Welcome back to the Master Series with Daniel Ibanez! This time, we dive into one of the most powerful lessons an artist can learn - how to paint light - through the lens of the legendary Spanish painter Joaquín Sorolla (1863-1923). Known for his luminous beach scenes and vibrant portrayals of daily life, Sorolla is the undisputed master of capturing light in all its glorious complexity.
Watch on YouTube: youtu.be/nrrOjnWlXrc
Why Study Sorolla?
If you want to learn how to paint light, you study Sorolla. Just picture it: a man in a three-piece suit, standing barefoot in the sand, surrounded by sunbathers, fishermen, children, and beasts of burden—all while painting the shimmering Spanish coastline. But more than just people or scenes, Sorolla painted the light: the way it dances off umbrellas, reflects off sails, filters through waves, and wraps around figures. His sensitivity to color, tone, and atmosphere is unparalleled.
Source: www.sorollapainting.com
The Core Principles of Painting Light
Start with the Light Source
Whether in a studio or outdoors, understanding where the light is coming from is key. In the studio, it might be a lamp with bounce light from the surrounding walls. In nature, it’s more complex—sunlight, skylight, and water reflections all mix.
Color Mixing for Realism
Using tools like Rebelle, you can mix light source color and surface color to create realistic tones. Add walls or nearby surfaces, and you can simulate bounce lighting to give objects richness and depth.
Nature’s Complexity
Painting outside (plein air) adds layers. The sun provides direct light, while the sky acts as a massive fill light. Shadows aren’t just dark—they're filled with purples, ochres, blues, and reflected local colors. Sorolla's shadows are full of color, just look at the reference image.
Techniques Inspired by Sorolla
Let´s look at the techniques we can take from Sorolla´s work and apply them to the portrait example.
Underpainting with Watercolor Brush
Start loose. Use a fluid medium to block in shapes and proportions. This mirrors how traditional oil painters use turpentine-thinned washes.
High-Saturation Color Blocking
Create a vibrant underpainting with exaggerated hues. Purples, greens, lavenders—these form the emotional base of the painting while maintaining accurate values.
HSL Color Tweaking
Use the Hue-Saturation-Lightness sliders to keep values consistent while exploring wild color shifts in shadows. This helps create visual richness without breaking realism.
What Sorolla Teaches Us
The big lesson? Value first, color second. You can shift hues and push saturation as long as the values are correct. Sorolla’s genius lies in how he bent color rules to serve the feeling of light—lavenders in forests, pinks in shadow, turquoise in sails.
Painting, ultimately, is about more than technique. It’s about feeling, bravado in brushwork, and personal expression. Sorolla reminds us that light is divine, and if you get that right, everything else will follow.
So next time you feel your work is flat or lifeless, refer to Sorolla. Let his work reignite your understanding of light. Keep his studies handy - sometimes the loose beach sketches are more inspiring than the polished studio pieces. Let light be your guide, not form. Paint the glow, not just the thing.
Happy Painting,
Escape Motions Team
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Daniel Ibanez is a fine artist and illustrator who works out of beautiful Colorado. He grew up plein air painting mountain landscapes and western imagery. He has a love of painting the human figure, portraits, and landscapes. Daniel has worked on films, comics, video games, and tabletop games. While his range of subjects is diverse, all of his work is rooted in his traditional art background. He has been an oil painter since he was 13 years old. His work covers a wide spectrum of subjects, from sci-fi illustrations to alla prima landscapes. He has a digital portrait painting class with Domestika and a growing YouTube channel for tutorials and demonstrations. Find him on Instagram and say hello!
