Concerning Light and Dark

Here are some quotes about light and dark from the famed Howard Pyle.  These have really meant a lot to me.

"I have tried to state these two facts (referring to light and shadow) because they are the foundation of all picture making: for in the corresponding mimic separation of light and dark, the mimic image of Nature is made manifest.  So the function of all art instruction should be to teach the pupil, to analyze and to separate the lights from the darks, not technically but mentally.  That which a pupil most needs in the beginning is not a system of arbitrary rules that which he needs to be taught is the habit of analyzing lights and shadows and of representing them accordingly."

"This, as I said, the foundation of technical art.  And, until the pupil is entirely able to separate those two qualities of light and shadow from one another in his perception, he should not be advanced beyond the region of elementary introduction - no matter how clever and "fetching" his work may appear to be.  And, during this progress of instruction the pupil should be constantly encouraged with the assurance that what he is doing is not mere drudgery but is the necessary process by means of which - and only by means of which - he may be able to manifest the beautiful thoughts and lie dormant in his imagination." 

"I may say here, in this connection that the pupils who come to me are always so confused as to the those two qualities of light and shadow, and their habit of exaggerating the halftones has become so confirmed, that it takes oftentimes several years to teach them analysis and simplification, it is, as I say, impossible to produce and truly perfect any work of art.  For that separation is fundamental to the law of Nature, and until it becomes a habit of thought, no spontaneous work of art can be produced."

Howard Pyle

Howard Pyle was not only a fabulous American artist and illustrator, he also wrote books he illustrated as well as teach some of the best American artists of the early 20^th century, including N.C. Wyeth.