Class Notes: VALUE in Color

In Class we have been studying Value, making Grayscales - hoping some of it sinks in. . .
Making sense of the value scale is part of training our eyes to discern value changes, - the more we do it, the more sensitive and accurate our value choices will be.  - but WHY?
Because VALUE is how we show form and create the illusion of 3 dimensions, on a flat canvas.
Does your work have depth, or show the light effects that you desire? We avidly study COLOR, but VALUE is what gives COLOR it's power - with out it, color makes little sense.
So - this week we started with a color photo of a cup and saucer and created a few 3-value plans - to which we applied this criteria:
The value plan must show the light & shadow effect.
It must help me to communicate what I want to say about the photo?
The value plan must communicate the 3D structure of the image in the photo?
To keep it simple we started with Black as #7 and laid in the darkest areas, then mixed a mid range gray (matching it to #4 on the Grayscale) and applied it to all of the middle value areas. Finally we left the white of the canvas as #1 our lightest value.
Of the 3 above - each value plan is a little different.
We used the photo for reference, but have made different design choices as to where certain lights and darks will be placed.
So much for the easy part. . .

I chose value plan two as my favorite, each class painter also chose one and we began to lay color on top of the value areas, trying to use colors that fit into that specific value range by matching them to our Grayscale.  It is all about comparing,  squinting, and matching; and there were a lot of A-Ha moments.
In the case above - I have tried to work many colors into each of the three values, but the true test is when we look at a tonal interpretation to see if they all hang together as one value.  See below.
At first I did not trust my own eyes as I squinted to match colors to values.
Several people pulled out their "i-phones" for this part; most new phones have a photo app of some kind that works well. Beware however,  we found some major anomalies between  phones, and between phones and cameras.
Your trained EYE can still be the best judge of visual information - so grab that grayscale -
you are now free to start squinting at the world.

Class Notes: Value and the Grayscale - why?

2016 Painting classes started last week and there is something about the newness of January that seems to add fresh inspiration to my outlook.  Ironically, it would seem like we are tackling an old subject in Class but when it comes to painting there is always MORE to be learned.

In my classes we have studied VALUE in the 2-value NOTAN, the 3 and 4 value sketch, laying in value in an under painting, we have addressed color as value, value in neutrals, values on a black ground, or white ground,  values in the landscape, in still life, in direct light like sunshine and in shade. Are we bored yet - or just tired?
This is a subject that we address at almost EVERY class meeting; it is always with us- ho hum.
There IS more to be learned,
but, is there a new way to look at it?  Stay with me. . . .

This week we did something we have never done in my class - we made grayscales;  mine is at the top.   Not earthshaking you say?  Too true.

But as one of my students revealed - she made a grayscale in another class but never really did anything with it.  Hmm. . . . .  So WHAT is it for - or how can I make it "work" for me?
I have discounted the grayscale as an artist's “toy”, something a teacher would tell you to buy but you'd just carry it around.  Maybe hoping it will help with - something.
I have one - never used it.
In high school, I also used to imagine that if I slept with my German book under my pillow some learning would leak into my brain. 
yeah. . . . .

I do have to say, in my own work, I have had trouble using certain colors with success and I know the problem is a VALUE problem - not strictly a color problem - so, I am going back to the grayscale to examine closely the colors I have struggled with.
Color in VALUE is one of the most difficult hurdles facing painters, and especially troubling for students. I try to hit it in class from every possible direction.
The Grayscale is not a cure all; only a tool, but in the weeks to come we will be learning to use it to address those "gray" areas of color and value in our work. In the end, if we find the grayscale worthless - well, we can throw it out and not feel guilty.
Somehow, I doubt we will do that. Stay tuned.

Class Notes: Making a Grayscale

The GRAYSCALE contains only shades of gray - no color.
Not magic, it is only a tool, but a good one to use to judge, and compare every paint mix we make, to see where it fits in the gray range.

You can do a strong 3 value sketch but not have a clue about what colors to plug into those gray shades. That is where the grayscale will help.
Let's start by making one.

I drew 7 boxes for a 7 value scale because it is pretty simple and also has a MID-point. I placed white paint in box #1 and black in box #7.
The first time, I mixed, what I perceived to be a "centrist" or middle gray for the #4 box and mixed values up and down.
The second time, I started with white and added a little black to the mix as I worked up the scale to all black.
This is something that you get better at the more that you do it; so don't stop at just one.
Do several, set them aside and judge them later as to which seem to get the best gradation of even values up the scale.

