Is there a good book on the science of light for artists?”
abstraction. You would focus not only on light but on technique and method including color temperature. Color temperature is the distortion / response of all colors when viewed under a particular light source. One instructor who addresses color temperature is David Hardy of Oakland, CA, he wrote: “One can achieve a good painting utilizing meaningful tones and exclude color temperature; however, one cannot achieve effective color temperature in the absence of good, solid tonal construction. Artists classify light sources as either warm or cool. Sunlight and most incandescent light are considered warm; light from the sky and most fluorescent light are considered cool. All shadows assume an opposite temperature from that of the light source. Therefore, warm light produces cool shadows, and cool light produces warm shadows. This approach, however, is highly simplified and does not attempt to relate the attendant phenomenon found with all light: alteration of color temperature. Strong light
