It is very important to correctly use the relationship between the light and shade and simplify the details in the depiction of moonlight scenes. When drawing on linen, firstly use the ivory black pigment diluted by the mineral solvent to darken the surface color and remove the dazzling white. This gray surface immediately shows the light weakened tone—neutral gray. After the establishment of the neutral tone as the reference, the next step is to concentrate on drawing out the main tone of the painting. At the beginning, draw a few big and important shapes (sky, the color block on the upper right, and the color block with no tone change) and a few visible light, no details. Finally, make the light in the sky and water and several high lights representing “moonlight” combine the beautiful and harmonious light-colored tune to represent the “moonlight”.

Step 1

Firstly, paint the warm neutral gray on the canvas and then quickly sketch out the main shapes and tunes. From the darkest part, paint the pier, boat and their reflections and mast. And then use the warm color pigments to coat the distant shore, ship and shadows on the sailing ships to establish the neutral tone. Use the mineral solution to wipe the stain to make its tone brighter than the sail, ship, and quay. In this step, the artist will roughly describe every object in the painting, but he has not begun to depict the details yet.

Step 2

As the dark tone is determined, then draw all the important relationships of light and shade in the sky. Too bright or too dark will change the effect of the whole painting, with the same basic colors (white, lemon yellow, phthalocyanine blue, cadmium red) to draw the water. Weaken the contrast of light and shade in the place far from the light source and highlight it in the nearer source. Thickly paint the white and lemon yellow to represent the distant moonlight in the water.

Step 3

After the appearance of the moonlight mood, focus on the whole painting. Maintain the big and simple blocks and adjust the color tone and color, so that the painting makes the shape and surface coordinated with each other without unnecessary details.

Step 4

Finally, increase the details like mast, character, and orange fence on the ship, thickly paint the moonlight in the near water and add some light in the small light lamp in the distance.