I am in the process of making a video of my color spots of value approach. In the meantime check out what I have learned so far.
Break your thinking up into darks and lights. I find the NOTAN method is fool proof for this. I outline this in my book Three Step Watercolors. It is the foundation piece upon which everything else gets established. What I have learned so far: Establish what is in light and what is in shadow . Then follow the rule that nothing and I mean nothing not even a white spot of local color can be as bright in the shadow as the darkest light local spot is in the light . This is super key. Local color ...the color something is in real life can not "trump" ( sorry) the rule of light and shadow.
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Compare the two images. The first One I did this week and it has a good mixture of colors and neutrals. The second I did years ago and it is all color. There are no neutrals in it at all.
The lesson here is that when every element has a color they cancel each other out and there is no color. But if you use neutrals wisely it will let your color choices pop and create a variety of colors and values that will enhance a painting. What I have learned so far? Practice mixing neutrals. All those colors that have no name. They are your friends ...use them wisely. What do a peony and bucket loader have in common? Color spots of value!
In the case of these two paintings they also have pink skies. I have been looking hard at the value of colors and a pink sky and a light blue sky can have the same value. This leaves me with choices I can make that produce strong color harmony. Sometimes a sky is impossibly blue. It can almost look like a color in a cartoon. So finding other choices in the same value range can connect my subject to the background in a way that creates cohesion. This was Color Spot of Value week at Jo Mackenzie Watercolors.
The task was to find value spots and identify them and then slowly move from one spot to another finding the connecting corresponding value until patterns emerged and forms began to evolve. I have never felt closer to the essence of "seeing" until now. Nothing is a thing any more ...everything is just made up of smaller portions of color . The world is one huge melting rainbow of a thing. There is more to explore in the week coming up . What I have learned so far? Everything is nothing and nothing is everything. I am in the process of finding color spots of value and then connecting them. This requires moving slowly and carefully. I have to hit the spot and establish the value and then move on. Eventually everything is connected and patterns establish form. I guess this is an adult version of painting "Dot-to -Dot".
I loved those kits when I was a kid . I still like the art they produced because there is something about them that is more than the sum of their parts. What I have learned so far ? What ever you loved to do as kid you will revisit as an adult and rediscover it again in different forms. This painting is by my friend Maria Bennett Hock. She first came to my attention because of her portraits and I have followed her career for a few years now. She sent this painting to me as a gift . A random act of kindness as she calls it. I opened the package and was thrilled. Holding original art in your hands is a personal and transformative experience. The original work always looks better in real life and it breathes as you touch it. You can feel the person who brought life into this illusion. So how does this relate to value? Usually when I am talking about value I am talking about how light or dark a painting is. But the other meaning of the word value is in part economic and also about emotion. I have read books about behavior that say we humans love to get things for free but that we do not necessarily value them. I suppose this is true in laboratory studies, but art and friendship have a different value that is priceless. Receiving this painting is an experience I will never forget and now it is part of my permanent collection. It will influence me in the studio and become part of the art that is made here. Thank you Maria for your friendship and for this gift. What I have learned so far? Art heals! In order to have a good painting you need an underlying pattern of value relationships that make sense. I know that and still made this mistake. I used the photograph of melon even though I knew the value patterns were confusing and did not connect in patterns that could support a solid painting. But I let my ego get in the way and thought I could "make it happen". The result is a painting that is mostly mid-toned. Compare the melon with the photograph of cherries and step one of the process. Using this photograph I had an underlying pattern that could not be denied and was not confusing. It also connected itself to create forms immediately. That is always a good sign.
What I have learned so far? If the photograph does not have the patterns you need no matter how compelled you are to paint it...it will not work out. It just won't . This is a lesson I will learn and have to repeat often because my heart sometimes convinces my eyes it sees what it does not. When discussing value here we are not talking about nutrition but rather about how relatively light or dark shapes are and their relationship to each other.
I think these three went well and now it is time to try some cherries and berries. What I have learned so far? Just because a form has yellow in it ...does not mean the form is light in value. Peony Quest 2016 is completed. These are some of the paintings I produced during the month of June while the peonies were in bloom outside my window. This was the best year ever and I wonder already what next years will look like.
Meanwhile these original works are available and many may be purchased as prints in a variety of sizes from my website. |
About MeI am a watercolor coach, watercolorist, and author. Archives
September 2022
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