Hi,
I am totally confused about establishing correct value in a painting.Mainly in shadow area. What are the value we can put in shadow? what about reflected light, in value scale? Please help, i am not able to keep seperate shadow and light family.
Thanking You
SImi
I advise you here that you must use blue color for shadows because this color helps you to create realistic shadows. Watercolor are also effective to get shadows for painting just mix two colors.
chinese calligraphy art lesson
Thank you for this advice, i really apply that one.
But how do we find halftones in the object ? I know halftone seperates light and shadow, but in real time objects if light source is not specific, how to find the correct halftone?
Thanking you
Simi
Hi Semi—
There are three properties to color—hue, value and intensity.
The most important of these is value. Hue is simply the identity of the color—blue, blue green etc. Value refers only to how light or dark a color may be. In other words, what does the color look like —how light or dark is it— if you took a black and white photo of it. So, value only means how light or dark a color is on a gray scale. For instance, red is about a 55 to 65% gray. Indigo is about 80 to 90% gray.
This is exreemly important because values —the light and dark pattern—is the structure of a picture. If the values—the light and dark structure—of a painting is good, the painting can be sound even if the colors are not right.
This goes back to how important it is to plan a picture using small black and white roughs. When planning a picture's values in black and white, keep the values simple—black, white and two or three grays. This simplicity of values can give your picture the visual power it needs.
A black and white rough can be the guide you need throughout the painting, as you interpret the shades of black and gray into color.
I hope this helps. If you need more explaination, please let me know.
Paul
Hello again,
After thinking about your questions, I believe they may be more involved than I had originally thought.
Your initial question was pretty straight foreward—"How does an artist establish correct values in a painting?" The answer is by making a value sketch using black, white and a limited number of grays.
However, the second part of the question is more involved—"What about the values within the shadow area and what about reflected light?" There are two questions here. First, the values are established by you, the artist, when you make the small value rough. You are the one who decides just how dark the shadows should be—for the sake of the mood you want to express, the idea you want to convey etc. Secondly, you are asking about reflected light. I am assuming that you are also asking about the values of any other elements that may be within the shadow area. The answer is that all emements within the shadow area have to be dark enough that they do not start to break up the area—in effect, destroying the shadow mass.
There is a guideline that artists have used regarding this very problem. The lightest light in the shadow areas should be darker than the darkest dark in the light areas. If you follow this your paintings should maintain the solid impact of your preliminary value rough.
You also asked about value relationships when dealing with diffused light. A lot of Norman Rockwell's work employed diffused light. With soft, non directional light, you are only working with the value of the local color of an object you are painting. After making a value sketch of a composition, you may decide to change the colors of some objects for the sake of the overall design.
I hope this helps,
I want to suggest here a simple method for creating halftone in your painting. You can produce halftone with the helps of various range for solid black or solid white in continues tones with the solid ink on your painting. So, this process might be helps you to find correct halftones in painting.
Hi Paul,
First of all sorry for replying late, and thank you very much for this method. I read it thoroughly. The halftone and shadow part is clear.
Just one more clarity is needed. what should be the procedure when we paint outdoor and we dont have any value scale ? How do we find and measure the value range? I am sorry if am not clear with my question . Please help me in this point.
Hi Simi—
Just for the sake of clairity, it is good to use the terms "darks", "mid-tones" and "lights" when referring to values. While "shadows" and "halftones" certainly get involved with values, they refer more to lighting and its effects.
Regarding your question about establishing values and value relationships when painting outdoors:
Whether you are working indoors or outdoors—on a sunny day or on an overcast afternoon—your working procedure should remain the same. Always begin by making a small value sketch using black, white and no more than two or three grays. Your aim at this point should be to simplify the scene, establish your composition and the black and white structure of your painting.
Before you actually begin the value sketch, view your subject matter by squinting at it. Viewing the subject while squinting simplifies it and reduces the scene to its basic lights and darks. In fact, it is a good idea to squint at the subject matter and your picture periodically throughout the painting process. Try to get used to looking at a color and interpreting its value on a gray scale.
