Bowing to value

Yesterday Emily Moore wrote, "Recently I have been admitting
that the bottom line is 'light, middle and dark.' I resisted
the importance of value over color for a long time, but I have
succumbed. Bowing to value can liberate color options, so color
can waltz in the back door and right on down to the front row
while value is being courted at the front door."

Thanks, Emily. Nice way of putting it. Better work happens when
we're able to keep both dancers on the floor at the same time.
True, most of us need to think of tone value before we think of
colour. Here are a few thoughts:

Work with large and small patches or areas of tone.
Particularly at the beginning, consciously avoid colour. Make
sure there's an abundance of middle tones. A photographer's
gray-scale is a surprisingly handy tool. By emphasizing middle
tones you'll find it easier to find your darker and lighter
ones. Here is a tried and true academic sequence: middle tone,
darker dark, lighter light, darkest dark, lightest light. Don't
be afraid of basic and simple palettes. A lot can be done with
the likes of umber, ultra blue and white. Tones of grey--even
those made with black--can give suggestions for colours that
might follow later. A great exercise is "grisaille," where the
composition is laid down and nearly completed in monotone. If
it works in monotone, it'll certainly work in colour. Colour,
in the grisaille system, is applied last--often with
transparent glazes. In the event that a colour begins to
dominate, as some tend to do, half close your eyes to see
what's going on, and make adjustments. If you don't like
squinting, a quick black and white photocopy can often show you
where the problems lie. Paintings go best when you think of the
whole exercise as a "set-up." The lightest lights, in
particular, need to be kept in the quiver for the final shots.

"I don't like working this way because it doesn't seem
natural--it's not as expressive," said a student in a friend's
workshop. We are living in an age of expressiveness where
individualism and quick satisfaction are in style. I like to
point out that many seemingly dated processes, when learned and
pocketed, are really a key to growth. For many of us, these
academic processes may hold an even greater potential for
expression. A lot of lovely waltzing got started with a few
stiff black and white step-marks painted on an old studio
floor.

Best regards,

Robert

PS: "If you have used colour throughout most of your artistic
life, try just black and white. It will take your painting to
another dimension where tone and form in all their permutations
reign supreme." (David Louis)

Esoterica: "Think value first, then colour," says water-media
educator Carl Purcell in "Painting with your Artist's Brain."
If a painting is turning out to be dull and uninteresting,
throwing on some bright colours is not the solution. If values
are poorly planned, no amount of colour will fix things up.
"Good colour is key to the success of any painting, but a
well-executed value plan is what will captivate your viewers."
(Carl Purcell)