Texas Landscape - Workshop Value Study Demo

Texas Landscape, 6 x 8, oil, L. Daniel © 2018

Value Study Demo for Wimberley Artist Workshops

Last week, I had the privilege of teaching a group of fabulous painters in Wimberley, Texas. This was a four-day workshop with the Wimberley Artists Workshops, and it was an all-inclusive, total immersion set up. It's a such great way to go... beautiful accommodations at the Creekhaven Inn, with  all meals taken care of... we were completely free to just paint and learn!

We started out the first day with a value study in the morning, and then painted the same thing in color after lunch. It was a great exercise, until the winds picked up in the afternoon... all but two of our easels blew over, and it was a bit of a battle. But no one gave up!! And that is the risk of plein air, right? You never know what is going happen! 

The value study was designed to help students learn about atmospheric perspective... to see how values diffuse in the distance, and to learn to incorporate that change to give depth to their paintings. We started out mixing a range of grays... 

5 mixed values plus white and black

(We mixed a rich black with ultramarine and burnt sienna.)

First came a sketch of the scene.

I looked for layers going into the distance.

Next came the grays... 

 Working dark to light...

The sky (where the lightest lights are) comes last.

In the finished value study...

Notice how each plane lightens and softens as it gets farther away.

The foreground has darkest darks and greatest contrast.

In the distance, values come together and contrast goes away.

Below are pictures of my students, hard at work! 

Many thanks to all, especially to Judy and Jocelyn for sharing your photos!

Value Studies - Process Shots from Workshop Demo

Jekyll Beach Value Study, 6 x 8, oil on panel, L. Daniel © 2016

Workshop Demo - Anderson Fine Art Gallery, St. Simons Island, GA

Last weekend I taught a workshop on St. Simons Island, GA. The focus of the workshop was color and value in the landscape, and we drilled way down to understand those concepts. On the first day, we took a break from color and painted value studies. Below is a review for my students and for anyone who would like to try it!

Mix a strand of 5 grays, plus black and pure white (7 values total). 

Make sure the grays are distinct from one another.

Get started with a sketch of simple shapes to compose the scene. 

Divide the landscape into 5 values, using John Carlson's Theory of the Planes...

Working dark to light, use first gray (darkest) in foreground uprights found in rock shadows, second gray in middle ground uprights (trees), third gray in distant uprights, fourth gray in ground plane (water) and fifth gray (lightest) in sky.

Values come together as they recede... darks get lighter and lights get darker. 

(Note: usually the lightest light will be found in the sky, but in this scene the white sand reflecting the sunlight was brightest.)

Use subtle value shifts to indicate highlights in each plane.

Save pure white for highest highlights (rock light), and pure black for calligraphy and darkest shadows in the foreground.

Mix a strand of warm values using yellow, black and white.

Mute each value in this strand with white (muted strand not shown, sorry!)

Use warm values to indicate how temperature behaves when color is added.

Color intensifies as it comes forward, and it weakens (mutes, cools) as it recedes.

Hard at work, mixing and identifying values...

Many thanks to a wonderful group of students, you all did GREAT!

Dusky Road Value Study

Dusky Road, 8 x 6, oil on panel, L. Daniel © 2015

 Click to purchase $120 + $16 s/h

This is another value study for my Daily Paintworks Challenge to "take a break from color". A friend of mine asked why it helps me to paint a value study like this. The thing is, I always try to observe these value patterns first and foremost in any subject I paint. If I can get these values correct, and hold them onto them as I mix colors, I am closer to what I am trying to achieve. This exercise truly helps me train my eyes to see and my heart to remember.

Please join me for these upcoming Workshops:

March 26-29, 2015 | Plein Air | Austin, Texas (FULL with wait list)

April 30-May 2, 2015 | Plein Air | Click here to register: St. Simons Island, GA

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.)

Succulent Sketch - Eighteen of 30 in 30

Succulent Sketch, 8 x 6, oil canvas sheet, L. Daniel © 2015

#18 of 30 Day Challenge

Today's sketch of my potted succulent plant provided me with a little break from the week's routine. I still painted from life, but simply focused on shapes and values and drawing. I find that painting in this format (every now and then) rejuvenates me for "seeing color" again. 