Next we will look at just WHERE our colors fit in this scale.
A hah! More fun to come.

Success at Art for the Endangered Landscape Show

Before Christmas - this piece sold at the Art for the Endangered Landscape Show,  that opened here in Alamosa in December. This show was sponsored by the San Luis Valley Ecosystem Council and in the fall traveled to Pagosa Springs and Durango before finally opening here in Alamosa.

THANKs to David Montgomery who committed a year of his painting life to put this show together and to the 40 -plus artists from all over Colorado and outside the state - committed to supporting the effort to save "Endangered Landscapes" in Colorado. This was a nice way to wrap up the year - a success for everyone involved. 
For more information go to www.slvec.org
Merry Christmas.

Art for the Endangered Landscape show TONIGHT

This exhibition, and sale opens tonight, Friday, December 4th at Community Partnerships Gallery; on the Adams State University campus, right off Hwy 160 just west of the ASU Theatre in Alamosa.
The reception will be from 4 to 7pm.
After traveling to Pagosa Springs and Durango this exhibition finally comes to Alamosa.

Over 40 artists from all over Colorado are featured and even some from outside the state - all coming together with the purpose of raising awareness for endangered landscapes;  - and brought to us by the San Luis Valley Ecosystem Council.
Special THANKs to David Montgomery who brought it about and put it all together, and to the artists committed to supporting the effort to save "Endangered Landscapes" in our state.
For more information go to www.slvec.org
Consider this a perfect place to do some Christmas shopping. There is something for everyone and proceeds go to counter development on Wolf Creek Pass.
Hope to see you there.

Live Model in Class - Woof!

 Last Tuesday night we were lucky enough to have a live model in class. Richard Luckemeier brought Gus who "sat" to be painted - actually he went to sleep, hence my painting of him snoozing at my feet.
The Tuesday night class has been inspired to paint animals- in the landscape, in abstracted forms, from scrap and from life.  I put animals in the "figures" category- right up there with portrait - always challenging - but like anything else, practice is what gets you there.
More about that later.

Workshop Insanity- in ACRYLIC

In early Oct I traveled to British Columbia to study with ACRYLIC painter Brian Atyeo.
I have been wanting to learn methods in acrylic that exploited their quick dry characteristics as opposed to trying to make them look like oils and when I saw Brian’s work, back in January, it struck a chord with me-  both the medium and the method.  So, I found a workshop and committed to going all the way to Pemberton, British Columbia to take it. 
Brian is from Nova Scotia, a painter who can only be described as an abstractionist, and I would say, an expressionistic abstractionist.  No matter if that doesn’t mean anything to you - the long and short of it is - I was setting myself up to walk into the eye of a storm  -and after being home now for a couple of weeks - my head is still spinning.
Even now, I don’t  know exactly what to say about it - except I haven’t had so much fun painting, in a very long time.
All advanced painters, we worked large format: 30x30 and larger- in acrylic. I was the only oil painter (not in the workshop, of course). Brian gave a 2-3 hr demo every morning; each day focusing on a different technique or compositional idea, and each day the demo got less representational and more abstract. He is a wonderful teacher - clearly directing us in a very intuitive process, while encouraging each painter in their own path. About the middle of the week he gave each of us a private interview to talk about what had brought us to the workshop, what we wanted out of it, and what he saw as a way to get to that goal. That time alone, was worth the price of admission.
Each day’s demo was based loosely on one of 5 design Elements: Shape, Value, Color, Line and Texture, and expressed via 4 design Principles:  Gradation, Variation, Repetition, and Exaggeration.  Brian uses a multi-layered, deconstructive approach to his indirect method of painting, building up- then working over, tearing down and reinventing again and again.  For him (consequently, for us) there are no wrong marks.  WHAT?
He would say “make a mark and respond to it. Think on the canvas and go with what occurs to you;  let the PAINT be the subject”.
This process can be maddening and wonderfully freeing but there is no denying that there is a depth to his work that goes beyond the image.  He calls it “maturity of mark making'  - often spending weeks or months on a single work.   Hmmmm. . .   well, that sent my impatient nature to the back burner.
“Go the distance”  -took on a whole new meaning for me.  
Because this was  a class of experienced painters - he could say  -
“ Believe in your own mark making- you don’t need to understand every mark, just make it - believe in it - trust it.”
- knowing full well that he wasn’t teaching anyone here to paint - he was releasing everyone to trust their own skill set, giving them complete license to do what he knew they could do.
It was empowering.
I took tons of photos for my own reference and have included just a few here to give you all an idea of the process.
So, will I suddenly quit with oil and take up abstract acrylic painting?
I don't think so - but this workshop sure did scratch an itch that I have felt deep down for a long time, and it broadened my thinking in so many ways.
 I plan to spend a big chunk of my winter working on things Brian recommended to me - not so that I can paint like him but so that I can reach for new places in my own work - places I don't yet see but I know are out there.
Eventually, some of these methods will become my own,  painted with marks characteristic to me, in my voice and with my palette.  All that is required is perseverance, patience and putting in the TIME.

