I was drawn to the monochrome photo of the Pantheon dome. The way the light emphasises the layered rectangle pattern encircling the dome, drawing out the sharp lines. In contrast with the round sky light that allows only a circle of light to travel across the dome as the day goes by.

First I recreated the image with an HB pencil.

Next I attempted to recreate the image with watercolour.

 

The exercise was a great way of grasping the infinite possibility of tones in light and shadow. There are not just a couple light tones and a couple dark ones and then some in between. It’s a full spectrum that blends into one another.

A Tonal Light Study of the Pantheon / Violette Chumbe by blogadmin is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution CC BY 3.0