Here's something that you might try. Try viewing your subject through a medium to light-blue, piece of flat glass—using it as you would a filter. If you can ignore the blue cast, this can let you see your subject more in terms of its lights and darks. Early motion picture directors did this for a number of technical reasons. However, they also found that it could give them a hint of what a scene might look like in black and white.
There are several websites that explain values and their importance. You might try: http://www.milamstudios.com/art/paintvalues.html
Good Luck,
I have no words to thank you Paul.Thank you a lot, it is really a great help indeed.
Hello Sir,
Sir, i need little more help. There is another test related to oil painting. And my task is to make painting more likely to Morgan Weistling Technique. And here i am so scared about his technique, mixing color ,low croma and all ....His technique seems so much mysterious to me. I watched his workshop tutorial but still confused about his color mixing Sir.
Could you please help me in that point ??? I have only this month to practice..
When you wrote about Morgan Weistling's tutorial and your assignmant, you mentioned you were "scared about his technique, mixing color, low chroma" etc.—and that "his technique seems so mysterious to me."
You may be overwhelmed and possibly a bit confused but there is no reason to be "scared". You are simply a student trying to learn from a master. No one expects you to understand or even grasp everything at this point. However, there can be some confusing things involved in the study of color. In fact, the terms themselves can be confusing.
When talking about color, there are three properties to consider—hue, value and intensity. HUE refers to the basic color identity of an area. Is it red, red-orange, yellow-orange etc.? VALUE refers to how light or dark a particular color may be—visualizing it on a gray scale. INTENSITY refers to the strength or purity of the basic hue of an area. In other words, is the color at its full strength or has its been lessened to some degree by being lightened, grayed or darkened?
In addition to these terms, Weistling and many other artists use the term CHROMA. "Chroma" is a Greek word meaning color or hue. It is usually used with reference to the purity or intensity of a color. Using the word chroma, Weistling is usually referring to intensity—although there are times when he is referring to both value and intensity. So, when he asks, "How much chroma is there in this area?"—he is asking, "What is the intensity of the color ?" When talking about "low chroma", he can be referring to both low intensity and low value. In many "low chroma mixes" he may only have subtle color intensity and dark value left after graying and darkening the color with which he started.
In many of his paintings he saves the highest value contrast and color intensity for the center of interest. This is a good working plan at any time. He usually carries this out extremely well, giving the focal point of the picture an extra punch. Sometimes he will keep the color intensity very low and the values very dark in the balance of the picture. In his video on You Tube, he explains some of his thoughts on color and how color can influence other colors. He uses an orange and it is very effective.
Amazon.com has several good books on color mixing. I would suggest "Color Mixing Bible" (Paperback). Painting is fun. There is never a reason to be scared. All you have to do is the best you can.
Thank You.You are a good teacher indeed. I am now trying to mix color, like he does in his painting "Homework". Color comes out either pale or muddy. I ordered these two books, and then i will try to mix color again.....Sir, he said "before start painting i spray varnish", so how many times we can apply varnish, is there any rule to spray it...means his painting does not look dry next day and not completed also.
I am sorry i have lots of question.....actually this assignment makes me little nervous.
You are asking some excellent questions. They are questions that I am sure are shared by other artists.
Let me suggest that you open two new threads, one about color mixing and the another about using varnish. Possibly one could be "How do you avoid mud when mixing toned or grayed color?" The other might be, "How and when should varnish be used?"
You are welcome to any information I might have. I have a good background in color and I can be a help there. However, I am not an expert on the technical points of oil painting—such as your question on varnish. I paint in acrylic and watercolor. With new threads that are close to the questions you have, more people will be able to help you.
Ready to help you if I can—Paul
Hi Sir,
Thank you, for this support. I was thinking my questions are just irritates people. And definitely i will open new threads.
Sir
Hi—
Earlier I mentioned a flat, colored glass viewer that you could look through to see values better. I just noticed that Creative Catalist Productions is selling a "Plexi Value Viewer" for $3.95. It is simply a small piece of red plexiglass. Viewing your picture through the red plexiglass reduces color to something closer to black and white. However, you have to learn to ignore the over-all red.
http://ccpvideos.com/collections/vendors?page=3&q=Creative+Catalyst+Productions
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