Sunday, February 22, 2015

Streaming Light Value Study

Streaming Light, 6 x 8, oil on panel, L. Daniel © 2015

My challenge for Daily Paintworks this week is to paint using only a range of grays. The point of this exercise is to closely observe the darks and lights in a subject, and then hang onto them while painting. It's quite easy to lose a grip on these values because color can be so confusing. Taking a break from color every once in awhile helps me "see" my way back to what the values are truly doing. 

Below is my pre-mixed range of grays, using Titanium White and Ivory Black. Normally, I do not have black on my palette, but mix a rich black with Ultramarine and Burnt Sienna. For this exercise, using a tube black helped me keep my range of grays consistent (and kept all color out of the mix.)


2 comments:

Sharon L. Graves said...

Love this. The exercise, the painting, the thought process, the furniture. I need to do this myself.

Barbara Muir said...

Beautiful work. In January I did quite a bit of drawing in black marker on white -- forcing me into the gray range. I know what you mean.

XOXOXOXOXO Barbara