouldn't you?

However, if the color of light is blending with the background, and the light source is warm, and the background is cool, you'd get the cancelling effect of mixing a warm and cool. Again, a question mark.

Let's get some really good minds going on this . . . . . . .

I was thinking of optical red: it is redder than the skintones. But maybe that is simply a darkening effect, i.e., the mixing of the light refracting off the lit surface of skin combined with the color of the background. Certainly the halo of white is like a darkened white, not tending towards yellow.

Julie, in that portrait by Kramskoy, it's the opposite effect: a halo (or inverse circle) effect of the light background intruding into the edge of the darker figure! How clever of you to notice the relationship between this and what we have been talking about! Wow, this is getting exciting. I think the two phenomena are definitely two sides of the same coin (I'm not sure how coins come into this, but anyway...).

Trying to discover the truth of light, or color, I would recommend to ask Garth Herrick why he changed the frame and painted it in a color more alike the colors in his "Apotheoun" !

Just a thought, Allan

Nature's Halo
 

Hi all,

I took this photo Thursday night. It's call a wolf moon, and happens when the light from a full moon reflects on ice crystals in the upper atmosphere.

Nature is the best teacher!

Jean

Visual Truth is the Best Information
 

Oh, my what a gifted group. What a pleasure it is to just be a part of this. Thank you, Jean.

I think we are discussing different subjects in the same thread.
One subject is the observation of colour in real life, while the second is how we are able through our technique to intensifie or create a colour effect.
Painting a halo that is or is not there is a one of the many options we have that serve a purpose. For example, it is useful to unify the painting, it can help placing a subject IN a certain area by stressing its presence there, it can relate the subject to the background.
A red halo coming from a subject that is not red will alter the temperature of the subject's colour, perhaps turning it slightly toward coolness. I think instead that Sargent's reds are there to deepen the shadows through making them very hot.
Euan Uglow's painting (can't post them, I am referring to his nudes) are dotted with little red reference marks, and often red or orange outlines, that structure the drawing and add importance to the surface the painting, they also affect strongly the colour scheme.
I gave up cadmium red at the time of the famous thread, but found myself in the need of putting it back on the palette to have its power available!
Ilaria

Jean,
I used your photo and painted the sky with the dark from the upper right corner. Did not changed the color of the moon, only the halo is gone.

Allan

That's a lesson!
Ilaria

Your welcome Carol!

This particular halo was enormous, which is not shown very well by a small photo. It was brilliant white, and lasted about 20 minutes before fading rapidly. It was magical!

Allan, it's not nice to mess with Mother Nature!

;)

Jean

The difference is very interesting and dramatic. Thanks for the original photo, Jean. What a sight that must have been!

Hi Alex, yes it was breathaking. I had chills while trying to get the photo.

Since this thread was reborn, and seeing this example in real life I've been watching for signs of halos in reality. It is so easy to become complacent and miss these natural events. I'm so glad this thread was brought back up. I needed a kick in the you know what.

Jean

Jean,
I

For anyone brave enough to wade into some of what has just been euphemistically referred to as "famous threads" (which has more to do with vehemence than verisimilitude), the subject of "halation" has come up before.

At the very least, by searching for that word, you'll get to read a chapter from John Zeissig's archived but not forgotten "Once Upon a Time in the West."

There's a fair bit of chaff back there with the oats, so take a bandana and a shovel.

My point exactly, Allan. The reflected light or "glow" is really there. The posterization is really interesting, the quailty of the light changes all the way through it's ring. There is another "wolf" moon forming outside right now, it's very faint and only 3/4ths formed. So anyone on the forum right now, run outside and take a peek. That is, if you are in the northern hemispere of the Americas. :thumbsup:

Jean

Steven,

Thank you for the AhhA!! moment. Although I've departed from Portraiture for now, the Optical Red technique applies.

This past weekend my daughter was visiting from Berkeley for a much needed rest. I'd been working on a large banana still life, (trust me it's cool) and while she watched, I applied a deep red into the negative space around the highlight / leading edges. The effect was to "lift" the subject right off the canvas, In her words, Vibrant!!!

Once again, I'm transformed from idiot to savant, at least in her eyes.

I've said this before, but it's worth saying again, to those who may be thinking about joining this forum.

I returned to painting after a 20 year break. Trying to get up to speed, I spent the first few years pouring over posts on all manner of web sites offering artists a voice. After much wasting of time, I've narrowed my list of favorites to this one, only.