Some plein air studies are only possible at night.
Around midnight I went out and tried to paint the streetlight visible from within our apartment complex. I used casein, specifically the following colors: cadmium yellow light, cadmium orange, cadmium red pale, shiva violet, ultramarine blue deep and titanium white. I had some trouble mixing a good dark tone, so I added a bit of ivory black. For the glow effect, I used water soluble wax pastels (Neocolor 2). I tried to replicate the colors in the actual scene and focused on the effect of the light to the cables in front of it. James Gurney’s tips on painting a lens flare effect really helped.
My working area was dark and I had to rely on a rechargeable LED clip light. I noticed that my color mixes seemed darker than they should, perhaps due to the effect of the clip light. Looking back and forth between the warm streetlight and brightly-lit sketchbook also messed up my vision.
The clip light’s brightness also started to decrease after an hour. I did not bring a powerbank, so I had to work faster, adjusting the distance of the LEDs from the sketchbook to compensate for the decreasing brightness.
I added some cool colors in the foreground to complement the warm, reddish area at the back.
The entire process took about two hours. I documented the process and uploaded it on YouTube (https://youtu.be/0c-AMe3DFqM). Here is the final painting:
Sining ni Sing 
Hi rmlsing,
I am currently a product design student, i really like drawing and i am doing a project about”drawing on the go”. like you mentioned sometimes cannot have a proper light, the environment is dark or the shadow is sometimes annoying. I really like your work and I was wondering can we get in touch and talk more about these? or do you have any problems when drawing? If you can give me some advice or share your experience that will really helpful!!
Looking forward to your reply,
meitong
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Greetings! Thanks for leaving a comment, sorry if it took me quite a while to respond.
Thanks for appreciating my work. In case of a dark environment, it is best to bring a portable light source, like a rechargeable LED clip lamp. Shadows on the subject is a different concern, in most cases it is best if a source of light can be provided, like in a studio session or if working indoors. When working outdoors, it cannot be easily controlled, and the shadows need to be part of the composition or work, too. Feel free to send me an email on the one listed on this website for other questions you may have.
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