Click on the photos to view them larger.

Art For the Endangered Landscape

This show features artists from all over Colorado and even outside the state - in an effort to bring awareness to endangered landscapes.
This weekend the first of 3 three exhibitions will open at the Pagosa Springs Center for the Arts; 2313 Eagle Dr. in Pagosa Springs Colorado.  Reception is From 4 to 7 pm and the the show will hang until Nov. 1st.
For more information go to www.slvec.org

Class Notes: Magic Complements

Working with complements is a great color mixing exercise. Complements are 2 colors that are directly across the color wheel from each other.
They also serve as the simple version of the "How to make BROWN” recipe,
and part of our color mixing vocabulary:  “to mute a color - add the complement.”
Sounds so simple - but as my students know - there is nothing simple about color mixing. It is the artist's lifelong quest - with piles of "icky colors" left in our wake.
In class, I look for constants where beginning painters can go to feel safe.
If you look back a few posts on this blog- I ask the question “What color is Brown?”.
I ask because students ask. That whole range of neutrals,  from warm (brown) to cool (grey) - how does a painter mix them?
COMPLEMENTS - is the simple answer-  that is not so simple.

In class we use a classic Limited Palette:
Lemon Yellow  (cool)
Cad Yellow Deep (warm)
Cad Red Light  (warm)
Alizarin Crimson (cool)
Cerulean Blue  (warm)
Ultramarine Blue, and White (cool)

In our discussion of complements - students scratch their heads-  Where on our Limited Palette are those magic Complements ?
What?  Do you mean I have to mix the complement of yellow or red or blue?  - And by the way there are 2 of each here- which one do I use?
Good questions.
Answers are: You are right - “complements” do not reside on our Limited Palette,
Yes, -  you have to mix them from what we have been given,  and as to Which one to use - well, both.  
Huh?
I already hear the wheels turning. . . . some students will think about just buying a tube of something that complements a pigment on the Limited Palette.  Hmmmm. . . .
But wait. Put down that supply catalog;

It is a wonderful fluke of pigment karma that we have a set of genuine complements in the Limited Palette listed above.
No mixing, no hard decisions about warm and cool, blah, b-blah, b-blah.
Our go-to complements are Cadmium Red Light and Cerulean Blue.
I won't take time here, to discuss their precise characteristics - suffice to say - if you are trying to mix anything from a warm neutral (BROWN), to a cool neutral (GREY) - start HERE.
The last few weeks in class we have examined, experimented and played, using JUST these 2 pigments.
We have experimented with landscape and with still life.
Everything posted here was painted with only 2 pigments: Cadmium Red Light and Cerulean Blue and in all of the paintings we get intense color as well as a breadth of beautiful neutrals.
Try this exercise at home using ONLY  - Cad Red Light and Cerulean Blue, and white  - you will be surprised at what you come up with.

Judith Greenwood painted the sweet piece at the top in acrylic.

2015 Western Light Exhibition in Estes Park

The 2015 Western Light Fine Art Exhibition will open on Friday night August, 21st, 6-9 pm at Earthwood Collections in Estes Park, CO.
You are invited to join us in beautiful Estes Park for the show opening.
The exhibition will feature the best work of artists from all over the western U.S.













Not only is Estes Park a great Colorado painting destination, it is the gateway to the Rocky Mountain National Park which celebrates its 100th anniversary this year.  Above is a morning view of Sprague Lake and below, a photo of Sue McCullough, David Montgomery and Dawn Normali painting at beautiful Loch Vale.
We will be painting at locations like this one all week and wrap up our time Friday night, August 21st at the Western Light Show -  6- 9pm.
Hope to see you there!