Dodge College of Film and Media Arts Visits the Hilbert Museum Studying the use of light in painting and digital animation

Students from the Dodge College of Film and Media Arts made a visit to The Hilbert Museum for a tour, specifically to explore the use of light in paintings, which was led by the Art Collections’ Curator and Student Art Ambassadors.

Professor Judy Kriger‘s class is studying how to use 3D software to incorporate shading, lighting, and rendering techniques in their animated projects, and visited the museum to study the use of light in paintings and brainstorm ideas for their projects.

Curator, Natalie Lawler, selects artworks to discuss the use of lighting in paintings.

Curator, Natalie Lawler, began the tour by leading the class through a selection of paintings. She explained the different techniques artists use to portray light in paintings, and explored the different uses of lighting in paintings. For example, using light to tell a story, to set the mood, and to highlight certain parts of a painting.

Student Art Ambassadors, Jessica and Manon, lead a guided tour of the museum.

The Student Art Ambassadors, Jessica and Manon, led the second portion of the tour, where they guided the class around the museum to present an overview of what California Scene Painting is, and to share their research on specific paintings in the current exhibition, Narrative Visions: 20th Century California Art from The Hilbert Collection.

Emil Kosa Jr.,
A Grand Place to Work
, Oil on canvas, 1960s

Students were then able to explore the museum on their own to study and brainstorm ideas on how they could use light to add depth, color, and storytelling into their projects.