Value in painting and drawing:

Using dark through light tones (values) to give depth and three dimentionality to your subject.  The Italian term artists use is Chiaroscuro.

Note the position of the light source.

In-Class Assignment:

1.  Cover your canvas board by painting with a neutral ground composed of a mixture of umber and white.  (See the "brown" background in the photo above.)  Allow this to dry.

2.  Draw a sample "patch" of five relative tones.  They will be white to black with three gradations of grey between them.  (See the patch on the left of the above photo.)  Label each of the tones as noted:  Hilight, Light, Mid Values, Reflected Light, Shadow.

3.  Use a circle "template" (lid off a yogurt container or similar) to draw a circle.  Hand draw the ellipsis that will represent a cast shadow from the circle (which will be a sphere)

4.  Using the paint you mixed for the five swatches, paint the corresponding tones onto the circle, taking care to blend the edges into subtle changes between the tones.  Label the corresponding areas on the sphere.

Below:   This is an artist's value study sketch of different tones on the objects in a still life.  (Artist:  Bruce Katz)

BEGINNING A PAINTING: 

~Blocking In

~Mixing paint to match colors

Blocking in is the step after your sketch, in which the canvas is covered with flat shapes that indicate where elements will go, and what color or value they'll be. Move past outlines into shapes.

Sketch:

Beginning blocking in:

Continuing blocking in:

Completed painting:

How mix paint to match colors:

(From Will Kemp Art School on line)

The three things to remember are Hue, Value &  Saturation

Hue - hue simply translates as the color " that vase has a red hue".

Value - how dark or light the color is if you took a black and white photo of it.

Saturation - how bright or intense the color is.  It is also referred to as Chroma or Intensity.

Once you understand this information, you can match any color.

Step 1:  Analyze the hue - what color is it closest to on the color wheel?

Step 2:  Analyze the value - How light or dark is it?

For this it's easiest to paint a swatch onto a bit of scrap paper, let it dry and compare it.  If it's too dark you can add white, if it's too light you can add the complementary color.  (Look on the color wheel and see what is opposite the the color you mixed.)

Step 3:  Analyze the saturation - How bright or dull is it?

In-Class exercise #4

Mix the basic colors to match those in the image below.  Then block in the basic areas of color. 

Work at blending the subtle changes in color areas, such as the blue of the sky and the subtleties of the clouds, the various green hues and peach colors of the sunset. 

Week 4 - In-class Assignment 3:

Introduction to Composition & Using Grid lines to layout your composition, as well as to paint enlargements from thumbnail size images. 

The Rule of Thirds:  The rule of thirds is a principle that states that a photo is most appealing when the points of interest of its subjects are placed along lines which divide the image into thirds, both horizontally and vertically.

Just as your digital camera has a grid that you can turn on to arrange the best composition for your photograph, you can also create a grid (divided into thirds both horizontally and vertically) on your canvas to layout your most appealing composition.

Grid lines can also be used to increase a thumbnail size image onto your larger size canvas.

Let's say that the thumbnail image size is 4"x 5"  Then you will draw out a grid on the small thumbnail dividing it into 1/2-inch squares.   You will next decide how much larger you want your canvas painting to be, we will say  4 times larger than the thumbnail size image.  The size square units of the larger grid on the canvas will then be 4 times 1/2" = 2 inch squares.  So that would be 2-inch size squares on your large canvas, or a 16" x 20" canvas.  You will then focus on the shapes that appear within each square and draw them.  For more complex images, you may want to number the grids on along the top and one side, as shown above in the first image of Marilyn Monroe to keep your bearings.

Here is a step-by-step demonstration on how to enlarge your image for your larger canvas

https://design.tutsplus.com/tutorials/how-to-use-a-grid-to-enlarge-an-image-while-drawing--cms-20593

Class assignment is to layout a three by three grid on your 12"x9" canvas board (on which you have already painted your neutral ground).  Then you will use this grid to sketch, and then paint the tulip.  You will be mixing your colors according to what we learned from the Week 3 lesson on the color wheel, primary colors and secondary colors, and tints, tones and shades.

Work in progress: Tesla and Toni - 36"x36" Acrylic on canvas - Toni Youngblood©