449

The effects of midday light.

OBJECTS IN HIGH LIGHT SHOW BUT LITTLE, BUT BETWEEN LIGHT AND SHADOW THEY STAND OUT WELL.

To represent a landscape choose that the sun shall be at noon and look towards the West or East and then draw. And if you turn towards the North, every object placed on that side will have no shadow, particularly those which are nearest to the [direction of the] shadow of your head. And if you turn towards the South every object on that side will be wholly in shadow. All the trees which are towards the sun and have the atmosphere for their background are dark, and the other trees which lie against that darkness will be black [very dark] in the middle and lighter towards the edges.

Taken from The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci edited by Jean Paul Richter, 1880.

VII * X
Notebooks of Leonoardo da Vinci
VIII: Botany for Painters and Elements of Landscape Painting.
. . .
429
The gradations of shade and colour in leaves.
430,
431,
432,
433,
434
A classification of trees according to their colours.
435
The proportions of light and shade in trees.
436,
437,
438,
439,
440
of the spectator.
441,
442,
443
The effects of morning light.
444,
445,
446,
447,
448
The effects of midday light.
449
The appearance of trees in the distance.
450,
451
The cast shadow of trees.
452
Light and shade on groups of trees.
453,
454,
455,
456,
457
On the treatment of light for landscapes.
458,
459,
460,
461,
462,
463,
464
On the treatment of light for views of towns.
465,
466,
467,
468,
469
. . .