Alexis, 14 x 11 inches, oil on linenThese were done this weekend. I was trying to think of what else I could tell you on this series of posts, and it occurred to me that breaking things down and offering small bits of wisdom (not my wisdom because I haven't any, but pieces of collective painting knowledge) like my last post, might be easier to digest than to go on and on about a broad and elusive topic like tonalism.
So when my friend Don Hatfield called me up this weekend and told me that he was teaching a workshop in my neck of the woods and would I bring my easel and spend a couple of days painting with him, I said hell yeah, and crashed his workshop. I tried to stay out of everyone's way and set up in the back and did my own thing. It was great fun to watch him do his thing (he's very entertaining) and I picked up a few things along the way, too.
But I digress. As I was painting, I kept thinking about what piece of painting wisdom might I offer and how can I make a good example with the sketches I was doing at the time. Here it is; compose with three values; dark, medium, light. Keeping the three values sufficiently separated gives us simplicity and impact.
So when my friend Don Hatfield called me up this weekend and told me that he was teaching a workshop in my neck of the woods and would I bring my easel and spend a couple of days painting with him, I said hell yeah, and crashed his workshop. I tried to stay out of everyone's way and set up in the back and did my own thing. It was great fun to watch him do his thing (he's very entertaining) and I picked up a few things along the way, too.
But I digress. As I was painting, I kept thinking about what piece of painting wisdom might I offer and how can I make a good example with the sketches I was doing at the time. Here it is; compose with three values; dark, medium, light. Keeping the three values sufficiently separated gives us simplicity and impact.
Alexis, detail Click on image to enlargeOnce the composition is established, you can go in and have as many value shifts as you want, as long as you keep those shifts very close. A quick check of whether you're on track would be to squint at your painting and see if the original three-value composition still holds true. If the big shapes starts falling apart, you've drifted away from your original plan; go back and tame the jumpy notes.
Alexis Day Two, 9 x 12, oil on linen
Making simple statements gives us impact, but I think the real benefit to the beginning and intermediate painter is that it forces you to stay organized. It forces you to make value decisions logically, as opposed to confused indecisions. And confused guesswork will produce nothing but confused paintings. Organizing your big value structure and sticking to its simplicity seems to me like a good way to not get confused. Don't you think it's hell of a lot easier to worry about three values than, say, ten? Can you tell me with absolute confidence whether a particular value is a five or a six? If you can, you're a better painter than I am and you may disregard everything I said on this blog :-) If you can't, then can you tell me if a particular value is a dark, medium or light? You bet.
3 comments:
Simple and helpful. Thanks! Beautiful paintings by the way. I have also been hearing great things about Don on Frank Ordaz's blog.
Thanks Jeremy~ ya, Don's a hoot to hang out with.
I think you have a key to helping us learn...little bits to hear, to try, to use as stepping stones to the next level however minor that may be. Thanks Terry.
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