Please join me for these upcoming Workshops:

January 22-24, 2015 | Still Life | Click here to register: Austin, Texas

March 26-29, 2015 | Plein Air | Click here to register: Austin, Texas

April 30-May 2, 2015 | Plein Air | Click here to register: St. Simons Island, GA

Distant Shore Value Study

Distant Shore, L. Daniel, 8 x 10

This morning, I am heading off to California with my good friend Julie Davis to attend the Weekend with the Masters painting workshops! I went last year and learned so much; and this year's line-up promises to be the same. I have all-day sessions with Camille Przewodek, Daniel Pinkham and Frank Serrano - all painting masters in their own right. I tremble with excitement!! :)

In preparation for the workshops, I have been doing these value studies. It's been such good discipline (hard at times) and practice at distinguishing relative lights and darks. One of my readers asked a great question, would I suggest taking a photograph of my subject and changing it to grayscale in order to "see" the values? My answer was no...

The beauty of doing these exercises is that the more you do, the more your eye will learn to see subtle value shifts in real time. Using a photograph will rob you of some very important sensitivity training and the resulting muscle memory. I am not saying never use photographs for anything (never say never), but don't use them as a shortcut. They are no replacement for direct painting from direct experience; and they may slow down your progress in the long run.

Dock with Umbrella Value Study

Dock with Umbrella, L. Daniel, 8 x 10

My friend Cindy has a great lake house that her grandfather bought many years ago. Several generations have enjoyed the property, each adding new memories. I have been lucky to paint here many times, but painting it in black and white was a new experience. I really loved the brilliance of the sunlit umbrella and it's reflection in the water. (The big, fat #10 brush sure does keep me from getting fussy!)

Tree Reflections Value Study

Tree Reflections Value Study, L. Daniel, 8 x 10

I actually did this value study from a full color plein air piece that didn't work out. (No, I have not posted it and don't plan to!) Interestingly, I really fought with that failed piece but could just not pull it out. My problem was color. I love color... of course, we all love color. We respond to it emotionally, and because of that emotion we let it play tricks on us. We chase it's many iterations and forget the original context. Going back to the values allowed me to remember the simple relationships between the planes in the landscape I originally saw. It was all there in my memory once I set the color aside.

Sunflowers In Water Value Study

Sunflowers in Water Value Study, L. Daniel, 10 x 8

Observation for today: white in the background is darker and more muted than yellow in the foreground with a spotlight on it. It's mind-bending because the brain "knows" that yellow is darker than white, but the eye sees something different (if you let it.) Color is deceiving.

Over-riding what the brain "knows" is a huge challenge: it requires seeing shapes (not nameable things) and simple bits of dark and light (instead of color). Then it requires a little nerve and a lot of trust to put the bits down where you see them. What is amazing though, is that if you constantly compare each value against the others and adjust them accordingly, the shapes begin to look like something.

Brass Urn Value Study

Brass Urn Value Study, L. Daniel, 10 x 8

Still focusing on values here. One tip? Squint way down on your subject to observe the relative values throughout. And do it often (otherwise, your eyes will adjust to the light source and flatten everything.)

I had one reader ask if I do anything special to my canvas for these studies. No, quite the opposite. These are just cut-up, white canvas sheets; actually from a canvas pad. I tape them on all four sides to a board, so that I can paint over the edge without getting paint all over everything. (And then when removed, the tape leaves a nice clean margin for handling.) Using the sheets - loose, unattached - keeps the work from becoming too precious. Just studies... just learning... this is what I am after.

Tea and Lemons Value Study

Tea and Lemon Value Study, L. Daniel, 10 x 8

In a couple of weeks I am going to the Weekend with the Masters workshops in CA. The 4-day event is put on by Amreican Artist Magazine. In preparation, I am devoting myself to value studies. One of my instructors, Daniel Pinkham, suggested that the best way to become a colorist is to study value (the relative levels of darks and lights within a subject). I know this is one of the greatest challenges for most painters, so no complaints on this assignment from me. I actually love doing these! Below you see my palette at the end of a value study. Yep, just black and white and one #10 brush (that is pretty big for an 8 x 10, keeps me from getting too caught up in details.)