Simultaneous contrast is a term used to describe a visual phenomenon. Everything in the visual world has a relationship. By understanding these relationships, we’ll make better choices and end up with paintings that better relay the natural world around us. The mind makes judgments from the information provided by the eyes, so it’s imperative to learn to see with sensitivity.

Simply put, simultaneous contrast teaches us that everything is affected by its opposite. Something will look lighter when placed next to something dark, and warmer when placed next to something cool, and visa versa. I’m fairly tall (6’3”) and in most situations I appear tall, but if I’m on a bus with professional basketball players, I appear short. I didn’t change, but my context did. When we paint, areas of shadow and light get us into trouble because we attach black and white to them. But look at the scale of value relationships, and you’ll see that what appears to be a highlight in one area becomes a shadow in another. It didn’t change, but its relationship did.

Simultaneous contrast also applies to color relationships. A color might appear cool in one setting and then warm in another due to the relationship it shares with the adjacent colors. This is why the choices we make when painting have ramifications. It’s all about relationships.

“Simultaneous contrast is not just a curious optical phenomenon; it is the very heart of painting.”--Josef Albers (German artist/educator; 1888-1976)

In this value scale, representing black to white with a middle value running through the middle, notice how each side of the individual values change; the middle value strip looks darker or lighter depending on its relationship to the other values.



Richard McKinley is a painter, workshop instructor and contributing writer for The Pastel Journal. To ask a question about painting concepts and pastels techniques, email The Pastel Journal at pjedit@fwpubs.com with "Pastel Pointers" on the subject line.

During a conversation with Anne Hevener, the editor of The Pastel Journal, I mentioned that I get a lot of email from painters inquiring about pastel materials and techniques, and that I often find myself answering the same questions. Anne proposed the idea for a blog in which I might regularly respond to painters' questions, realizing that if one person is wondering about something, there are many others wondering the same thing. So I'm happy to announce the new "Pastel Pointers" blog.

I will be adding a new post on a weekly basis offering tips and how-to help based on my own experience over many years of pastel painting. If you want to be notified of each new post, sign up for a reminder by e-mail or subscribe via RSS feed under "Free Updates" at the top of the navigation bar at left.

As for my own background, I was born in the Rogue Valley of Oregon and spent my youth growing up with the rivers and mountains that form this special place. It is from these subjects that I receive the inspiration for my paintings, which I paint on location. I paint in both pastels and oils, and travel regularly across the country and internationally to teach workshops. I'm a signature member of The Pastel Society of America and a Distinguished Pastelist with the Pastel Society of the West Coast. My work is represented by William Zimmer Gallery in Mendocino, Calif., and the Mockingbird Gallery in Bend, Ore. For more information, visit my website.

If you would like to send questions to me for a potential blog post, send your question to The Pastel Journal by email at pjedit@fwpubs.com.