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New: Oil Paintings
Travel Teaching Teaching in FL Revised 10/30/05
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Tutorials - Tips & Techniques by Mary B. SpiresValue Relationships - Demonstration at 2001 HOOT Convention What happens when a pigment, such as any given Yellow, darkest value is only 4 or 5? How do you make it a value 10? There are several ways that this can be accomplished. You can add the complement when mixing the paint on the palette, or glaze over the first layer (wash) with its complement. There are several things to be considered when painting shadows: On a round or spherical shaped object the place where value changes from light to shade is called the core, and a plane-change accent on a cube-like surface. The core has a blended edge, while the plane change accent is always hardedge. The cast shadow side is 40% darker than the sun light side; however, one must also consider that reflected light will change this value -- be sure to look for reflected light. An object’s natural color is called “local color.” Generally, I consider this my middle value. The color (or hue) of the surface with the cast shadow must be considered. The cast shadow will be approximately 40% darker than the local color of that surface. If a petal is casting a shadow onto a leaf then the value will be 40% than the local value of the leaf. We can approximately measure these values with a 10-increment value scale. The values on the scale: (1) being the white of the paper and 10 being black. With the value scale, we measure the cast shadow side. If the value of the sunlight side of the flower is 1 then the shadow side should be 40% darker – counting on the scale that value would be 5. Value is one of the most important design elements, if not the most important. Value creates form, shape, depth, and contrast within a painting. If the values are correct, you can guide your viewer through your painting, create excitement, and contrast. Value is not only important in the realistic painting, but it is even more important in the abstract painting.
Demonstration - Student Seminars Value refers to the lightness or darkness of a color. Landscape painters long ago discovered that on a sunny day the cast shadow side of an object was a full 40% darker in value than the sunny side. The problem most of us have when painting shadows is that we do not make them dark enough. You can achieve proper values by creating a value scale - see below. As an example, begin with White as 1 and Black as 10. If the sunlit side of an object is of value 1, then count four values to 5 and this should be your shadow value. Color Theory: Glazing: Value Scale from 1 to 10 (1- White of the paper to 10 - Black) below:
Demonstration - Recent Student Seminars Mixing clean transparent colors is foremost when painting watercolors. Unlike other mediums where white pigment is mixed to lighten a hue and black pigment to darken the hue, as a watercolorist I use the white of the paper to lighten and a hue’s complement to darken its value. All color is derived from the three primary colors: Red, Yellow, and Blue. If the primaries were all pure, we would only need to use these three colors to mix every color in the rainbow. However, there is no pure red, yellow, or blue in nature. All watercolor pigments have personalities, some are warm, some are cool, some stain, some have a very limited value range, while others can go from lightest light to the darkest dark. Also, we have transparent pigments, opaque, granular, etc. When choosing a palette, these factors must be taken into consideration. Basic Color Wheel
Primaries: Red,
Yellow, and Blue (Denoted by circles above) Suggested student exercises to become familiar with color theory, plus your own personal palette. 1. Choose a limited palette and then mix all of the pigments with each other. 2. Decide if a pigment is warm or cool. Place each pigment of that hue next to each other, decide yourself if it is warm or cool. 3. Is the pigment opaque or transparent? Paint a strip of black acrylic on watercolor paper and paint each pigment over it. If you can see a film of pigment then it is opaque, if not it is transparent. 4. Do a value chart of each pigment. Know its value range. 5. Take any red, yellow, and blue and mix them together in a wet into wet technique. Mix them on the paper in a wet into wet technique. Mix them on your palette in various proportions, (i.e., more yellow in one mixture, more red in another, and so on). 6. Mix just opaque colors or mix just transparent. Try mixing dark staining color or very delicate non-staining colors.
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